Topic 2 - Measurement
Topic 2 - Measurement
Mathematics is the universal language that transcends borders and cultures, providing a structured and
systematic way to understand and quantify the world around us. One of the most fundamental applications of
mathematics is in the measurement of various physical quantities. In this discussion, we will delve into the world
of mathematical measurement, exploring its significance and applications in measuring time, length, mass,
volume, perimeter, and area.
Time
Time is a concept that has intrigued humanity for millennia. Math plays a critical role in measuring time, and the
standard unit, the second, is defined in terms of atomic vibrations. The use of mathematical principles in
timekeeping has led to the development of accurate and sophisticated time measurement devices, such as atomic
clocks. The ability to measure time with precision has transformed fields ranging from physics to daily life, with
applications in space exploration, telecommunications, and even global positioning systems.
What Is Time?
In math, time can be defined as an ongoing and continuous sequence of events that occur in succession, from past
through the present, and to the future.
Time is used to quantify, measure, or compare the duration of events or the intervals between them, and even,
sequence events.
We measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years with clocks and calendars.
A day has 24 hours. We use A.M. to tell the time running from midnight to noon and P.M. for the time running
from noon to midnight.
We do not write A.M. or P.M. at 12 o’clock in the afternoon and 12 o’clock at midnight. 12 o’clock at noon is written
as 12 noon and 12 o’clock at midnight is written as 12 midnight.
Measurement of Time Using a Clock
The hour hand, the shorter of the two hands, completes 1 rotation (360°) in 12 hours in a normal 12-hour analog.
The minute hand, the longer hand, completes 1 rotation through 360° in 60 minutes.
2. Digital Clock or the 24-hour clock
Generally, we use the 12-hour clock to measure time. But railways, airlines, armed forces, and newspapers use the
24-hour clock.
On the 24-hour clock, the hours from midnight to the next midnight are marked 0 to 24.
▪ On a 24-hour clock, we use 4 digits.
▪ The two digits on the right show the minutes past an hour.
▪ The two digits on the left show the number of hours.
For example:
12:45 means it is 45 minutes past 12 hours
18:20 means it is 20 minutes past 18 hours
A day starts at midnight. So, the time at midnight is expressed as 00:00 hours.
The day ends at midnight. So, midnight is also expressed as 24:00 hours.
1 day = 24 hours
1 hour = 60 minutes
1 minute = 60 seconds
1 hour = 3600 seconds
Length
Length measurement is a fundamental aspect of mathematics that has applications in diverse fields, from
construction and engineering to science and art. The use of units such as meters, feet, and inches, and the
principles of geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, enable accurate length measurements. The introduction of
more advanced measurement tools, like lasers and GPS, has greatly enhanced our ability to measure lengths
precisely.
Outside of the mathematics class, context usually guides our choice of vocabulary: the length of a string,
the width of a doorway, the height of a flagpole, the depth of a pool. But in describing rectangles or brick-shaped
objects, the choice of vocabulary seems less clear.
Question: Should we label the two dimensions of a rectangle length and width; or width and height; or
even length and height? Is there a “correct” use of the terms length, width, height, and depth?
Rectangles of various shapes and positions.
The choice of vocabulary here is entirely about clarity and lack of ambiguity. Mathematics does not prescribe rules
about “proper” use of these terms for that context. In mathematics as elsewhere, the purpose of specialized
vocabulary is to serve clear, unambiguous communication. In this case, our natural way of talking gives us some
guidelines.
Length: If you choose to use the word length, it should refer to the longest dimension of the rectangle. Think of
how you would describe the distance along a road: it is the long distance, the length of the road. (The
words along, long, and length are all related.) The distance across the road tells how wide the road is from one
side to the other. That is the width of the road. (The words wide and width are related, too.)
When a rectangle is drawn “slanted” on the page, like this, it is usually clearest to label the long side “length” and
the other side “width,” as if you were labeling a road.
Slanted rectangle.
Height: When a rectangle is drawn with horizontal and vertical sides, the word height makes it clear which
dimension is meant; height labels how high (how tall) the rectangle is. That makes it easy to indicate the other
dimension—how wide the rectangle is from side to side—by using the word width. And if the side-to-side
measurement is greater than the height, calling it the length of the rectangle is also acceptable, as it creates no
confusion.
When height would be unclear—for example if the figure is not “level” —people cannot know what is
meant by width, depth, or height without labels, although length is generally still assumed to refer to the longest
measurement on the figure. And, as in two dimensions, terms like “length,” “width,” and “height” won’t feel natural
or be clear for some shapes, like a tennis ball.
What’s in a word?
Length, width, height, and depth are nouns are derived from the adjectives long, wide, high, and deep. They follow
a common English pattern that involves a vowel change (often to a shorter vowel) and the addition of th. (The
lone t in height is modern. Obsolete forms include heighth and highth, and it is still common to hear people
pronounce it that way.)
So, the units for metric length, capacity(volume), and weight (mass) in the metric system are:
Metric Length: Centimeter (cm), Millimeter (mm), Meter (m), Decimeter (dm), and Kilometer (km) are used to
measure how wide or long, or tall an object is.
“The metric length of the path that is travelled by light in a vaccum within 1⁄299792458 seconds”.
• Kilometres
• Nanometer
• Millimetres
• Centimetres
• Meters
• Decimeters
For understanding how big the metric units are, look at the table below:
Metric Example
Millimetre The thickness of a credit card or a plastic id card is about a millimetre thick
Examples include measuring the thickness or metric length of cloth, a debit card, or distance between 2 cities.
