How many?

Temperature When

1. Water boils?

2. Water freezes?

Why science ALWAYS uses metric

Two different groups of scientists were working on the calculations to send a probe to Mars.

The American team did their calculations in the English standard and the other team did it in the metric system (OOPS!)

• It cost the space program 125 MILLION dollars

• It cost the scientists their time

The Metric System

• The metric system is an internationally standardized system of units of measurement.

• The metric system is based on a base unit and prefixes.

Prefixes

• Kilo - 1000k

• Hecto - 100h

• Deca - 10 da

• none 1 none

• Deci - 0.1 d

• Centi - 0.01 c

• Milli - 0.001 m

Base Units

• Length: Meter

• Mass: Gram

• Volume: Liter

• Time: Second (DOES NOT USE PREFIXES!)

Length

• Metric Units of Length– Kilometer (km) = 1000 m

– Hectometer (hm) = 100 m

– Decameter (dam) = 10 m

– Meter (m) = 1 m

– Decimeter (dm) = 0.1 m

– Centimeter (cm) = 0.01 m

– Millimeter (mm) = 0.001 m

Mass

• Metric Units of Mass– Kilogram (kg) = 1000 g– Hectogram (hg) = 100 g– Decagram (dag) = 10 g– Gram (g) = 1 g– Decigram (dg) = 0.1 g– Centigram (cg) = 0.01 g– Milligram (mg) = 0.001 g

Volume

• Metric Units of Capacity– Kiloliter (kL) = 1000 L– Hectoliter (hL) = 100 L– Decaliter (daL) = 10 L– Liter (L) = 1 L– Deciliter (dL) = 0.1 L– Centiliter (cL) = 0.01 L– Milliliter (mL) = 0.001 L

Conversions within the Metric System

• To convert units within the metric system, write the prefixes in order from largest to smallest

k h da d c m

• To convert from a smaller unit to a larger unit, move to the left

• To convert from a larger unit to a smaller unit, move to the right

Ex: Convert 1600 cm to m

• km hm dam m dm cm mm

1600 cm = 16.00 m

• Move 2 places to the left to get from cm to m• Therefore, move the decimal point in 1600 two places to the left to convert from cm to m

Ex: Convert 2 kL to L

• kL hL daL L dL cL mL

2 KL = 2000 L

• Move 3 places to the right to get from kL to L• Therefore, move the decimal point in 2 three places to the right to convert from kL to L

Ex: Convert 45 cm to km

• km hm dam m dm cm mm

45 cm = 0.00045 km

• Move 5 places to the left to get from cm to km• Therefore, move the decimal point in 45 five places to the left to convert from cm to km