UNITS AND MEASUREMENTS

IN CHEMISTRY

Why is unit so important?

In Science and Engineering, all units are usually
expressed as the International System of Units (SI
units).
7 fundamental units of measurements
Physical properties Name of Unit Symbol
LENGTH Meter /metre m
MASS Kilogram /kilogramme kg
TIME Second s
ELECTRIC CURRENT Ampere A
TEMPERATURE Kelvin K
LUMINOUS INTENSITY candela cd

AMOUNT OF SUBSTANCE mole mol

(SI = Le Systèm International d’Unités)

N.B.
 You should memorise these SI units
 To use SI units:

o Use only SINGULAR form of units

For example, for 8 meters:

write 8 m (with a space between 8 and m)
NOT 8m or 8ms or 8m.

o Use a DOT in the baseline for decimal point

For example,
write 8.6 not 8,6 (Be careful: 8 (dot) 6, not 8 (comma) 6)
Write 0.84 not .84
SOME IMPORTANT SI UNITS

•Length

•Mass

•Volume

•Density

•Temperature
SOME IMPORTANT SI UNITS
 LENGTH AND SIZE
The SI base unit of length: meter (m)

The Angstrom (Å): 1Å = 10-10 m = 0.1 nm

 VOLUME (V)

Volumes are often measured in

liters (L) or milliliters (mL) in
the metric system.

One liter (1 L)
= one cubic decimeter (1 dm3 )
= 1000 cubic centimeters (1000
cm3 )
 MASS
Mass is the measure of the quantity of matter
an object contains.
SI unit of mass: kilogram (kg)

0.0000: precision
and accuracy of
the measurement
 MASS
Mass is the measure of the quantity of
matter a body contains.
Weight and mass?
Mass: quantity of matter, cannot change.
An object’s mass is constant
Weight:
• Depends on its mass
• the strength of the local gravitational
field
Your weight is slightly less on the top of the mountain
 Sample problem
International computer communications
are often carried by optical fibres in
cables laid along the ocean floor. If
one strand of optical fibre weighs 1.19
 103 lb/m, what is the mass (in kg) of a
cable made of six strands of optical
fibre, each long enough to link New
York and Paris (8.84103 km)?

Source: Principle of General Chemistry,

Silberberg.
 DENSITY
• The density (d) of an object is its mass
divided by its volume

SI unit of density: kg/cm3

In chemistry: g/L (g/dm3) or g/mL (g/cm3)

• The density : characteristic physical

property of a substance
• Extensive properties: dependent on the
amount of substance

E.g.: mass, volume

• Intensive properties: independent on the

amount of substance

E.g.: density
 TEMPERATURE
• Do NOT misunderstand: heat vs. temperature
 Heat: the energy that flows between
objects that are at different temperatures
 Temperature: is a measure of how hot or
cold a substance is, relative to other
substances
Which one is an
• Temperature: intensive property?
• Heat: Which one is
extensive property?
 TEMPERATURE

• 3 temperature scales:
 Celsius (oC)
 Kelvin (K)
 Fahrenheit (oF)
TEMPERATURE: unit conversion
 oC  K

 K oC

 oC  F

 F oC
 LENGTH AND SIZE

Size of many objects.

Some can be seen by humans eyes, some cannot
prefixes

Scientific notation
- 1 meter (m) = 1,000 milimeter (mm)
- 1 meter (m) = 1,000,000,000 nanometer (nm)
- 1 meter (m) = 1,000,000,000,000 picometer (pm)

Too many zero?

