Chapter 1:

Nature Of Measurement
 INTRODUCTION
 Measurement : quantitative observation consisting of
number and scale (unit))
 Examples:
 length: 2.2 m
 force: 4.45 kg m/s2

SI UNITS
 International System of Unit (Système Internationale
d’Unites)
 Based on metric system (?)
 Is a decimal system of units for measurements of mass,
length, time and other quantities which can be built from
7 base units:
 SI BASE UNITS

Measurement Unit Symbol

Length meter m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Temperature kelvin K
Amount of substance Mol Mol
Electrical current ampere A
Luminous intensity candela cd
 SI PREFIX

Prefix Meaning Symbol Factor value

tera T 1012
giga G 109
mega millions of M 106 1000000
kilo thousands of k 103 1000
deci tenths of d 10-1 0.1
centi hundredths of c 10-2 0.01
milli thousandths of m 10-3 0.001
micro millionths of  10-6 0.000001
nano billionths of n 10-9 0.000000001
pico trillionths of p 10-12 0.000000000001

Quantities differing from the base unit by powers of ten are

noted by the use of prefixes.
 COMMON UNITS USED IN
LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS

-LENGTH

-MASS

-TEMPERATURE

-VOLUME
LENGTH

 The SI unit for length, the meter (m) is too large for
most laboratory purposes.
 More convenient units are the centimeter (cm) and
millimeter (mm).
1 cm = 10-2 m = 0.01 m
1 mm = 10-3 m = 0.001 m
1 m = 100 cm = 1000 mm
1 cm = 10 mm
 MASS

 Def.: amount of matter in an object

 SI unit for mass: kilogram (kg)
 But the more convenient is gram (g) used for most
laboratory measurement.
1 kg = 1000 g
1g = 1000 mg
1 mg = ? G
1 g = ? g
TEMPERATURE

 SI unit: Kelvin
 usually measured with a thermometer
 Three common scales:
degrees Celsius = oC
Kelvin = K
degrees Fahrenheit = oF
 Mathematical formulas to convert:

K = oC + 273
oC = K - 273
oF = (1.8 x oC) + 32
 VOLUME

 Is derived unit with dimensions of (length)3

 Unit: m3
 In chemistry, usually we measure amount of liquids. The
traditional metric unit of volume: liter (L)
1 L = 1000 cm3
1L= _?_ m3
 the glassware we normally use is marked in milliliters
(mL)
1 L = 1000 mL
1 mL = 1cm3
 DERIVED UNITS

Measurement Definition Symbol

Area Length x width m2
density Mass/volume kg/m3
Speed Distance / Time m/s
Acceleration Change in speed / Time m/s2
Force Mass x Acceleration (kg.m)/s2
(newton, N)
pressure Force/area kg/(m.s2)
Pascal, Pa
energy Force x length (kg.m2)/s2
Joule, J
 60 min in one hour

PER
60 min PER hour expression

60 min 1hour
and
1hour 60 min
60 minutes = 1 hour

 Conversion factor is written as a fraction

  Conversion factors:

60 min 1hour
and 60 min
1hour

a) how many minutes in 2.72 hours?

60 min
2.72 hours x = 163 minutes
1hour
b) how many hours in 250 minutes?

259 min x
1hour = 4.32 hours
60 min
 Example 1:

Perform the following conversions

a) 255 nm = ? cm
b) 0.12 kg = ? cg
c) 1 L = ? dm3
 a) 255 nm = ? cm

SI prefix: 1nm = 1 x 10-9 m

1m = 100cm

Conversion factor:
1nm 1 x 10-9 m
and
1 x 10-9 m 1nm

100cm 1m
and
1m 100cm
 nm cm

1 x 10-9 m 1cm
255 nm x x
1nm 1 x 10-2 m

= 2.55 x 10-5 cm
b) 0.12 kg = ? cg

1 x 103 g 1cg
(0.12 kg)
1kg 1 x 10-2 g

= ?
 c) 1 L = ? dm3

1 L = 1000 mL = 1000 cm3

3 3
1000 cm3 x 1m x 1dm
100 cm 1 x 10-1 m

x 1 m3 x 1dm3
1000 cm3 = ? dm3
1 x 106 cm3 1 x 10-3 m3
Exercise 1:
The block of wood pictured below has a mass of 2.52 kg.
What is the density of the wood in g/cm3

6.2 cm

5.1 cm
1.08 m
 Solution
 Change the mass from kg to g

 Change the length from m to cm

 The volume of the wood:

 The density of the wood:

Exercise 2:

1. Perform the following conversions:

a) 0 oC to oF and K
b) 100 oC to oF and K

2. The average density of earth is 5.52 g/cm3. What is

its density in kg/m3
Answer:
 Homework
An empty vial weights 55.32 g.
1) If the vial weights 185.56 g when filled with liquid
mercury (d = 13.53 g/cm3), what is its volume?
2) How much would the vial weight if it were filled with
water?
 ACCURACY AND PRECISION

Accuracy:

 how close a measurement is to the true value of

the quantity that was measured.

