1. Metric system and scientific notation
Intro to Science
Metric system and scientific notation

2. SI Base Units Quantity Unit Abbreviation Length Meter m Mass gram g
Time
Second s
Temperature
Kelvin K
Volume
Liter L
Volume (2nd)
Cubic cm
cm3

3. Mass measures how much matter is in something
kg (1.99 X 1030 kg)
grams (1.67 X g)

4. Volume measures how much space something takes up
Cubic centimeters (cm3)
Milliters (mL)

5. Metric Prefixes Prefix Symbol Multiple of base unit kilo- k 103 hecto-
102
deka- da
101
BASE
BASE UNIT
deci- d
10-1
centi- c
10-2
milli- m
10-3

6. Prefixes for grams Milli Milligrams 1/1000 of a gram Grams (base) Kilo
Kilogram
1000 grams

7. Mnemonic device for remembering prefixes
King (kilo)
Hector (hecto)
Drinks (deka)
Ultra (unit)
Delicious (deci)
Chocolate (centi)
Milk (milli)

8. Converting: Step by Step process (100g to mg)
1. Write what you HAVE down (100g)
2. If there is no decimal, put it in (100.g)
3. Use the KHDUDCM mnemonic
Where you start
Where you end up
Find how many steps you moved over
4. Move decimal the number of steps and fill in zeros
Be sure to put NEW unit in ( mg)

9. Let’s try these together…
10 g = ________mg
100kg = _______g
21.3dag=_______g
10g=__________kg
100mg=_______hg
21.3dg=_______g

10. Scientific Notation
Many quantities that scientists work with are very large or very small values. For example:
3,000,000,000,000,000,000 electrons’ worth of charge pass through a standard light bulb in 1 second
kg is the mass of ink used to dot an i in a textbook

11. Speed of Light Speed of light: 300,000,000 meters/second
3.00 x 108 m/s

12. Size of solar system
45,000,000,000 kilometers
4.50 x 1010 kilometers

13. Atom’s Mass
grams
1.6 X g

14. Scientific Notation (cont)
Scientific Notation is used to make numbers easier to read, write and keep track of.
Pointers:
Positive exponents show a very large number
Negative exponents show a number smaller than 1

16. Format
# . # x 10 #
Exponent
Coefficient

17. Examples of positive notation
Try these:
48 =
5,290=

18. Examples of Negative Notation
Try these: = = =