1. Metric System

2. Metric System Developed by the French in the late 1700’s.
Based on powers of ten, so it is very easy to use.
Early units were based on the properties of the Earth and the Earth’s most abundant substance, water
Used by almost every country in the world, with the notable exception of the USA.
Especially used by scientists.

3. How it Works
A standard is established for a particular type of measurement, such as length or mass.
The standard is divided into 10 smaller and equal portions- each portion is 1/10 of the standard and given a special prefix
The new portions are again divided into 10 smaller segments; this continues over and over again

4. Metric Prefixes Subdivisions of the base metric unit are:
deci = 1/10 and is abbreviated d__ and the lowercase letter precedes the abbreviation of the base metric unit
centi = 1/100 and is abbreviated c__
milli = 1/1000 and is abbreviated m__

5. Prefixes continued
We can write the prefixes as decimal equivalents or powers of 10 as follows:
deci = 0.1 or 1 x 10-1
centi = 0.01 or 1 x 10-2
milli = or 1 x 10-3

6. Metric Multiples
Just as we can divide units into 10 smaller pieces, we can combine 10 units
deka = 10 standard units; its abbreviation is da__
hecto = 100 standard units; h__
kilo = 1000 standard units; k__

7. Multiples continued… Writing prefixes using exponents, they become:
deka = 1 x 101
hecto = 1 x 102
kilo = 1 x 103

8. Length Length is the straight line distance between two points.
The Metric System base unit for length is the meter.
It was originally 1 – 10 millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along the meridian through Paris (1/ )
A Platinum-Iridium bar was two lines scribed on it representing one meter

9. Length continued… The original is kept in Paris, France
There are copies around the world and here in the United States, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the Federal government is responsible for its safe keeping

10. Applying Prefixes to the Meter
The meter is abbreviated lower case “m”
Subdivisions and multiples have the corresponding prefix added to the “m”
1 m = 10 dm;
1 m = 100 cm;
1 m = 1000 mm

11. More about prefixes…
Multiples of the meter are handled in a similar manner:
10 m = 1 dam
100 m = 1 hm
1000m = 1 km

12. Mass Mass is the amount of matter that makes up an object.
A golf ball and a ping pong ball are the same size, but the golf ball has a lot more matter in it. So the golf ball will have more mass.
The Metric standard for mass is the kilogram.

13. Mass continued…
It was originally the mass of one cubic decimeter of water
The standard kilogram is defined as the mass of a cylindrical bar of platinum-iridium stored in Paris, France
As with the standard meter, copies are found around the world
In the US, the NIST has two

14. Measuring Mass
We will use a balance scale to measure mass. For example, a Harvard Pan Balance or a Triple-Beam Balance
Object placed on one side; known masses are placed on the other
Electronic balances are commonly used in today’s laboratory

15. Changes to the Metric System
Periodically, scientists gather to propose changes to the Metric System
Nevertheless, the basic concept of powers of 10 between units is kept
The last major set of changes was in the 1960s-70s
Resulted in the SI units and a redefining of some standards

16. SI Stands for international standards Why isn’t it IS then ?
Comes from the French name
Systeme Internationale d’ Unites
Hence the abbreviation SI

17. Changes…
To accommodate an increasing greater need for precision, the meter is now, “the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 second.”
For time, a second using the atomic clock is the duration of periods of radiation from a cesium atom

18. Other changes… Additional prefixes have been added:
micro, μ__, 1 millionth or 1 x 10-6
nano, n___, 1 billionth or 1 x 10-9
pico, p__. 1 trillionth or 1 x 10-12
Mega, M__, million times or 1x106
Giga, G__, billion times or 1x109
Tera, T__, trillion times or 1x1012

19. Commonly used prefixes in Chemistry
kilo-
deci-
centi-
milli-
micro-
nano-
pico-

20. Biggest Change
Established 7 basic standard units to be used and from which all others are derived

21. Standard SI Units Length = Meter (m) Mass = Kilogram (kg)
Time = Second (s)
Temperature = Kelvin (K)
Amount of Substance = Mole (mol)
Electric Current = Ampere (A)
Luminous Intensity = Candela (cd)

22. Still use prefixes… For example:
1 milliampere (1 mA) is one thousandth of an Ampere (A)
1 picosecond (1ps) is one trillionth of a second (s)
1 gigameter (Gm) is a billion meters (m)
1 micrometer (1μg) is one millionth of a meter (m)

23. Derived Units
When one or more of the Standard SI Units are combined to give a new measurement unit, that unit is called a derived unit of measurement
Area would be an example because we multiply the length times the width:
15 m x 10 m = 150 m2

24. Derived Units…continued
The m2 is read “square meters” not meters squared
The SI Derived Unit of FORCE is the Newton, abbreviated N and is defined as the mass in kilograms times the acceleration of the object in meters per second each second --- kg, m and s are all SI standard units; therefore, N is a derived unit………………………..simple

25. Mnemonic Kangaroos Hop Down Mountains Drinking Chocolate Milk
Kahn’s Hot Dogs Use Dead Cow Meat

26. How to use the mnemonic
First letter gives you the starting letter of the prefixes in their correct order
When changing between two units you simply count the spaces from starting unit to the desired unit
Move decimal point that number of places in the same direction

27. Example Change 15.5 cm to dekameters
Kilo-hecto-deka-unit-deci-centi-milli
Starting at centi- you are going to the left three places to deka
Therefore you move the original decimal three places to the left giving you dam

28. Volume Volume is the amount of space contained in an object.
We can find the volume of box shapes by the formula Volume = length x width x height
In this case the units would be cubic centimeters (cm3).
So a box 2 cm x 3 cm x 5cm would have a volume of 30 cm3

29. Liquid Volume
When the metric system was created, they decided that 1 cm3 of water would equal 1 milliliter of water and the 1 mL of water will have a mass of one gram.
1 cm3 of anything = 1 mL of anything
1 cm3 water = 1 mL of water = 1 gram

30. Water Mass and Volume 1 cm3 water = 1 mL of water = 1 gram
So what would be the mass of 50 mL of water be?
50 grams
So what would be the mass of 1 liter of water be?
1 L = 1000 mL so its mass would be 1000 grams or a kilogram.