1

6
History:
Units of Length began by using parts
The English system began in… … of the body:

yup, youguessed
Cubit length of it: England
a person’s forearm [earliest
known measurement]
Foot  size of a person’s foot [usually the
But,king’s
measuring
or ruler’s]things was
important
Inch  size of long
the before weofhad
middle bone a
a person’s
pinky finger
‘system’
Units of volume began by filling objects 3

with stuff and counting how many fit:

Grain  fill a space with wheat/oat
seeds and count them
Carat  same as above, but using
Carob seeds. Still used to
measure diamonds today.
 Today, in America, we use a standard system 7
to measure length.
Length Inches Feet Yards Fathoms Furlongs Miles Leagues

Inches 1 1/12 1/36 1/72 1/7920 1/63360 1/90080

Feet 12 1 1/3 1/6 1/660 1/5280 1/15840

Yards 36 3 1 ½ 1/220 1/1760 1/5280

Fathoms 72 6 2 1 1/110 1/880 1/2640

Furlongs 7920 660 220 110 1 1/8 1/24

Miles 63360 5280 1760 880 8 1 1/3

Leagues 190080 15840 5280 2640 24 3 1

~ Not Listed: Mil, Link, Chain, Rod, Pole, Perch, & Hand
 If we were to use this ‘standard’ English 5
We could be here all day!!! This
system in science class you would have to
would
know beofcrazy
what all to try to
those measurements
memorize
were, plus you wouldand use,tosoknow all
also need
of the measurements for the following:

Power:
Mass:
Let’s Not Do
Energy:
Volume:
Horsepower,
Pound,
calorie,apothecary
Gallon,
pound/second,
apothecary
yard-pound,
inch-pound/second,
Calorie,
liquid
pint, dry pint,
pound,
quart, dry ounce
inch-pound,
ounce, dram,
mile-pound…
fluid
quart,foot-
foot-pound,
yard-pound/second…
liquid
apothecary
ounce, teaspoon,
dram,
That!
grain, carat,
tablespoon,
pennyweight,
bushel, cubic
fluidscruple,
short
dram, gill, peck,
inch,hundredweight, long
cubic foot, cubic
hundredweight, short ton, long ton…
yard, cubic fathom…
 3
The Beauty of the Metric System
You can measure all of the things listed
above using the following units:

Length: Meter (m)

Volume: Liter (L)
Mass: Gram (g)
Energy: Joule (J)
Power: Watt (W)
Metric Meanings & Measurements
The system of measurement used by most
people around the world is called the
International System of Units (SI). It is the
modern version of the Metric System.
The
The specific measurement
Metric system “standards”
was invented in 1670ofby
the
a
meter,
meter liter,
French liter & gram &changed
Astronomer as science
Mathematician and
named
technology improved. Today there are very
Gabriel Mouton.
exact specifications for each. These amounts
were agreed upon by many nations (including
the US) at the Treaty of Meter in 1875.
2
 13
Length
History:
Comparisons:
Definition: Length is a measurement
Originally, the meter was supposed
from here to there. to
there
beone
 inch  2.5
1 millionth of the 30 mm of
centimeters
circumference
thestandard
Tool:
The Earth.
Earth
You Later,
measure
unit people
length
of length realized
using
is that
a Meter
the Meter.
Meter
One Meter is slightly longer than a
the Stick NOT acm
Earth. is 16.8 perfect sphere, so
Yard.
this distance would be different
depending
1 Kilometer on where you measured.
= .6 miles
Today, the meter is defined as the
distance light travels in a vacuum
during a specific fraction of a second.
Mass 6

Tool: You
Definition: measure
Mass mass using aof the
is the measurement
Balance.
Balance
amount of matter (stuff) in an
MASS IS NOTobject.
The standard unit of mass is the Kilogram

THE SAME AS
(grams are too tiny to be useful)

Conversions:

WEIGHT
One Kilogram (Kg) is a little over two pounds
{On132.5
EARTH}
150.5
1 Kg = 2.2 lbs grams
grams
 5

Weight
The moon’s gravity is 1/6 of that of the
Definition:
Earth’s. So,Weight is a measure
if you weighted 120 of how
pounds
on Earth andgravity affects
traveled to themass.
moon what
would happen? (remember, Gravity is the
Tool: You measure weight using a Scale.
Scale
force of attraction between
any two objects)
Weight: 20 lbs
The standard unit for measuring weight is
Mass: IT WOULD
the NewtonNOT CHANGE!!!
 4
Area
Instructions:
Definition: Area is the amount of flat
space
Measure the inside
Length a set
of the of = L units
object
Measure the Width of the object = W units
boundaries.