Scientific notation
- 1 meter (m) = 103 milimeter (mm)
- 1 meter (m) = 109 nanometer (nm)
- 1 meter (m) = 1010 picometer (pm)
Convert Decimal to Exponential notation
(a) 6 700 000 = ??
Bigger to smaller:
6 700 000. = 6.7 x 106 positive

6 places to the left : exponent of 10 is 6

6.7 x 106 : (six point seven) times ten to the six

(b) 0.000348 = ?? 10-4 = 1/ Smaller to bigger:

10000
negative
0.000348 = 3.48 x 10-4

4 places to the right : exponent of 10 is -4

3.48 x 10-4 : (three point forty eight) times ten to the minus
 Numbers

104 : ten to the power of 4

ten to the four

numerator
1000 𝑚
Fraction: 1=
1 𝑘𝑚
denominator
 Converting Units
Unit conversion factor

1 km = 1000 m (Equation 1)
Conversion factor:

(a) Dividing both sides of Equation 1 by 1 km:

1 𝑘𝑚 1000 𝑚 1000 𝑚
= Unit conversion factor : 1=
1 𝑘𝑚 1 𝑘𝑚 1 𝑘𝑚
N.B.: from km to m : km should be in the denominator

(b) Dividing both sides of Equation 1 by 1000 m:

1 𝑘𝑚 1000 𝑚 1𝑘𝑚
= Unit conversion factor : 1=
1000 𝑚 1000 𝑚 1000 𝑚

N.B.: from m to km : m should be in the denominator

 Converting Units
Question:
The distance from New York to Philadelphia is 103.5 km.
What is the distance in SI unit, meter?

1000 𝑚 1𝑘𝑚
1= 1=
1 𝑘𝑚 1000 𝑚

Solution:

103.5 km = ?? m

You want km to disappear:

1000 𝑚
103.5 km x conversion factor = 103.5 km 1=
x 1 𝑘𝑚

= 103 500 m
 Converting Units
Question 2:
The distance from New York to Philadelphia is 103 500 m.
What is the distance kilometers?

1000 𝑚 1𝑘𝑚
1= 1=
1 𝑘𝑚 1000 𝑚

A quicker way to convert units?

103.5 km = 103.5 x (1000 m) = 103 500 m

103 500 m = 103 500 x (10-3 km) = 103.5 km

 Converting Units
Question 2:
The distance from New York to Philadelphia is 103 500 m.
What is the distance kilometers?

1000 𝑚 1𝑘𝑚
1= 1=
1 𝑘𝑚 1000 𝑚

A quicker way to convert units?

103.5 km = 103.5 x (1000 m) = 103 500 m

103 500 m = 103 500 x (10-3 km) = 103.5 km

 Measurement
2 types of numbers:
o Numbers obtained by counting or from definitions are
exact numbers

12 (eggs) is an exact
number

o Numbers obtained from measurements are not exact,

always contain UNCERTAINTY
 Uncertainty in Measurement
A measurement makes known 3 pieces of measurement:
quantity, units, uncertainty
(a) Measure the length of the black rectangle

8/10 of 1 mm

From measurement: 5.38 cm

We read 5.3
Smallest Estimate: 0.08  UNCERTAIN
division: 1 mm So, it is 5.38 cm
 Uncertainty in Measurement
A measurement makes known 3 pieces of measurement:
quantity, units, uncertainty
(a) Measure the length of the black rectangle

8/10 of 1 mm

N.B.: we can always

estimate within the
smallest division
Smallest
division: 1 mm
 Uncertainty in Measurement
A measurement makes known 3 pieces of measurement: quantity
units, uncertainty

(b) Measure the length of the blue rectangle

(unit: cm)
Measurement: precision and accuracy
Precision: how closely individual measurements agree with one
another
Accuracy: how closely a measured value agrees with the
correct value
Example: darts and dartboards

Neither precise Precise but not Both precise and

nor accurate accurate accurate
Definition: Significant Figures of a Number

The significant figures of a number are those digits that

carry meaning contributing to its precision
Or
Significant figures indicate how precisely measurements have
been made

The word significant means: having meaning.

Some examples:
How many significant figures are there in these numbers?

