The Metric System A Common Language

The Metric System Developed by the French in the late 1700’s. Based on powers of ten for easier conversion. Used universally by scientists and referred to as the International System.

International System (SI) A complete, coherent decimal system of units used for scientific work, in which the fundamental quantities are length, time, electric current, temperature, luminous intensity, amount of substance, and mass. SI stands for the Systeme Internationale d’Unites (French for International System of Units) Today the United States is the only country in the world not totally committed to the Systeme International d'Unites.

Metric Prefixes Regardless of unit, the entire metric system uses the same prefixes. Prefixes include: Kilo = 1000 Hecto = 100 Deka = 10 Deci = 0.1 Centi = 0.01 Milli = 0.001

Length Length is the distance between two points. The SI base unit for length is the meter A meter is a little more than a yard

Mass Mass is the amount of matter that makes up an object. The SI base unit for mass is the gram. A gram has about the same mass as paper clip.

Volume Volume is the amount of space contained in an object. The SI base unit for volume is the liter or the cubic centimeter. 1 cm3 = 1 mL

Temperature Temperature is the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment (corresponding to its molecular activity). The base SI unit for temperature is Kelvin. For our purposes, we will use Celsius.