Metric System
Overview:
Many of you have trouble with metric prefixes and scientific notation. In this section, we'll start by learning why we have metric prefixes and what the metric prefixes are used for. Toward the end, we'll talk about the wonders and joys of scientific notation. Hold on to your hats! The Metric System If you already live in a country that uses the metric system (which is practically anywhere but the United States), you can probably skip right past this section to the part about scientific notation. However, if you're an American, chances are you don't really have any idea about how to use the metric system. Don't sweat it - we'll learn about it now. |
|
Why use the metric system?
If you’ve been using nonmetric units your whole life, you may be wondering what’s so great about the metric system. After all, you’re probably very happy being five feet, ten inches tall and weighing 175 pounds. It’s nice knowing that the temperature in your house is 68 degrees. What’s the big deal?
The problem is not that these units can’t be used, because clearly they can. The problem is that it’s very hard to convert between these units. For example, can you tell me how many inches tall you are? Probably not. However, using the metric system, this problem is very easy.
What are the common metric units?
The common metric units are:
Seconds: The main unit of time, this is abbreviated as “s”.
Meters: This is the main unit of distance, abbreviated as “m”.
Degrees Celsius: The unit of temperature, abbreviated as “0C”. Temperature can also be measured in Kelvins (K), which are found by adding 273 to the temperature in degrees Celsius.
Kilograms: The unit of mass, abbreviated as “kg”. This is kind of a weird one, because the prefix “kilo” means thousand, so “kilograms” means “thousand grams”. You’d think that “grams” would be the unit of mass, but for some reason, it’s not.
Hertz: The unit of frequency, abbreviated as (Hz). If something happens once a second, it happens with a frequency of 1 hertz.
Joule: The unit of work/energy, abbreviated as (J).
Pascals: The unit of pressure, abbreviated as (Pa). There are 101,325 pascals (101.325 kPa) in 1 atmospere.
If you’ve been using nonmetric units your whole life, you may be wondering what’s so great about the metric system. After all, you’re probably very happy being five feet, ten inches tall and weighing 175 pounds. It’s nice knowing that the temperature in your house is 68 degrees. What’s the big deal?
The problem is not that these units can’t be used, because clearly they can. The problem is that it’s very hard to convert between these units. For example, can you tell me how many inches tall you are? Probably not. However, using the metric system, this problem is very easy.
What are the common metric units?
The common metric units are:
Seconds: The main unit of time, this is abbreviated as “s”.
Meters: This is the main unit of distance, abbreviated as “m”.
Degrees Celsius: The unit of temperature, abbreviated as “0C”. Temperature can also be measured in Kelvins (K), which are found by adding 273 to the temperature in degrees Celsius.
Kilograms: The unit of mass, abbreviated as “kg”. This is kind of a weird one, because the prefix “kilo” means thousand, so “kilograms” means “thousand grams”. You’d think that “grams” would be the unit of mass, but for some reason, it’s not.
Hertz: The unit of frequency, abbreviated as (Hz). If something happens once a second, it happens with a frequency of 1 hertz.
Joule: The unit of work/energy, abbreviated as (J).
Pascals: The unit of pressure, abbreviated as (Pa). There are 101,325 pascals (101.325 kPa) in 1 atmospere.