The Metric System

Getting to Know Metrics – Unit 1There are only 3 civilized countries that

do NOT use the metric system.

US

Liberia

Myanmar (Burma)

Metric Units Some metric units include:

gramsliters

meters

The Metric System is based on units of 10.

.

When have you used the Metric System?

Swimming pool

Track and Field

Traveling in Canada or

Mexico

Any exact quantity that people agree to use for comparison is a standard.

Hundreds of years ago, different countries used different systems

of measurement.

Most scientists in almost all countries use the International System of Units, also known as SI. This is the metric system.

The base units of SI:

Meter – measures length or distance

Gram – measures mass

Liter or cubic centimeter – measures volume

Degrees Kelvin – measures temperature

Science labs use the Metric temperature scale Celsius.

ROOM TEMPERATURE 20° C ----

Fahrenheit Scale

Water freezes 32°F

Room temperature 70°F

Body temperature 98.6°F

Water boils 212°F70 ° F20 ° C293

°K

Kelvin ScaleTo find the Kelvin temperature,

add 273 to the Celcius temperature.

Water freezes 273 °KRoom temperature 293 °KBody temperature 310 °KWater boils 373 °K

Metric Volume

The amount of space an object takes up is the volumevolume.

The metric units of volume are millilitermilliliter and literliter.

Milliliters can also be expressed as cubic centimeters (cmcubic centimeters (cm³)³).

A liter is a little more than a quart.

A few drops of water would be a milliliter.

One liter contains 1000 milliliters or 1000 cm³.

For water:

1 milliliter = 1 centimeter cubed = 1 gram

OR

1 mL = 1 cm³ = 1 g

3 Ways to Measure VolumeGraduated Cylinder – pour liquid in and read scale

Math Formula – measure with ruler and use math formula

Displacement – measure water in container, add the solid and re-measure water level, subtract first measure from the second measure.

V = l x w x h

Metric Length

The distance between two points.

Measured with a ruler or meterstick.

A meter is slightly longer than a yard.

A meter is the distance from the floor to a doorknob or the length of a baseball bat.

0.01 (one-hundredth) of a meter is a centimeter (cm).

A centimeter is about the diameter of a shirt button

or the diameter of the colored part of the eye.

Also the width of the pinky finger.

To measure very small items, use the millimeter.

It is the thickness of a dime.

Another example is the tip of a pencil lead.

When we measure very long distances, we use the kilometer.

The tallest building in the world is less than ½ of a kilometer.

The kilometer is used to measure distance between cities.

10 mm = 1 cm

100 cm = 1 m

1000 m = 1 km

Metric Mass

The amount of matter in an object.

Mass is measured with a balance.

A milligram (mg) is very light.

A graingrain of sand and pillspills are measured in milligrams.

1000 mg = 1 gram1 gram

A gram is heavier than the milligram.

A paper clippaper clip and a dollar billdollar bill have a mass of one gram.

A nickel has a mass of about 5 grams5 grams.

A kilogram is much heavier than a gram.

1000 g = 1 kg1 kg

A science bookscience book has a mass of

about one kilogram.

A pair of shoespair of shoes (not really big ones) has a mass of about

one kilogram.

Metric TemperaturesUsed in science labs

and measured in degrees CelciusCelcius or °C

Water freezes at 0 °C0 °C

Water boils at 100 °C100 °C

Normal body temperature is 37 °C37 °C

Room temperature is about 20 °C20 °C