Date: ______________________________ Name: __________________________________

Chemistry Period: _____

Metric Scale Online Lab Activity Due Date: __________________________

Pre-Lab
Purpose

This online lab activity will help you become

familiar with the metric scale as well as gain
an appreciation for the size of our universe.

Background

This is not a formal lab. There is no hypothesis we are testing, nor is there a set
procedure we must follow. Instead we will be using a computer application to note
observations about the relative size of objects in our universe and then match those
objects with an appropriate metric prefix.

Predictions

**These questions must be answered before beginning the lab.**

Copy the question and your answer into the lab notebook after the purpose.

1. What metric prefix and its power would be suitable to measure the diameter
of the Sun?
2. What metric prefix and its power would be suitable to measure the diameter
of a helium atom?

Copy Table 2-1 Metric Prefixes into your lab notebook.

Table 1-4b SI Prefixes

Relative Prefix Unit Expone Meaning
Size Abbrevia ntial
tion Multipli
er
tera- T 1012 1, 000, 000,
000, 000
giga- G 109 1, 000, 000,
Immense
000
mega M 106 1, 000, 000
-
kilo- k 103 1, 000
BASE - 100 1
Ordinary deci- d 10-1 0. 1
centi- c 10-2 0. 01
milli- m 10-3 0. 001
 micro 10-6 0. 000 001
-
Infinitesi
nano- n 10-9 0. 000 000 001
mal
pico- p 10-12 0. 000 000 000
001
Procedure

1. Go to the website Scale of the Universe 2 by Cary Huang at

http://htwins.net/scale2/ and click on the start button.
2. Starting with the Ordinary size prefixes from Table 1-4b, construct a data table
that includes each of the prefixes from that section; the table should show an
object from the website whose size is measured in that prefix, write the
approximate size of that object in meters (with a power of 10), and the expanded
size in meters (see the meaning column).
3. When you are have filled the table with the prefixes from the Ordinary size
objects repeat step 2 by making a second and third table for the Immense and
Infinitesimal prefixes in the same way.

Note: Explore the incredibly large and small objects that our universe possesses. If
you go too far in one direction and need to get back to the size of about 1 meter, hit
the refresh button and reload the page.

Conclusion Questions
Answer these in your lab notebook after you have completed the analysis
questions.

1. Write a sentence explaining if your first prediction was correct.

2. Write a sentence explaining if your second prediction was correct.
3. Write a sentence or two describing something that surprised you about this
activity.

Grade Rubric
Below is the rubric that you will be graded against.

Category Point
Value
Title 1
Purpose 1
Prelab Questions 4
Table 2-1 6
Ordinary Table 10
Immense Table 6
Infinitesimal Table 6
Conclusion Questions 6
Total 40

*If you are found on another website during this lab it will result in a 10%
(4 point) deduction!*
**If you are found a second time it will result in an additional 20% (8 more
points)!!!**

Metric Scale Lab Rubric Name:

Title Ordinary Table

_____ / 1 pt. _____ / 10 pts.

Purpose Immense Table

_____ / 1 pt. _____ / 6 pts.

Pre-Lab Questions Infinitesimal Table

_____ / 4 pts. _____ / 6 pts.

Table 2-1 Conclusion Questions

_____ / 6 pts. _____ / 6 pts.

Comments:
Total Score

_____ / 40 pts.

Metric Scale Lab Rubric Name:

Title Ordinary Table

_____ / 1 pt. _____ / 10 pts.

Purpose Immense Table

_____ / 1 pt. _____ / 6 pts.

Pre-Lab Questions Infinitesimal Table

_____ / 4 pts. _____ / 6 pts.

Table 2-1 Conclusion Questions

_____ / 6 pts. _____ / 6 pts.

Comments:
Total Score

_____ / 40 pts.