Measurements in Chemistry

Units of Measurement:

The International System of Units (SI):

-Is built upon a set of seven metric unites, called the base units

Basic Units for:

Length: meter (m)

Mass and Weight:

-Mass is the amount of material in an object

-Kilogram (kg) is the base unit for mass

Derived Unit: a combination of base units in SI

Area and Volume: Cubic meter

-Volume is the amount of space that an object occupies

SI Base Units

Unit Name
Physical Quantity and Symbol
Mass kilogram, kg
Length meter, m
Time second, s
count, quantity mole, mol
Temperature kelvin, K
electric current ampere, A
luminous intersity candela, cd

Derived Units
Physical
Quantity
Unit Name
and Symbol

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
Non SI Units:

Physical
Quantity Unit Name and Symbol
volume liter, L
atmosphere, atm, millimeters of
pressure mercury, mm Hg
temperature Celsius degree, Co
energy calorie, cal

Prefix Order: mega, kilo, BASE, deci, centi, milli, micro, nano, pico

Uncertainty in Measurement:

Why are measurements uncertain?

1. Measuring instruments are never completely free of flaws

2. Measuring always involves some estimation

Reliability in Measurement:

Precision: When an experiment is repeated and a measurement stays the same

(said to have high precision)

Accuracy: Testing something against a standard. (Knowing what the correct answer
should be). The correct answer is the accepted value. If data is close to its accepted
value, it is said to have high accuracy.

Significant Digits:

What are the significant digits in measurements?

The sum of certain digits and the estimated digits

Example: If something is measured on a scale with divisions of 100 grams. The

measurement comes out to be 1040 grams. You know that the 1,0, and 4 are
significant because they were not estimated. The last 0 is a place keeper in place of
a decimal point.

Scientific Notation

2.25 x 10 ^ -3 = 0.00225

Percents and Percent Error:

Percent Error = measured value – accepted value

Accepted value x 100

-Percent error can be positive or negative. If the PE is greater than the accepted
value it will be positive and vice versa

Ratios: Density is equal to the mass per one unit of volume

Density = mass/volume

Dimensional Analysis:

-Defined as the technique of concerting between units

1. Find unit equality

1 gal = 3.785 L

2. Write conversion factors from unit equality

1 gal = 3.785 L

1 gal = 1 gal

1 gal

3.785 L = 1

3. Use conversion factors

The unknown is liters so …..

4. Cancellation of Units

V (volume) = 250 gal X 3.785 L

1 gal

V = 950 L

Graphing:

- Independent variable versus dependent variable

- Label all axis

- Include a title

- Connect points with a best fit line