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09 A Units and conversion

The document outlines the history and development of measurement units, highlighting the transition from numerous arbitrary units to the standardized metric system established in the late 18th century. It details the International System of Units (SI), which includes seven base units and their derived units, as well as the importance of metric prefixes for clarity in measurement. Additionally, it provides examples of unit conversions and the significance of accurate measurements in various applications.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
0 views

09 A Units and conversion

The document outlines the history and development of measurement units, highlighting the transition from numerous arbitrary units to the standardized metric system established in the late 18th century. It details the International System of Units (SI), which includes seven base units and their derived units, as well as the importance of metric prefixes for clarity in measurement. Additionally, it provides examples of unit conversions and the significance of accurate measurements in various applications.

Uploaded by

Reymart Tuna
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UNITS AND

CONVERSION
History of Units

Until the 18th century, there was no unified measurement


system
In 1795 there were over seven hundred different "units of
measurement" in France
Many were simply borrowed from human morphology.
Their names often referred to parts of the body: the digit,
the hand, the foot, the cubit, the pace, the fathom or toise
Introduced on 26 March 1791, the meter was defined as
being equal to the ten-millionth part of one-quarter of the
terrestrial meridian*. The meter materialized the idea of a
"unit which in its determination was neither arbitrary nor
related to any particular nation on the globe"
History of Units

The decimal metric system was introduced in 18


germinal years III (7 April 1795).
the first standards of the meter and the kilogram
were manufactured in 1799 and deposited in the
Archives of the Republic, dedicated to "all men
and all times
At the start of the 19th century in several Italian
provinces, the metric system became compulsory
in the Netherlands from 1816 and was chosen
by Spain in 1849
International Sytem of Units
The SI comprises a coherent system of units of measurement starting with
seven base units, which are the second (symbol s, the unit of time), metre (m,
length), kilogram (kg, mass), ampere (A, electric current), kelvin (K,
thermodynamic temperature), mole (mol, amount of substance), and candela (cd,
luminous intensity)
Derived Units
A derived unit is a SI unit of measurement comprised of a combination of the
seven base units.
The general application of the SI units
is to be used universally in technical
and scientific to avoid the confusion
with the units

Various units are being used, depending on


their application.

Ex.
When dealing with Force/ Weight, the unit that is used is N
When dealing with Electric Charge, the unit that is used is C
When dealing with Frequency, the unit that is used is Hz
When dealing with length, the SI unit that is used is m
Application of Derived Units

Ex.
As farming becomes more expensive and less profitable,
many families will sell the land to builders who want to use
the land for business purposes. In order to sell, an accurate
property tile is needed. The dimensions of the farm must be
determined and the acreage calculated from those
dimensions
Prefixes

A metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of


measure to indicate a multiple or submultiple of the unit.
All metric prefixes used today are decadic. Each prefix has
a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol.

1795 – The original 8 SI-prefixes that were officially


adopted: deca, hecto, kilo, myria, deci, centi, milli, and
myrio, derived from Greek and Latin numbers.
SI Prefixes
The SI prefixes are metric prefixes that were standardized for use in the
International System of Units (SI) by the International Bureau of Weights and
Measures (BIPM) in resolutions dating from 1960 to 1991.
Non-standard Prefixes

Obsolete metric prefixes- (myria and myrio) (mega, giga, tera) (micro, nano,
pico)

Double prefixes- micromillimeters, nanometres,


micromicrofarads,kilomegatons, hectokilometres, and hectokilometric

Binary prefixes- kibibyte, mebibyte, gibibyte, etc.


Numeral

Numerals and numeral systems, symbols, and collections


of symbols are used to represent small numbers, together
with systems of rules for representing larger numbers.
Conversion

the act or process of converting; state of being converted.


length, area, and volume
mass, speed, density, and force
feet, pounds, gallons, etc.
meters, kilograms, liters, etc.
Conversion charts
Conversion

To convert 10 feet to inches, multiply 10 times 12 (the conversion factor) =


120 inches

To convert 10 feet to yards, multiply 10 x 1/3 = 3.3333 yards (or 3 1/3 yards)

To convert 10 feet to meters, multiply 10 x .3048 = 3.048 meters

To convert 10 feet to centimeters, multiply 10 x 30.48 = 304.8 centimeters


REFERENCES

https://metrologie-francaise.lne.fr/en/metrology/history-units
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cheminter/chapter/derived-units/
https://www.nist.gov/pml/weights-and-measures/metric-si-prefixes
https://www.ece.utoronto.ca/canadian-metric-association/20-si-prefixes/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix#Non-standard_prefixes
https://www.britannica.com/science/numeral
https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-conversion-factor-604954
THE END.

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