Chapter 2: Measurement Basics
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Explain the process of measurement
- Identify the three basic parts of a quantity
- Describe the properties and units of length, mass, volume, density, temperature, and time
- Perform basic unit calculations and conversions in the metric and other unit systems
Measurements provide the macroscopic information that is the basis of most of the hypotheses, theories, and laws that describe the behavior of matter and energy in both the macroscopic and microscopic domains of chemistry. Every measurement provides three kinds of information: the size or magnitude of the measurement (a number); a standard of comparison for the measurement (a unit); and an indication of the uncertainty of the measurement. While the number and unit are explicitly represented when a quantity is written, the uncertainty is an aspect of the measurement result that is more implicitly represented and will be discussed later.
The number in the measurement can be represented in different ways, including decimal form and scientific notation. For example, the maximum takeoff weight of a Boeing 777-200ER airliner is 298,000 kilograms, which can also be written as 2.98 × 105 kg. The mass of the average mosquito is about 0.0000025 kilograms, which can be written as 2.5 × 10−6 kg.
License and attributions:
- Chemistry: Atoms first, Second edition, 2019, Flowers, P. et al. License: CC BY 4.0. Located at https://openstax.org/books/chemistry-atoms-first-2e/pages/1-4-measurements
