General Chemistry

Lecture 3
Measurement
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Contents
SI Base Units
Length, mass, time, temperature, etc.
Prefixes

SI Derived Units
English Units
Number

Scientific notation
Significant figures
Accuracy
Precision

Dimensional Analysis
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

SI
Base Units

Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

SI Base Units of Measurement

SI Units (International
System of Units)
Length is meter (m)
In chemistry, centimeter (cm)
is more often used than m.
Non-SI unit, angstrom () =
10-10 m, is also used in
spectroscopic measurements.

Mass is kilogram (kg)

In chemistry, gram (g) is
more often used than kg.

SI Base Units
Base Quantity

Name
of Unit

Symbol

meter

Mass

kilogram

kg

Time

second

s (sec)

Temperature

kelvin

Electrical current

ampere

mole

mol

candela

cd

Length

Amount
Luminous intensity

Time (s or sec)
Temperature is kelvin (K)
Fahrenheit: F and
Celsius: C are also used

Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Prefixes of SI Units
Prefix

Symbol

Factor

Example

Tera-

1012

1 teragram (Tg) = 11012 g

Giga-

109

1 gigagram (Gg) = 1109 g

Mega-

106

1 megagram (Mg) = 1106 g

Kilo-

103

1 kilogram (kg) = 1103 g

hecto-

102

1 hectogram (hg) = 100 g

deka-

da

10

1 dekagram (da-g) = 10 g

Deci-

10-1

1 decigram (dg) = 0.1 g

Centi-

10-2

1 centigram (cg) = 0.01 g

Milli-

10-3

1 milligram (mg) = 0.001 g

Micro-

10-6

1 microgram (g) = 110-6 g

Nano-

10-9

1 nanogram (ng) = 110-9 g

Pico-

10-12

1 picogram (pg) = 110-12 g

Femto-

10-15

1 femtogram (fg) = 110-15 g

Atto-

10-18

1 attogram (ag) = 110-18 g

Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Mass and Weight

Mass is the quantity of matter that gives the heaviness

for an object of the matter.

The mass of an object is the same wherever and whenever it

is measured.
SI units

Kilogram (kg) and gram (g)

1 kg = 1000 g

Weight is the force that gravity exerts on an object.

Weight depends on the location when it is measured.

W=mg

W is the weight, m is the mass, and g is the gravitational acceleration

constant.

g = 9.81 m/s2
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Measuring Devices for Mass

Top loading balance
Depending on the model and manufacturer,
they can measure mass to 1/10, 1/100, or
1/1000 of a gram.

Analytical balance
It can read to 1/10,000 of a gram.

Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Temperature Measure
SI unit for temperature is kelvin (K)
Celsius (C) is defined from the boiling and
freezing points of water.
It has the same magnitude as kelvin, but
differ by an offset value of 273.15.
1 K = 1 C

Fahrenheit (F) is used in United States.

1 K = 1.8 F
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Conversions between Temperature Scales

Knowing one formula, one can derive the other
K to C
C = (1 C/K) (K) 273.15C

C to K
K = (C + 273.15 C ) (1 K / 1 C)

C to F
F = (1.8 F/C) (C) + 32F

F to C
C = (F 32F) (1C / 1.8F)
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Measuring Devices for Temperature

Mercury Thermometer
Depend on the division of the marks, usually
it can read to 1/10 of a degree.

Alcohol Thermometer
Depend on the division of the marks, usually
it can read to 1/10 of a degree.

Digital Thermometer
Depend on the digital readout.
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Examples of Temperature Conversion

Solder is an alloy made of tin and lead that is used to connect electronic wires
and circuits. A solder has a melting point of 435F. What is its melting point
in degrees Celsius?
Answer: Use the equation, C = (F 32F) (1C / 1.8F)
(435 F 32 F) (1 C / 1.8 F) = 224 C
Helium has the lowest boiling point of all the elements at -269 C. Convert
this temperature to degrees Fahrenheit.
Answer: Use the equation, F = (1.8 F/C) (C) + 32F
-269 C (1.8 F/ C) + 32F = -452 F
Mercury, the only metal that exists as a liquid at room temperature, melts at
234.3 K. 38.9C. Convert its melting point to degrees Fahrenheit.
Answer: Use the equations, C = (1 C/K) (K) 273.15C, then
F = (1.8 F/C) (C) + 32F
(234.3 K) (1 C/K) 273.15 K = -38.9 C
(-38.9 C) (1.8 F/C) (C) + 32F = -38.0 F
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Derived Units

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SI Derived Units
Derived units are the compounded units from multiple
base units.
Area is the length squared.
Volume is the length cubed.

