METRIC SYSTEM

Thinking about measurement… Why is it important to have a constant

system? Base units:

Meter Gram Second Liter

Pico (p)

pico___10base 1

12base 1pico___1012

Examples:•1pg = mass of DNA in a cell•1pm = length of a hydrogen atom

Nano (n)

nano___10base 1

9base 1

nano___109

Examples:•1ng= mass of one cell•1nm= width of DNA

Micro (μ)

micro___10base 1

6base 1

micro___106

Examples:•1µg = mass of one human egg •1µ = width of human hair

Milli (m)

milli10base 13 base 1

milli___103

Examples:•1mg = mass of a mosquito •1mm = width of pen point

Centi (c)

centi___10base 1

2base 1

centi___102

Examples:•1cg = mass of half of a fly •1cm = width of a Cheerio

Deci (d)

deci___10base 1

1base 1

deci___101

Examples:•1dg = mass of a cottonball •1dm= width of a softball

Base (No Prefix)

base 1base 1

Examples:•1 g = mass of a paperclip •1 m = width of a door

Kilo (K)

kilo___ 1base 103

base10kilo___ 1

3

Examples:•1kg = mass of a sneaker•1km = distance from NSA to Penn Station NJ

Mega (M)

base10Mega____ 1

6 Mega 1base106

Examples:•4Mg = mass of an elephant

Giga (G)

Giga___ 1base 109

base 101giga___

9

Examples:•1/2Gg= mass of a space shuttle•1Gm= traveling from NY to CA and back 125,000,000 times

Always ask yourself: Which is bigger?

We start with the base unit and either divide it into smaller pieces OR multiply it into bigger pieces.

Example: 1 meter is about the width of a door Helpful to have units of other sizes! To measure large objects, we want a large

unit! To measure small objects, we want a small

unit!

Pneumonic Devices One way to memorize an ordered list of

something, like the list of prefixes, is to create a pneumonic device

Example: PEMDAS (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally)

Try to make one for pico-giga! (I’ll reveal mine in 7 minutes)

My attempt…pico- Paratroopers (NOTE: 12 letters)nano- Nominated (9 letters)micro- Mickey’smilli- momcenti- ‘causedeci- Daffy’skilo- kidsmega- missedgiga- grandma