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Metric System

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5 views

Metric System

Uploaded by

Suny Sunny
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 PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Metric System

The Language of Science


Origins of the Metric System
 Before the 17th century, the systems of weights and
measures in Europe were very confusing.
 Units of length, land area, and weight varied from region
to region.
Solution?
 In 1791 France developed the metric system to alleviate
the confusion and differences among the systems.
 However, the system didn’t become widespread until the
19th century.
 The U.S. has not yet adopted the metric system.
The SI System

 To keep track of conversions between all


the different systems, the SI system was
created.
The SI System
 All systems of weights and measures are linked
through the International System of Units.
 It’s called the SI system from the French term
Système International d'Unités.
 The SI system has an
approved set of prefixes and
base units that are the same
all over the world.
Base SI Units

 The meter is used for distance,


 the kilogram for mass,
 the second for time,
 the ampere for electric current,
 the kelvin for temperature,
 the mole for amount of substance, and
 the candela for intensity of light.
Derivation of the Base SI Units
 The meter is defined as one ten-millionth of the distance
from the Equator to the North Pole.
 Also, the kilogram was designated as the weight of one
liter of water.
 Of course these are very difficult to measure, so the
French were a little off.
SI Prefixes
giga- (G-)109 billion
mega- (M-)106 million
kilo- (k-)103 thousand
hecto- (h-)102 hundred
deka- (da-) 101 ten
(base unit)
deci- (d-)10-1 tenth
centi- (c-)10-2 hundredth
milli- (m-)10-3 thousandth
micro- (µ-)10-6 millionth
nano- (n-)10-9
billionth
 If you combine the prefix and the base
unit, you get the complete unit.

Examples:
decigram, kilometer, millisecond
Conversions
 To convert from one unit to another, you
must pay attention to the prefixes.
 The simplest way to convert is to convert
back to the base unit first, and then go to
the desired unit.
 See the next page for an example.
Proceed to activities/worksheets

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