(a) 6.8 2 significant figures

(b) 6.83 3
(c) 5.38 3
 Some Rules to read significant figures of a
number
1. Nonzero digits are always significant.
6.83 mL : 3 significant figure
61 kg : 2 significant figure
Be aware of ZEROES.
Zeroes are sometimes significant,
sometimes they are not

2(a). Zeroes at the beginning of a number (used just to

position the decimal point) are never significant.
0.052 g : 2 significant figures 0.052 g : 5.2 x 10-2
0.000614 kg : 3 significant figures 0.000614 kg : 61.4 x 10-5
Use exponential
notation
2(b). Zeroes between nonzero digits are always significant.

108 cm : 3 significant figures

0.06014 kg : 4 significant figures

2(c). Zeroes at the end of a number that contains a

decimal point are always significant.
18.0 cm : 3 significant figures
1.80 x 101 kg : 3 significant figures

2(d). Zeroes at the end of a number that does not contain

a decimal point may or may not be significant.
180 cm : 2 significant figures
1.80 x 101 kg : 3 significant figures
3. Exact numbers never limits the number of significant
figures. This applies to defined quantities.

150 students 150 and 10: exact numbers, do not apply

10 eggs the rules of significant figures to them
 Rounding numbers
Giving the complete number for something is sometimes
unnecessary.

The attendance at a football

match might be 23745.

For most people, they may want an approximate

number:
'nearly 24000',
or 'roughly 23700

Rounding up numbers
23745 to the nearest thousand = 24000.
23745 to the nearest hundred = 23700.
Remember the rules for rounding up are :

If the next number is 5 or more, we round up.

If the next number is 4 or less, we do not round up.

Practice:

1) What is 23745 rounded to the nearest ten?

2) What would you get if you wrote the number 0.00245

correct to 1 significant figure?

3) What would you get if you wrote 0.0000058763

correct to 2 significant figures?
 Precision of Calculations
N.B.: A calculated number can never be more precise than
the numbers used to calculate it.

Adding Substracting

0.0120 8.49026
+ 1.6 - 1.6
+ 8.49026 - 0.0120
10.1 6.9
sum difference
 Precision of Calculations
N.B.: A calculated number can never be more precise than
the numbers used to calculate it.

Adding Decimal Substracting

places
0.0120 8.49026
+ 1.6 - 1.6
+ 8.49026 - 0.0120
10.1 6.9
sum difference
 Precision of Calculations
N.B.: A calculated number can never be more precise than
the numbers used to calculate it.

1. When Adding or Subtracting, the number of decimal places

in the result is the number of decimal places in the number
with the fewest places

Adding Decimal Substracting

places
0.0120 8.49026
+ 1.6 - 1.6
+ 8.49026 - 0.0120
10.1 6.9
sum difference
 Precision of Calculations
N.B.: A calculated number can never be more precise than
the numbers used to calculate it.

1. When Adding or Subtracting, the number of decimal places in

the result is the number of decimal places in the number with
the fewest places

Adding

0.0120
+ 1.6
+ 8.49026
10.1
sum
 Precision of Calculations
N.B.: A calculated number can never be more precise than
the numbers used to calculate it.

1. When Adding or Subtracting, the number of decimal places in

the result is the number of decimal places in the number with
the fewest places

Adding

0.0120 4 decimal places 3 significant figures

+ 1.6 1 decimal place 2 significant figures
+ 8.49026 5 decimal places 6 significant figures
10.1 1 decimal place 3 significant figures
sum
 Precision of Calculations
N.B.: A calculated number can never be more precise than
the numbers used to calculate it.

2. When Multiplying or Dividing, the number of significant

figures in the result is the same as in the quantity of the
fewest significant figures.

(0.0120) x (1.6) x (8.49026) = (0.16)

Significant figures 3 2 6 2
Decimal place(s) 4 1 5 2
 Precision of Calculations

3. Postpone adjusting results to the correct number of

significant figures until a calculation is complete

How many seconds in 1.855 hours ? Significant

numbers?
60 min 60 s
1.855 hr 6678 s
1 hr 1 min

4 significant Exact numbers:

numbers unlimited significant
numbers