The Metric System

from

Indu

stry

Wee

k, 1

981

Nov

embe

r 30

No Cussing!The following 4-Letter

words are forbidden here:

Inch MileFoot PintYard Acre

And we never swear the BIG F (useoC)

Please keep it clean and

Metric

SI System

• The International System of Units• Derived Units Commonly Used in Chemistry• Area and Volume: Derived Units• Prefixes in the SI System

Map of the world where red represents countries which do not use the metric system

A Common System for Trade

In 1790, the French government appointed a committee of scientists to develop a universal measuring system.

English system of measurement originated in 1215 with the signing of the Magna Carta. It attempted to bring uniform measurements to world trade.

It took ~10 years, and they unveiled the Metric system.

length meter mmass gram gvolume liter Ltime second s

The International System of Units

Length meter m

Mass kilogram kg

Time second s

Amount of substance mole mol

Thermodynamic temperatureKelvin K

Electric current amperes amps

Luminous intensity candela cd

Quantity Name Symbol

Dorin, Demmin, Gabel, Chemistry The Study of Matter , 3rd Edition, 1990, page 16

The Original Metric Reference

H2O = 1 liter

Volume

1 kg

H2O = 1 kilogram

Mass

1/10 m

1/10 m

1/10 m

= 1 meter

Length

1/10,000,000 Earth

The Official Standard Meter

The Official Standard Kilogram

Derived Units Commonly Used in Chemistry

Area square meter m2

Volume cubic meter m3

Force newton N

Pressure pascal Pa

Energy joule J

Power watt W

Voltage volt V

Frequency hertz Hz

Electric charge coulomb C

Quantity Name Symbol

Area and Volume: Derived Units

Area = length x width

= 5.0 m x 3.0 m

= 15 ( m x m)

= 15 m2

Volume = length x width x height

= 5.0 m x 3.0 m x 4.0 m

= 60 ( m x m x m)

= 60 m3

Prefixes in the SI System

Power of 10 for Prefix Symbol Meaning Scientific Notation_______________________________________________________________________

mega- M 1,000,000 106

kilo- k 1,000 103

deci- d 0.1 10-1

centi- c 0.01 10-2

milli- m 0.001 10-3

micro- 0.000001 10-6

nano- n 0.000000001 10-9

The Commonly Used Prefixes in the SI System

Zumdahl, Zumdahl, DeCoste, World of Chemistry 2002, page 118