Measurements

We need numbers in order to accurately take measurements

• When executing the scientific method we must perform experiments →

measurements → data
• Express measurements using units
• International System of Units (SI) aka: Metric system (meters,
grams, seconds)
• English units (feet, slugs, seconds)
Unfortunately American students must learn both systems!
• Units allow us to describe things numerically
• Measurement standards – a fixed and reproducible value for the
purpose of taking accurate measurements
How do we know the length of a meter, yard?
• Egyptians, cubit
• King Louis XIV, foot
• Distance from equator to north pole
1/10,000,000, meter, from
Greek metron for “measure”
• Modern standard, distance light,travels
in 1/299,792,458 s
Distance from Earth to nearest 1022 m
large galaxy
One light year 1016 m
Radius of Earth 106 m
Height of person 2m
Diameter of a period in a sentence 10-4 m
Diameter of a hydrogen atom 10-10 m
Diameter of a proton 10-15 m
 The mass of things
• Mass is the amount of matter an object contains – different than,
something's weight!
• Mass is measured in kilograms, grams, milligrams, etc…
• How do we know the mass of a kilogram? – the kilogram is defined to
be the mass of a cylinder of platinum-iridium kept at the
international Bureau of Weights and Measures
• Quart of milk ~ 1 kg Typical Masses
Milk Way Galaxy 4 × 10 41 kg
Earth 6 × 10 24 kg
Space Shuttle 2 × 10 6 kg
Elephant 5400 kg
Automobile 1200 kg
Human 70 kg
Baseball 0.15 kg
Honeybee 1.5 × 10 –4 kg
Bacteria 10 –15 kg
Hydrogen Atom 1.67 × 10 –27 kg
Electron 9.11 × 10 –31 kg
 The time of things
• Define time? Even though we all have a sense of what time is, it’s
difficult to give a good definition for it.
• In scientific work we need to know: When did it happen? How long did it
take?
• How do we know the time of a second?
- originally defined in terms of a fraction of the average day
(1 second = 1/86,400 of an average day)
- currently defined in terms of the frequency of radiation
emitted from a cesium atom (called an atomic clock)
Typical Times
Age of the universe 5 × 10 17 s
Age of the Earth 1.3 × 10 17 s
Existence of Humans 6 × 10 13 s
Human Lifetime 2 × 10 9 s
One Year 3 × 10 7 s
One Day 8.6 × 10 4 s
Time between heartbeats 0.8 s
Human reaction time 0.1 s
One cycle of an AM radio wave 10 –6 s
One cycle of a visible light wave 10 –15 s
Converting Units of Measurement – Dimensional Analysis
• It is often the case that we must convert from one set of units to another.
• Suppose we want to convert 316 ft to its equivalent in meters
 1 km   0.62 mile  12 inches   5280 feet   2.54 cm   100 cm 
           
 1000 meters   1 km   1 foot   1 mile   1 inch   1 meter 

these cancel !
Example: How many kilometers is 50,000 inches?

 1 foot   1 mile  1 kilometer 

50,000 inches      
 12 inches   5280 feet   0 . 62 mile 

1x 1 x 1
50,000 kilometers = 1.27 kilometers
12 x 5280x 0.62
left with the units we
want !
The order that you apply the conversions makes no difference in the end!
Converting Units of Measurement – Dimensional Analysis

 1 km   0.62 mile   12 inches   5280 feet   2.54 cm   100 cm 

           
 1000 meters   1 km   1 foot   1 mile   1 inch   1 meter 

If I run 10 m/s in a school zone posted 20 miles/hour,

am I speeding? Here we must convert two things: meters to miles, and seconds
to hours

1 kilometers   0.62 miles   3600 sec 

10 m / s   1 kilometer   
 1000 meters     1 hour 
= 22.3 mph YES ! SLOW DOWN

Conversions are a breeze with the metric system because it is based on powers
of 10!
Converting Units of Measurement – Dimensional Analysis

 1 km   0.62 mile   12 inches   5280 feet   2.54 cm   100 cm 

           
 1000 meters   1 km   1 foot   1 mile   1 inch   1 meter 

Converting higher order units

If I have a house with 2,000 ft2 how many m2 does this correspond to?

1 m = 3.28 ft
Notice these powers match!

2
1 meter 
2,000 ft 2
 3.28 ft  = 185 .9 m 2

 
Converting Units of Measurement – Dimensional Analysis

Prefix Power Examples

Kilo- 1000, 103 Kilometer, Kiloliter, Kilogram

Hecto- 100, 102 Hectometer,Hectoliter,Hectogram

Deca- 10, 101 Decameter,Decaliter,Decagram

m, l, gr 1, 100 meter,liter,gram

Deci- 0.1, 10-1 Decimeter,Deciliter,Decigram

Centi- 0.01, 10-2 Centimeter,Centiliter,Centigram

Milli- 0.001, 10-3 Millimeter,Milliliter,Milligram

What if I had 10 milliliters and needed to convert this to kiloliters?

1L 1 kL
10 mL × × = 0.00001 kL = 1 × 10 −5 kL
1000 mL 1000 L
There’s a cooler way to do it and it involves my friend Hector!
Converting Units of Measurement – Dimensional Analysis

Prefix Power Examples

Kilo- 1000, 103 Kilometer, Kiloliter, Kilogram Kind

Hecto- 100, 102 Hectometer,Hectoliter,Hectogram Hector

Deca- 10, 101 Decameter,Decaliter,Decagram Decked

m, l, gr 1, 100 meter,liter,gram Mr.

Deci- 0.1, 10-1 Decimeter,Deciliter,Decigram Deci

Centi- 0.01, 10-2 Centimeter,Centiliter,Centigram Cinema

Milli- 0.001, 10-3 Millimeter,Milliliter,Milligram Monday

Kind Hector Decked Mr. Deci at the Cinema on Monday.

KHDMDCM Each word represents one of the powers of ten in the

metric system!!
Converting Units of Measurement – Dimensional Analysis

KHDMDCM
So let’s look at how this works using the example we just did.

What if I had 10 milliliters and needed to convert this to kiloliters?

KHDMDCM

10.0 mL = ?? kL

KHDMDCM

Notice that I had to move over 6 letters to get to the “K” (or Kilo). So this
corresponds to the number (and direction) of spaces I have to move my
decimal!
10.0 mL = 0.00001 kL

Let’s try another example!

Converting Units of Measurement – Dimensional Analysis

 1 km   0.62 mile  12 inches   5280 feet   2.54 cm   100 cm 

           
 1000 meters   1 km   1 foot   1 mile   1 inch   1 meter 

We can use converting units to solve some neat problems.

How about this. If I know that a stack of 1,000 - $1 bills is = 1 inch in height

Could I jump over $1,000,000?

Where would we start?

???
 1 inch 
1,000,000 dollars  
 1000 dollars 
 1 inch   1 ft 
1,000,000 dollars     = 83 ft
 1000 dollars   12 inches 
If I could jump this high I would be in the NBA!!
Look this stuff is even useful for everyday life!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!

7-inch and 14-inch pizzas ($4.95, $13.95)

How much bigger is the 14-inch and which is the better buy?

Area of a circle = πr2

7-inch Area = 153.9 inch2 14-inch Area = 615.7 inch2

Best Buy? (Price per inch2)

7-inch $ 4.95/153.9 inch2 14-inch $ 13.95/615.7 inch2

 Dimensional Analysis
• Any valid physical formula must be
dimensionally consistent – each term
must have the same dimensions
From the table:
Distance = velocity × time
Velocity = acceleration × time
Energy = mass × (velocity)2