Precision:

 how closely two or more measurements of the

same quantity agree with one another

 can be judge by examining the average of the

deviation of each measurement from the average
A) C)

B)
D)

* Highly precise measurement do not necessarily

guarantee accurate results.
Example 1

Student A Student B Student C

1.964 g 1.972 g 2.000 g
1.978 g 1.968 g 2.002 g

Average value 1.971 g 1.970 g 2.001 g

True value: 2.000 g

Therefore:
 Student C’s result is the most accurate and precise

 EXERCISE

Three workers measure the mass of a 10.000 g mass on

several different kitchen balances.

worker A : 10.022 g, 9.976 g, 10.008 g

Worker B : 9.836 g, 10.033 g, 9.732 g
worker C : 10.230 g, 10.231 g, 10.232 g

Q1:Which set of data has the best precision?

Q2:Which has the best accuracy?

 SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

 Very large and very small numbers can be simplified

written using a power of 10
 scientific notation

N x 10n
N = number between 1 – 10
n = exponent (+ve/–ve integer)
 The power of 10 is equal to the number of
places that the decimal point has been
moved:

 Moved to the left +ve number

 67890 = 6.7890 x 104
 50000000= 5.0 x 107

 Moved to the right -ve number

 0.0000312 = 3.12 x 10-5
 0.0468 = 4.68 x 10-2
Example 1:
Express the following in scientific notation
i) 4534.12

ii) 0.000000721

iii) 74.6

iv) 0.00203

v) 10026
 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

 The significant figures of a number are those digit

that carry meaning contributing to its precision

 Also known as significant digits.

 Each recorded measurement has a certain number
of significant digits.
 Calculations done on these measurements must
follow the rules for significant digits.
 Guideline for using significant figures:

1. Any digit that is not zero is significant.

e.g: 1.234 kg  4 significant figures

2. Zeros between nonzero digits are significant

e.g: 606 m  3 significant figures

3. Zeros to the left of the first nonzero digit is not

significant
e.g: 0.0000349  3 significant figures
4. Number that is greater than 1, all the zeros written
to the right of the decimal point count as significant.
e.g: 2.0  2 significant figures
50.054  5 significant figures

Number that is less than 1, only the zeros that are

at the end of the number and the zeros that are
between nonzero digits are significant.
e.g: 0.0220  3 significant figures
0.5004  4 significant figures
5. Number that do not contain decimal points, the
trailing zeros (zeros after the last nonzero digit) may
or may not be significant
 USE SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
e.g: 400 4 x 102 (1 s.f.)
or 4.0 x 102 (2 s.f.)
or 4.00 x 102 (3 s.f.)
0.004004500
 Handling significant figures in calculation

 Addition and subtraction

The answer should have the same number of decimal
places as the quantity with the fewest number of
decimal places.

 Multiplication and division

The number of significant figures in the answer should
not be greater than the number of significant figures in
the least precise measurement
 Example

Q1: 125.17 + 129 + 52.2 = ?

Solution: 1 2 5 . 1 7
1 2 9
5 2 . 2
.

Q2: 132.56 – 14.1 = ?

Solution: 1 3 2 . 5 6
1 4 . 1
.
Q3: 8.16 X 5.1355 = ?

Q3: 190.6 X 2.3 = ?

 Example

Q: 8.16 m X 5.1355 m = ?
SOLUTION

3 s.f 5 s.f (digit remains the same)

8.16 X 5.1355 = 41.9 0568 41.9 m2

Drop digits
Fewest significant
figures (3 s.f)
Q: 190.6 m X 2.3 m = ?

SOLUTION (round off to 4)

(190.6) (2.3) = 43 8.38 440 m2

2 s.f
Drop digits
Fewest 4.4 X 102 m2
significant
figures (2 s.f)
 Exercise

1) 0.225m x 0.0035m x (2.16 x 10-2 m)

2) 32.44 m + 4.9m – 0.304 m

82.94 m
3) Calculate the average of the two measured lengths 6.64
cm and 6.68 cm.

* Exact numbers are considered to have an infinite

number of significant figures.
 exact numbers could be obtained from definitions or
by counting numbers of objects.
 E.g :
 500 sheets of paper in one ream
 1m = 100cm

 There are exactly 100cm in one meter.

 Therefore, if a number is exact, it DOES NOT affect
the accuracy of a calculation nor the precision of the
expression
4) 1g
(4.80 x 104 mg)
1000 mg

11 55 cm3