Expioration 14 The History of Measurement ‘When people first began to take measurements, they used parts oftheir bodies as measuring devices, for example, their fingers, hands, and feet. Some measurements that were developed based on human bodies included: a digit, a hand, a span, and a cubit This kind of measurement lacks consistency because peoples bodies axe of varying sizes. Gradually, these units of measurement were Standardized. For example, the ancient Egyptians used the cubit in two forms, The short cubit was about 45 centimetres long and the royal cubit was about 52 centimetres long, The royal cubit was used to make ‘measurements while the pyramids were built, ‘Two systems became widely used in the modern world, the imperial system, and the Systeme internationale d'unités, or metric system. Tod: the metric system isthe dominant system in Canada but until 1980, Canadians mainly used the imperial system. Canadians stil use the Imperial system for certain measurements because the United States, an important trade partner for Canada, uses ths system.The Imperial System “The primary unit for measuring len which is subdivided inco 12 equal pars called inches, Another unit of the Imperial system isthe yard, which is three fet long. Longer distances in the imperil system are measured in miles. A mile is 5280 feet long, Some other units of measurement based-on the human body are stil used today but are less well known. For example, the height of horses is measured in hands." Ar one time, a hand would in the imperial system isthe fot, have varied but it has now been standardized a four inches, The fathom is a measurement unit once used to measure the depth of water from a boat. A stone or piece of lead would be attached to rope and thrown into the sea, As it was pulled out, a sailor would treasure by counting off lenghs of his outstretched ams, fathom was standardized asx et Classroom Activity Measure the tems listed below using the original body pars that same measure? How could you measure each of the items so that —— ae ous ___| pers eight | length of the spine ofthis book | agit height of teacher's desk asroom door handThe Systeme internationale d'unités or Metric System “The Systeme imernatinale dues was developed in France because of a widespread desire to create a uniform system of measurement. tis abbreviated “I but is ofen calle the metic system in English, The ‘metric system was gradually adopted by most other countries and toda, ‘most counties use it 10 make measurements ‘The metic system i an efficent system because it is based on decimal numbering, This means that metic measurements ae multiples of 10 and can ealy be converted from one unt to another by multiplying or dividing by a factor of 10. “The primary unt for measuring length i the metre. Listed below are prefixes used before the word “metre” i the metric system to indicate other measures i the sytem and thei lationship tothe mete. For example, the prefix “cents” means one-hundredth and a centetre is one-hundredth ofa metre. °Mill” means one-thousandth and a nalmetre is one-thousandth of a mete. “Kilo,” on the other hand, means a thousand times, so a lilometre sone thousand metes. Refer to ‘ruler calibrated in mete units and examine the length ofa centimetre and a millimetre Metric System Prefixes