Units of Measurement

On July 23, 1983, Air

Canada Flight 143 ran
out of fuel midway
through its flight due
to company failures,
human error, and
confusion with units.
2 2
Launched in
December 1998,
NASA’s Mars Climate
Orbiter mission failed
due to a navigation
error caused by the
failure to convert
English unit into the
metric unit.
3
Measurements are observed daily from speed
limits on highways to mass of grocery items.

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 Measurements and units are
essential not only in science but also
in other several fields. These
extensive usage of measurement
requires a reference standard.

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 Measurement

● In the past, Egyptians and Babylonians use their

body parts to estimate the length of an object.

● This can result to varying outcomes and may even

be the source of disputes.

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 Measurement

● It is a process of assigning a quantity to describe a

property of an object by comparing it with a
standard.

● A standard should be universal and does not

change with time.

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 International System or SI

● It is the standard system of measurement for the

fundamental quantities abbreviated from Système
International.

● It is established in 1960.

● It is also called as the “metric system”.

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 SI Base Units

SI base units with their corresponding symbols

Quantity Typical symbol Unit Symbol

time t second s

length l, x, r, etc. meter m

mass m kilogram kg

electric current I, i ampere A

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 SI Base Units

SI base units with their corresponding symbols

Quantity Typical symbol Unit Symbol

thermodynamic
T kelvin K
temperature
amount of
n mole mol
substance

luminous intensity Iv candela cd

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● Typical symbols of quantities are
usually written in italics and may
vary in different references.

● Symbols for the units are always

written in an upright (roman) font
and are mandatory.

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 SI Units

Different definitions of base units used in the past

posed several limitations:

● Artefacts may be lost or damaged.

● Some definitions are highly abstract and idealized.

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Today, base units are defined using the defining
constants.

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What are the seven SI base
units?

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 SI Base Units

Second (s)
the time required for 9 192 631 770 cycles of
microwave radiation in cesium-133 atoms.

Meter (m)
the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in
1/299 792 458 second

15
 SI Base Units

Kilogram
● Shown on the right is a
replica of the International
Prototype Kilogram (IPK)
used since the 19th
century.
● Kilogram was redefined in
May 2019.

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 SI Base Units

Kilogram (kg)
redefined by taking the fixed numerical value of the
Planck constant h to be 6.626 070 15 ✕ 10−34 when
expressed in the unit J s, which is equal to kg m2 s−1.

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 SI Base Units

Ampere (A)
defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the
elementary charge e to be 1.602 176 634 ✕ 10−19 when
expressed in the unit C, equivalent to the product of
current (A) and time (s).

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 SI Base Units

Kelvin (K)
defined by taking the fixed numerical value Boltzmann
constant k to be 1.380 649 ✕ 10−23 when expressed in
the unit J K−1, equivalent to kg m2 s-2 K-1.

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 SI Base Units

Mole (mol)
one mole contains exactly 6.022 140 76 ✕ 1023
elementary entities, which is the fixed value of the
Avogadro constant, NA when expressed in the unit
mol−1.

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 SI Base Units

Candela (cd)
defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the
luminous efficacy of monochromatic radiation with
frequency of 540 ✕ 1012 Hz, Kcd, to be 683 when
expressed in the unit lm W-1, equal to cd sr W-1 or cd sr
kg-1 m-2 s3.

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How do you express very small
or very large quantities?

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Prefixes Used with SI Units

● Prefixes are added to the base units to make the

value of the unit smaller or larger.

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 Prefixes Used with SI Units

Prefixes for powers of ten used with the SI units

Power Prefix Abbreviation Power Prefix Abbreviation

10–24 yocto y 10–15 femto f

10–21 zepto z 10–12 pico p

10–18 atto a 10–9 nano n

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 Prefixes Used with SI Units
Prefixes for powers of ten used with the SI units

Power Prefix Abbreviation Power Prefix Abbreviation

10–6 micro μ 10–1 deci d

10–3 milli m 103 kilo k

10–2 centii c 106 mega M

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 Prefixes Used with SI Units

Prefixes for powers of ten used with the SI units

Power Prefix Abbreviation Power Prefix Abbreviation

109 giga G 1018 exa E

1012 tera T 1021 zetta Z

1015 peta P 1024 yotta Y

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● Try to memorize the common
prefixes and their equivalent values
and abbreviations such as femto- to
centi-, and kilo- to giga-.
● These prefixes are commonly
encountered both in physics and in
everyday life situations.
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 Derived Quantities

These are based on the seven fundamental quantities

and are expressed from the product of two or more
base units.

