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SI Units and Measurement Conversions

The document discusses measurement units in science and the International System of Units (SI Units). It provides the seven base SI units for fundamental quantities like mass, length, and time. Prefixes are used to indicate multipliers or subdividers of the basic units, such as kilo for 1000 and milli for 0.001. Examples show how to convert between units by multiplying or dividing the amount by the appropriate power of ten. Questions at the end ask the reader to complete a table of units and perform unit conversions.

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Nick Miller
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115 views2 pages

SI Units and Measurement Conversions

The document discusses measurement units in science and the International System of Units (SI Units). It provides the seven base SI units for fundamental quantities like mass, length, and time. Prefixes are used to indicate multipliers or subdividers of the basic units, such as kilo for 1000 and milli for 0.001. Examples show how to convert between units by multiplying or dividing the amount by the appropriate power of ten. Questions at the end ask the reader to complete a table of units and perform unit conversions.

Uploaded by

Nick Miller
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1

MEASUREMENTS AND SI UNITS

In science we can make qualitative and quantitative statements. When we make an observation
such as” the metal bar expands when heated”; we are making a qualitative statement. When we
are taking measurements and we state that “the metal bar expands 2.6 mm”; we are making a
quantitative statement. Whenever a quantitative statement is made, the number should always
include a unit.

All measurements have units and in order to avoid confusion, we use S.I. Units (a universal and
standard system of measurement)

International System of Units

Fundamental Quantity Base SI Unit


Name Symbol Name Symbol
Mass M Kilogram kg
Length L Metres m
Time T Seconds s
Current I Amperes A
Temperature T/Θ Kelvin K
degrees Celsius °C
Luminous Intensity I candela cd

Sometimes Physicists must use units that are very small or very large. Submultiple units are
smaller than the basic unit and multiple units are larger than the basic unit. The base unit is
either multiplied by a multiple of 10 (multiple) or divided by a multiple of ten (submultiple)

Common Prefixes with SI Units

PREFIX MULTIPLE SYMBOL

giga 109 G
mega 106 M
kilo 103 k
PREFIX SUBMULTIPLE SYMBOL
milli 10-3 m
micro 10-6 µ
nano 10-9 η
pico 10-12 p

T. Harding, A. Lovell & D. Whitehall


2

You must be able to convert units to higher or lower units. If you want to convert a smaller unit
to a larger unit, you must divide the number by an appropriate multiple of ten.

Example: Convert 6000g to kg

There are 1000 g in 1 kg Therefore to convert from g to kg you must divide the number by 1000.

= 6000 ÷ 1000
= 6kg (HINT Your final number should be smaller than the original.)

To convert a larger unit to a smaller unit, you must multiple the number by a multiple of ten.

Example: Convert 7m to mm

1 m has 1000 mm

= 7 × 1000
= 7000 mm (HINT Your final number should be larger than the original)

QUESTIONS (From New Coordinated Science page 16))

1. Copy and complete the table below

MEASUREMENT UNIT SYMBOL


Length
Mass
S
Ampere
Temperature
Area m3
Newton

2. a) How many mg are there in 1 g?


b) How many g are there in 1 kg?
c) How many mg are there in 1 kg?
d) How many mm are there in 4 km?
e) How many cm are there in 5 km?

3. Write down the values of


a) 300 cm in m e) 0.5 s in ms
b) 500 g in kg f) 0.75 km in m
c) 500 m in km g) 2.5 kg in g
d) 250 ms in s h) 0.8 m in mm

T. Harding, A. Lovell & D. Whitehall

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