SI unit: m2

Density is the mass per unit volume

Speed is the distance per unit time

SI unit: kg/m3

SI unit: m3
SI unit: m/s

Acceleration is the speed per unit time

SI unit: m/s2
Force is the mass multiplied by acceleration SI unit: kg.m/s2
Pressure is the force per unit area
Energy is the force multiplied by distance

SI unit: kg/(m.s2)
SI unit: kg.m2/s2
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Volume Measure

Cubic Meter (m3)

Cubic Centimeter (cm3)
Cubic Decimeter (dm3)
Liter (L)
Milliliter (mL)
Conversion Factors
1 m3 = 1,000 dm3 = 1,000,000 cm3
1 cm3 = (1 10-2 m)3 = 1 10-6 m3
1 dm3 = (1 10-1 m)3 = 1 10-3 m3
1 mL = 1 cm3
1 L = 1000 mL = 1000 cm3 = 1 dm3
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Measuring Devices for Volume

Burette
The accuracy depend on the division of the marks.
50-mL and 25-mL burettes can be read to 1/100 of a mL.

Pipette
Deliver exact volume at the mark.

Graduated cylinder
Depend on the division of the marks:
10-mL cylinder can be read to 1/100 of a mL
100-mL cylinder can be read to 1/10 of a mL

Volumetric flask
Store exact volume at the mark.

Others
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Density Measure and Units

Density = mass / volume
d=m/V

SI Unit
kg/m3

Solid Samples
g/cm3

Liquid Samples
g/mL

Gas Samples
g/L
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Examples of Density
A piece of gold with a mass of 243.2 g has a
volume of 12.6 cm3. Calculate the density of
gold.
Answer: Use the equation,
d=m/V
d = m/V = 243.2 g / 12.6 cm3 = 19.3 g/cm3

A piece of platinum metal with a density of 21.5

g/cm3 has a volume of 8.45 cm3. What is its
mass?
Answer:
m = d V = 21.5 g/cm3 8.45 cm3 = 182 g
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Example of Identification via Density

A colorless liquid is believed to be one of the following:
Substance Density (g/mL)
n-butyl alcohol 0.810
ethylene glycol 1.114
isopropyl alcohol 0.785
toluene 0.866

Identify the substance by measuring the density. A

volume of 21.1 mL has a mass of 18.36 g. What is this
substance?
Answer: Use the equation, d = m / V
d = 18.36 g / 21.1 mL = 0.870 g/mL
Based on the measured density, the substance is toluene.
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Example of Mass-Volume Conversion

An experiment requires 33.0 g of isopropyl
alcohol. The density of isopropyl alcohol is 0.785
g/mL. What volume of isopropyl alcohol will be
needed to meet the mass required?
Answer:
Use the equation: d = m/V
Rearrange the equation
V= m/d

V = 33.0 g / (0.785 g/mL) = 42.0 mL

Henry R. Kang (1/2010)

Conversion between
English and Metric Units
Quantity
Mass
Length
Volume

English

Metric

1 pound (lb) =

453.6 grams or 0.4546 kg

2.2 pounds

1 kilograms

1 inch

2.54 centimeters

1 yard

0.91 meters

1 quart

0.946 liter

1 gallon

3.78 liters

Note that the pound (lb) is a rather troublesome unit. It is a unit of mass but also used as a
unit for force. In the case of force, 1 lb is the force due to gravitational attraction on an
object of that mass:
F = ma = 0.4536 kg 9.81 m/s2 = 4.45 kg.m/s2 = 4.45 N;
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)
1 lb = 4.45 N

Problem of lb Unit
Problem:
On 9/23/99, $125,000,000 Mars Climate Orbiter entered
Mars atmosphere 100 km lower than planned and was
destroyed by heat.

Reason
NASA engineer mistook the conversion factor as
1 lb = 1 N
lb is an English unit of force:
1 lb = 4.45 N
Force = mass acceleration
= 0.454 kg 9.81 m/s2
= 4.45 kg.m/s2
= 4.45 N
(1 N = 1 kg.m/s2)
Henry R. Kang (1/2010)