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 Derived Units

Examples of derived quantities with their corresponding SI units

Derived Derived unit in

Special Name Symbol
Quantity terms of base units

volume V m3

speed, velocity v m s–1

force newton N kg m s–2

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 Derived Units

Examples of derived quantities with their corresponding SI units

Derived Derived unit in

Special Name Symbol
Quantity terms of base units

energy, work joule J kg m2 s–2 or N m

heat capacity J/K kg m2 s–2 K–1

electric charge coulomb C As

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What are other examples
of SI derived quantities?

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 Other Systems of Measurement

● The British Imperial system or imperial units are

used limitedly in some countries.
● It was established from the Weights and Measures
Act of 1824 and was continuously reformed.
● While the British continue to refine their
measurement, the Americans adopted the units
from the act of 1824 and called it the U.S. customary
units.

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 Other Systems of Measurement

Examples of imperial and U.S. customary units with their metric

equivalent

Unit Abbreviation Metric Equivalent

pound lb 4.448 N

slug slug 14.59 kg

ounce oz 28.350 grams

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 Other Systems of Measurement

Examples of imperial and U.S. customary units with their metric

equivalent

Unit Abbreviation Metric Equivalent

mile mi 1 609 m or 1.609 km

foot ft 30.48 cm

inch in 2.54 cm

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● Most of the quantities in
examples and problems require
the use of SI units.
● The Imperial and U.S. customary
units may be occasionally
mentioned but use the SI units as
much as you can.

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Why is it important to convert
units?

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 Conversion of Units

● An equation or expression should always be

consistent with the units to correctly solve it.

● Units can be treated as algebraic quantities that can

cancel each other.

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 Conversion of Units

Suppose you want to convert 5.0 inches to centimeter

given that 1 inch is equivalent to 2.54 centimeters.

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 Conversion of Units

It can be converted as follows:

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 Conversion of Units

It can be converted as follows:

The unit “inch” is placed in the denominator so that it

cancels the unit from the original value.

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 Conversion of Units

It can be converted as follows:

The remaining unit “centimeter” is the desired result.

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 Conversion of Units

Suppose you want to convert 55 meters to kilometers.

● From the table of prefixes, 1 kilometer is equal to

103 meters.

● The conversion is as follows:

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 Conversion of Units

The values in the numerator and the denominator of

the conversion factor can be interchanged to get the
desired unit.

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 Conversion of Units

The unit “kilometer” is placed in the denominator to

cancel the original unit.

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 Conversion of Units

The desired unit “meters” remains.

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How are units converted?

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A common housefly is 5.0 mm long. How long is it
in meters?

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A common housefly is 5.0 mm long. How long is it
in meters?

The housefly is 5.0✕10-3 m or 0.005 m long.

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The largest white shark ever recorded in
history is equivalent to 907 185 grams.
What is its mass in kilograms?

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A three-story building is 10 feet tall. How high is it
in meters?

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A three-story building is 10 feet tall. How high is it
in meters?

The building is 3.048 m high.

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A medium-sized truck has a mass of 544
slug. What is its mass in kilograms?

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A car is traveling in the North Luzon Expressway
(NLEX) at a speed of 35 km/h. Is the driver
exceeding the speed limit of 17 m/s?

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A car is traveling in the North Luzon Expressway
(NLEX) at a speed of 35 km/h. Is the driver
exceeding the speed limit of 17 m/s?

The driver did not exceed the speed limit of 17 m/s

since it is only traveling at 9.72 m/s.
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In the Philippines, major highways in
rural areas have a speed limit of 80
km/h. What if the driver is only familiar
with the speed in mi/h? What is the
equivalent speed in m/s?

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● Always write the values with the
correct units when solving problems.
● Carry the units throughout the
calculations.
● Any inconsistency in the units might
mean an error in the process and
requires double checking in the
calculations.
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A. Identify the correct word/s being described in each
item.

1. It is a process of assigning a quantity to describe the

property of an object by comparing it with a standard.
2. It is the standard system of measurement used today.
3. It is expressed from the the product of two or more
base units.

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B. Convert the following units to their corresponding
SI units.

1. The Philippines is 3 070 km away from Japan.

2. An Asian elephant has a mass of 370 slug.
3. Osmium is the densest naturally occurring element and
has a density of 22.59 g/cm3.

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● Measurement is a process of assigning a quantity
to describe a property of an object by comparing
it with a standard.

● A standard system of measurement is important

in providing a fundamental, stable, and universal
reference for units of measurement.
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● The seven SI base units are second, meter,
kilogram, ampere, kelvin, mole, and candela.

● Derived quantities are based on the seven

fundamental quantities and are expressed from
the product of two or more base units.

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● Conversion of units is essential to make the units
within an equation consistent. A given quantity is
multiplied by a conversion factor, arranged
accordingly to cancel the unwanted unit and to
get the desired one.

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