Metric System / Measurement

The Metric System of Measurement

THE METRIC SYSTEM OF MEASUREMENT:

Click here: History of the Metric System

The Metric System is a decimal system of measurement based on the number ten (10).

The United States uses the English System of measurement.

"Magnum est ut inter sese colloqui possint periti in scientiae rebus."

Translation of Latin above:

"It is important that scientists can communicate with each other."

The metric system is commonly used by scientists as a standard form of communicating data worldwide.

Scientists share their research and experimental results with other fellow scientists.

Scientists communicate their quantitative data to one another.

To learn more about an attempt to create a common world language, click here: Esperanto

Click here: Martian Metric Mistake

...to learn more about the "Mars Mission Metric Disaster"

~ THE TOWER OF BABEL ~

Expression: "Don't babel like an idiot."

The Tower of Babel / History of Babel

(a fictional engineering disaster due to communication breakdown)

NOTE: There are only three (3) countries in the world that do NOT use metric:

United States, Liberia, Myanmar (Burma).


Learn More: Myanmar (Burma)	Map of Myanmar (Burma)

Click here: Myanmar = Burma


Learn More: Liberia / Africa Map	Official Flag of Liberia

Click here: History of Liberia / Liberia / Timeline

HISTORICAL NOTE:

In 1960, the General Conference of Weights and Measures

approved an updated version of the metric system,

known as the International System of Units, abbreviated SI.

The main reason why the USA does NOT convert to metric is expense.

It would cost BILLIONS of dollars for the United States to convert to the metric system!!!

...plus, it would create tons of trash, not to mention the inconvenience.

$$$

Items that would have to be thrown away and

replaced by a metric equivalent:

Bathroom scales
Recipes and cook books
Measuring cups for cooking/baking
Household thermostats
Ovens (temperature dial)
Thermometers
Road signs (speed and distance)
Carpenter's tools (wrenches, nails, wood, screws, blueprints)
Computer software (tabs, print configuration, spacing)
Textbooks (math, science, geography)
Maps
Automobile speedometers/odometers
Rulers (inch-foot, yard sticks, measuring tape)
Gasoline pumps
Food packaging
Paper and xerox machines
Clothing (sizes for shoes & pants, patterns, factory equipment)
...and many other miscellaneous household items

CHART SHOWING STANDARD METRIC UNITS:

TYPE OF MEASUREMENT	METRIC UNIT	ENGLISH UNIT
Volume	Liter	Gallon
Length (Distance)	Meter	Yard
Mass (Weight)	Gram	Pound
Temperature	degrees Celsius	degrees Fahrenheit

~VOLUME~

Volume: the amount of space an object occupies.

Liquid volumes are usually measured in metric units of milliliters (mL).

1 mL = 1 cc

Doctors and medical professionals tend to use cubic centimeters (cc).

Meniscus:

the U-shaped curvature that liquids have in their containers.

Click here: Meniscus Madness

Remember...Always read the BOTTOM of the MENISCUS curve!

How is VOLUME determined?

Solid volumes of cubes/rectangles are ususally measured using the formula:

Length x Width x Height

or...

Irregular solid volumes are measured using the "Water Displacement Method."

Bathtub Tints Experiment: Volume Practice

Length Measurement in Metric

Above: Platinum-Iridium Standard Meter Bar

The Meter:

Above: Wooden Meter Stick (portion)

The meter was originally defined to represent one ten millionth (1⁄10,000,000) of the distance between the North Pole and the Equator

(on a line of longitude through the former Prime Meridian of Paris, France).

Learn more about the Meter

The Prime Meridian represents zero (0) degrees longitude.

The Prime Meridian used to pass through Paris, France.

Today, the Prime Meridian passes through Greenwich, England.

Lines of longitude start at the North Pole and end at the South Pole.

One meter is currently defined as:

1⁄299,792,458th of a light-second.

Light-Year:

NOTE: Really HUGE distances in space are measured in...

LIGHT-YEARS: (the distance light travels in one calendar year).

Click here: Learn more about the Speed of Light

Light moves at a speed of about 300,000 kilometers per second. (186,000 miles/second)

More precisely, one light-year is equal to 9,500,000,000,000 kilometers (5,866,000,000,000 miles).

So in one year, light can travel almost 10 trillion km (~ 6 trillion miles). Wow!

ABOVE: An animated line showing the speed of light

on a scale model of the Earth and the Moon.

(about 1.2 light-seconds apart)

USING A RULER:

RULER RULES:

1. Start measuring at the zero mark.

2. Rulers are NOT swords! (lunch detention)

3. Do NOT bend rulers. (they break)

4. Do NOT spin rulers. (they break)

5. Do NOT take classroom rulers out of class.

Remember: Start measuring at the zero mark.

1 INCH = 2.5 CENTIMETERS

Chart of Metric Prefixes:

Metric Prefix	Definition	Meter	Liter	Gram
milli	1/1,000	mm	mL	mg
centi	1/100	cm	cL	cg
kilo	1,000	km	kL	kg

Metric Conversion and English Equivalents:

There are twelve (12) inches in a foot. (12" = 1')

There are 1,000 millimeters in a meter. (milli = 1/1000th)

There are 100 centimeters in a meter. (centi = 1/100th)

There are 1,000 meters in a kilometer. (kilo = 1,000)

One (1) kilometer equals 0.62 miles. (10 km = 6.2 mi)

NOTE: There are ten (10) millimeters in one (1) centimeter. (1cm = 10mm)

One Millimeter: Width of one (1) dime

Metric Comparisons:

MILLIMETER: width of a penny or a dime
CENTIMETER: width of a large paper clip
METER: length of a baseball bat
KILOMETER: distance an average person can walk in ten minutes