Units

Defining Units

When trying to describe the quantity or quality of something, whether a

chemical substance or physical phenomenon, it is helpful to have some
standard measure to refer to. A unit is nothing more than a standard by
which a measured value can be described. For instance, in the old English
system, a foot was just that--the length of a man's foot. This was helpful in
that when a distance between, say, a house and a water well was described
in feet, one who had never seen the dwelling in question would have an
instant idea of how far away the well was, based solely on a verbal
description. The concept today hasn't changed, although our standards make
better scientific sense and are more exact.

Systems of Units

There are two different sets of units used in scientific measurements: British
Engineering units and the metric system (also called the Standard
International (SI) system). Both are based on standards, though those
underlying the British system can be shockingly inscrutable. The metric
system is based on a far less arbitrary system of tens, and is far more
rational, intelligent, and easier to use. In general, people tend to stick with
the system with which they are most familiar, and have the most intuitive
feeling for. The United States uses the British system; most of the rest of the
world (including Britain) uses the metric system. In terms of science, the
metric system is almost always used. For Americans, it is therefore often
necessary to make conversions between the two.

Metric Units (SI units)

The standards metric terms for commonly measured characteristics are

listed in below.

Property Unit Symbol

Mass kilograms kg
Length meters m
Volume liters L
Time seconds s
Electric Current ampere A
Temperature Kelvin, Celsius K, C
Intensity of light candela cd
Amount of a Substance mole mol
Temperature in the table above is expressed in both Kelvin (K) and Celsius
(C). One kelvin is exactly the same as one C, except that the Kelvin scale
starts at absolute zero, or -273.15 C, the lowest temperature possible,
instead of the freezing point of water. Therefore water freezes at 273.15 K or
0 C.

Prefixes for Units

In addition to the basic metric units described above, there are prefixes to
indicate larger or smaller quantities. For example, a meter refers to a
standard metric measure of length. A millimeter refers to a measure that is
one thousandth the size of a meter (one thousand millimeters fit into a
meter); a kilometer refers to a distance one thousand times longer than a
meter (one thousand meters fit into a kilometer). By wisely using these
prefixes, you can avoid having to use huge numbers or having to resort to
scientific notation. The table below shows the most commonly encountered
prefixes:

Prefix Symbol Value Description

pico p 10-12 1 picoliter, (pL) = 0.000000000001 l

nano n 10-9 1 nanogram, (ng) = 0.0000000001 g
micro or u 10-6 1 micrometer (m) = 0.000001 m
milli m 10-3 1 milliliter (mL) = 0.001 L
centi c 10-2 1 centimeter (cm) = 0.01 m
deci d 10-1 1 decigram (dg) = 0.1 g
none none 1 normal units without prefixes
kilo k 103 1 kilogram (kg) = 1000 g
mega M 106 1 megagram (Mg) = 1,000,000 g
giga G 109 1 gigameter (Gm) = 1,000,000,000 m
tera T 1012 1 teraliter (TL) = 1,000,000,000,000 L

Using Units (Dimensional Analysis)

In working out calculations, units can provide an excellent source of self-

correction. When you perform a calculation in any science, you will almost
always be looking not just for a number, but for a number of a specific type
of unit. If the answer your work yields does not have the correct units, then
you know you have made a mistake somewhere.

For instance, lets say that a person who weighs 150 lbs (a British system
measurement) wants to know her weight in kilograms (a metric system
measurement). Start by drawing a horizontal line, and then making vertical
hash marks to form a table as in step one of the figure below.

Figure %: Units in calculations

The woman knows her weight in pounds and wants to find out what she
weighs in kilograms. As seen in step two, she should enter the known weight
in pounds next to the ratio of pounds to kilograms (1 : 2.205) in such a way
that the units cancel one another. This means that if lbs are on top, then
there must be lbs on the bottom, so that when they are divided, they cancel.
Next, while carrying out the obvious mathematical operation, cancel the
units. If the woman had accidentally put the ratio of pounds to kilograms in
upside down (2.205 : 1), then the units would not have canceled out, alerting
the woman that she had made a mistake.

Problems

Problem : How many yards are in a 5 km run?

It is known that 1m = 1.095 yards, and there are 1000 km in 1 m. Therefore
the dimensional analysis is set up with this information as follows:

Please notice that the units cancel themselves out. This is very important.
Problem : How many liters are there in a gallon?
There are 4 quarts in a gallon, and 1 L = 1.057 quarts

Problem : What is the height in cm of a 5'6.0'' woman?

Known: There are 12 inches in a foot, and 2.54 cm = 1 inch.

The woman's height is inches is 60" + 6.0" = 66.0"