Kilometer (km) (Kiran) 1000
Mass
Measuring mass involves using mathematical concepts related to weight and gravitational force. Units such as
kilograms, pounds, and grams are used to quantify mass. Math helps us design and calibrate scales and balances
for precise measurements. Accurate mass measurements are crucial in industries like chemistry, physics, and
healthcare, ensuring the safety and efficacy of various processes and products.
Weight is the measure of how heavy an object is. Weight is measured in standard customary units.
The mass of an object is the amount of material it contains. Mass is measured in standard metric units.
For everyday purposes, when you're on the surface of the earth, the difference is not important. But if you measure
something on another planet, its mass will be the same as it is on earth—but its weight will be different. (Weight
depends on gravity, and gravity is different on other planets! This is why when you're floating in space,
you're weightless. You still have mass, though,)
Metric Units
The gram and kilogram are two units used to measure mass in the metric system.
From the gram, we get the rest of the metric units using the standard metric prefixes.
Volume
Volume, the amount of space occupied by an object or substance, can be measured using mathematical
principles. Units like liters, gallons, and cubic meters are employed. Geometry and calculus play a vital role in
determining the volume of complex shapes. Applications range from determining the volume of a liquid in a
container to calculating the volume of irregularly shaped objects in fields like architecture and engineering.
Every three-dimensional object occupies some space. This space is measured in terms of its volume. Volume
is defined as the space occupied within the boundaries of an object in three-dimensional space. It is also known
as the capacity of the object.
Finding the volume of an object can help us to determine the amount required to fill that object, like the amount of
water needed to fill a bottle, an aquarium or a water tank.
The simplest and most common type of three-dimensional shape is a sphere. Some examples of spheres that we
see in daily life includes balls, globes, decorative lights, oranges, etc. The simplest measurement that can be
made on a sphere is its radius. The volume of the sphere is calculated using its radius.
Volume of a Sphere = 43πr3, where r is the radius of the sphere.
Cube
The next simple and common three-dimensional shape is the cube. It is identified by the unique property that
each side of the cube is of the same length. Some everyday examples of objects in the shape of a cube are dice,
Rubik’s cubes, sugar cubes, gift boxes, etc. The volume of a cube is calculated using the length of its side.
Volume of a Cube = a3, where a is the length of each side of the cube.
Cuboid
Cuboid shape is also referred to as the rectangular prism. In a cuboid, the length of the sides will vary. The
following notation is used to represent the sides of a cuboid.
▪ Length = l
▪ Breadth = b
▪ Height = h
All these dimensions are used to calculate the volume of a cuboid. Common examples of cuboids are books, shoe
boxes, bricks, mattresses, etc.
Volume of a Cuboid = l x b x h
Cylinder
A cylinder is also a three-dimensional shape with circular bases and a height separating the two bases. Everyday
objects that are cylindrical include water bottles, buckets, candles, cans, etc. The volume of a cylinder is
calculated by measuring the radius of the base and the height.
Volume of a Cylinder = πr2h, where r is the radius of the base, and h is the height of the cylinder.
Cone
A cone is a three-dimensional shape that we commonly see around us. An ice-cream cone, a party hat, a funnel,
or a Christmas tree, all of these are examples of a cone. A cone is a distinctive three-dimensional geometric figure
that has a flat surface and a curved surface, pointed towards the top.
Volume of a Cone = 13πr2h, where r is the radius of the base of the cone, and h is the height of the cone from the
base to the top.
Volume Measurement
Volume is calculated for three-dimensional objects and hence is represented in cubic units or another format of
writing cubic unit; as this is commonly used (unit)³ such as cubic centimeters, cubic inch, cubic foot, cubic meter,
etc If the length or radius is measured in centimeters, then the volume is measured in cubic centimeters (cm 3). If
the measurements are in meters, the volume is measured in cubic meters (m3).
When we measure the volume of liquids (for example, to find the volume of water that a cylindrical bottle can
hold), we have to change the values in cm3 or m3 into liters. The volume can be converted from liters to
centimeters using the following formula.
1 l = 1000 cm3
1 l = 1000 ml
1000 cm3 = 1000 ml
So, 1 cm3 = 1 ml
= 5 ✕ 4 = 20 cm
The given table summarizes the formulas to find the perimeter of some regular polygons:
Therefore,
Perimeter of irregular polygon = sum of all sides
Area
Area is the measure of the extent of a two-dimensional surface. Mathematical techniques like integration,
geometric formulas, and trigonometry are essential for area measurement. Whether calculating the area
of a room for flooring installation, a piece of land for real estate purposes, or determining the surface area
of complex shapes in physics, mathematics is indispensable.
Definition of Area
Area is defined as the total space taken up by a flat (2-D) surface or shape of an object.
The space enclosed by the boundary of a plane figure is called its area. The area of a figure is the number
of unit squares that cover the surface of a closed figure. Area is measured in square units like cm² and m².
Area of a shape is a two dimensional quantity.
The term “area” refers to the space inside the boundary or perimeter of a closed shape. The geometry of
such a shape contains at least three sides joined together to form a boundary. Symbolic representation of
such space in mathematics refers to the “area” formula. To represent and draw real-life objects, designers
and architects use different shapes such as circle, triangle, quadrilateral, and polygon.
The invention of the wheel was the prime step of translating objects into geometric shapes. In the early
days, the interpretation of “area” using a formula for geometric shapes evolved from the experiments
conducted by Archimedes.
To find out the area of the square figures drawn below, draw unit squares of 1-centimeter sides. Thus, the shape
will be measured in ��2, also known as square centimeters.