Multiply
2m To measure
them area
together: you have to
2m x 3m = 6m 2
combine two units of Length.
Length
Area = ( L x W ) Units 2
Tools: the same for measuring length
(meter stick)
3m
 4
Volume
Tools:
Definition: Volume is the amount of 3D
space
For Solids: use an
theobject takesyou
same tools up.
would for length (meter
stick) unless using Water
To measure volume:
Displacement
For solids: combine (seeof
three units later notes)
length
For or
Liquids: use a Flask,
Flask Beaker,
Beaker or
Graduated
For Liquids: use Liters Cylinder
 7

Flask
Beaker

Graduated
Cylinder
How to measure Volume: 4

For solids you measure & multiply:

Volume = Length Units x Width Units x Depth Units

4m 4m x 3m
For liquids you measure to the x 2m = 24 m 3

bottom of the Meniscus.

The meniscus is the curve
3m the
surface of the liquid gets
when it’s put into a glass
container.
2m
 5

36.5 ml
39.25 ml

73 ml
 Measuring the volume of an Irregularly
shaped solid object:
Let’s face it; very few solid objects are perfect cubes.

There is an extremely accurate method,

though, of measuring the volume of nearly any
solid object, regardless of shape. It fact, it
was invented by Archimedes during the Greek
Empire, circa 1500 BCE. This is known as
Water Displacement.

3
 9
Water Displacement:
Definition: When a solid object is placed into
Example: You need to find the volume of a small bag
water it will displace (move) an
of decorative marbles.
= 25exactly
amount of water cc (orequal
cm3) to its
volume.
volume
Begin with 20 ml of water in a Graduated Cylinder.
Add we
But, thedon’t
marbles to the
measure graduated
solids cylinder.
in ml, so we need to
The final level of the
convert water
it to (or45
cm3 is ml.
cc).
The marbles then have a total volume of:
This is the easiest conversion ever.
45ml – 20ml = 25 ml

1 ml = 1 cc
 9
Temperature
Important
Definition: Temperature is a measurement
Temperatures:
Note: The SI Water boilsscale
temperature at 100 is °C
known
of how fast atoms are moving,
as Kelvin (°K). It is the
or in general, how hotat
Water Freezes preferred
or0cold
°C
temperature
The actual temperatures measurement
something is.change depending scale
on the
material,for
but scientists.
when atoms are We willvery,
moving be using
very fast
matter Celsius
Temperature
tends tois(°C).
be They
form are
measured
in the exactly
in aDegrees.
of gas. the
As atoms(°)
slow downsame scale,changes
that “state” but the intoKelvin
a liquid. If atoms
Tool:are
You usedown
temperature
slowed a Thermometer
ismore
even we getto
273.15° measure
higher
a solid.
temperature.
than the Celsius.
Ice  Water
(for reasons 
I’ll explain in a Steam
second)
 1
Temperature
There is a theoretical
temperature where atoms
STOP moving. It is called
Absolute Zero.
Zero They
know what the
temperature is, but have
never been able to reach
it. No one knows what
would happen to matter at
this temperature.
 3
Thermometer

30°C

-5°C
Human 8

Body Boiling
Temp? water?

Ave. Room Number Bank

Temp? 37 100

Water 98.6 32

Freezing? 0 20

70 212
 12
Density
VERY HARD QUESTION:
Definition: The amount of Mass
Equation:
Tool: YouDensity
use the = same
Masstools fora
/ Volume
Would a rectangular
material block
has in ameasuring
certain
measuring volume & mass.
10Ameters
 cube thatx 2
Volume.
Volume
ismeters
3 centimeters
x 1 on all
meter,
sides
with has of
a mass a mass
1000ofKg45float?
grams.
Important
What
Explain.Density: The density of liquid
is its density?
Volume =Density
10 m x= 2 water
45mgrams= 1.0
x 1m /=920 g/cm
cmm
3
3 3

So,
Mass
anything
= 1000 with
Kg a= density
Density 5 g/cm3smaller than
1.0 g/cm
Density is
3
would float.
measured using Anything
the same withfor
units a
Density = 1000 Kg / 20 m 3 3
density
mass &larger than
volume; 1.0 g/cm
usually g/cm 3 would 3
or kg/m sink.
.
Density = 50 Kg/m 3
Lets think about this…

Density of object = 50
Volume = 10 m x 2 m x 1m Kg/m 3

x100 x100 x100

MassDensity
= 1000
Volume of water = 1 g/cm 3
= 1000Kgcm x 200 cm x 100 cm
x1000
The
Volume
Mass =
Density Units
= 1,000,000 don’t
20,000,000
= 1,000,000 cm 3
match!!!
g g / 20,000,000 cm3

Density = .05 g/cm

We need to rethink
3 this…

How IT FLOATS!
many cm are in a m?
How many g are in a kg?
So well, in fact, it could hold another 40,000 lbs before sinking.
Some Easier ones now…