1. The Metric System
Base Ten Measurement

2. Why bother with the Metric System?
Scientists use the metric system as their system of measurement (International System of Units, SI).
The Metric System is a decimal system, based on the number “10” and multiples of ten.
Scientists use metric units to measure WHAT ???
Length
Volume
Mass
Temperature

3. Length The basic unit of length is the meter (m) 1 m = 39.4 inches
All other lengths in the metric system are measured in relation to the meter.
milli-meter
centi-meter
kilo-meter
nano-meter
What about the mega-meter or the giga-meter?

4. Length is usually measured with a ruler
Length is also called distance. Distance is used to determine velocity
Velocity = distance  time

5. Mass Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object
The basic unit of mass was originally the gram (g)
The basic unit of mass has since been changed to the kilogram (kg)
bigger atoms or
More matter means one of three things:
more atoms
or both

6. Mass is usually measured with a scale
Mass is sometimes called weight, though they are not quite the same.
Changes in gravity result in changes in weight, but mass stays the same

7. Volume Volume is the amount of space an object takes up
The basic unit of volume is the liter (L)
The metric unit to measure the volume of a solid is a cubic centimeter (cm3 or cc), but …
1 cm3 = 1 mL
also
1 g of H20 at 1° Celsius = I mL = 1 cm3

8. Liquid volume is usually measured with a graduated cylinder or beaker
(or a 2 L bottle)
5 cm
Solid volume is measured with a ruler
5 cm
5 cm
5 x 5 x 5 = 125 cc (or cm3)

9. Temperature
Temperature is a measure of the energy contained in the motion of the particles of a substance
The basic unit of temperature is the degree
Many scales are used to measure temperature, and the metric system uses degrees Celsius (C)
H20 freezes at 0° C
H20 boils at 100° C

10. 3O° Celsius is pretty darn hot!
2O° Celsius feels quite nice
10° Celsius, grab a coat dude
O° Celsius, you’re seeing ice
So what is the temperature today, you’d say?

11. Prefixes to Know bigger smaller kilo = one thousand
centi = one hundredth
mega = one million
milli = one thousandth
giga = one billion
micro = one millionth
nano = one billionth

12. Now put it together prefix + unit + centi kilo meter mega liter giga
milli
gram
micro
nano
Want more prefixes?