Prerequisite

Science Skills

Dr. Tenery
A measurement is a number with a unit attached.
It is not possible to make exact measurements, thus
all measurements have uncertainty.
We will generally use metric system units. These
include:
The meter, m, for length measurements
The gram, g, for mass measurements
The liter, L, for volume measurements
PSS.1 Measurements
2
Lets measure the length of a candy cane.
Ruler A has 1 cm divisions, so we can estimate the
length to 0.1 cm. The length is 4.2 0.1 cm.
Ruler B has 0.1 cm divisions, so we can estimate
the length to 0.05 cm. The length is 4.25 0.05
cm.
Length Measurements
3
Ruler A: 4.2 0.1 cm; Ruler B: 4.25 0.05 cm.
Ruler A has more uncertainty than Ruler B.
Ruler B gives a more precise measurement.
What does this mean?
4
The mass of an object
is a measure of the
amount of matter it
possesses.
Mass is measured
with a balance and is
not affected by gravity.
Mass and weight are
not interchangeable.
Mass Measurements
Balances
5
Mass and weight are not the same.
Weight is the force exerted by gravity on an
object.
Mass vs. Weight
6
Volume Measurements
Volume is the amount of space occupied by a solid,
a liquid, or a gas.
There are several instruments for measuring
volume, including:
- Graduated cylinder
- Syringe
- Buret
- Pipet
- Volumetric flask
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PSS.2 Significant Digits
The term significant digit (significant figures) refers to
the number of digits reported for the value of measured
or calculate quantity, indicating precision of the value.
Rules:
1. All digits are significant.
i.e. 9.12 cm 3 s.f.

2. Leading zeros do not count as significant.
- zeros at the beginning of the number

i.e. 0.912 cm, 0.00912 cm, 0.0000912 cm 3 s.f.

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Rules cont:

2. Terminal zeros
- zeros at the end of the number
- terminal zeros at the right or left of the decimal point
are significant.
- terminal zeros w/o the decimal point are not significant
i.e. 9.00 cm, 9.10 cm, and 90.0 cm 3 s.f.
i.e. 900 cm 1 s.f. vs. 900. cm 3 s.f.

3. Captive zeros
- zeros b/t numbers and they are always significant.
i.e. 1.008 cm 4 s.f.
1.012 cm 4 s.f
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10 10
EXAMPLE EXERCISE PSS.2 Significant Digits
State the number of significant digits in the following
measurements:
(a) 12,345 cm (b) 0.123 g
(c) 0.5 mL (d) 102.0 s
State the number of significant digits in the following
measurements:
(a) 2005 cm (b) 25.000 g
(c) 25.0 mL (d) 0.25 s
Practice Exercise
11
EXAMPLE EXERCISE PSS.3 Significant Digits
State the number of significant digits in the following
measurements:
(a) 0.025 cm (b)0.2050 g
(c) 25.0 mL (d)2500 s
State the number of significant digits in the
following measurements:
(a) 0.050 cm (b)0.0250 g
(c) 50.00 mL (d)1000 s
Practice Exercise
12
Rounding
If the digit
following the last
digit to be
retained is:
Then the last digit
should:
Examples (round
to 3 s.f.)
Greater than 5 be increased by 1 42.68 g
Less than 5 stay the same 17.32 m
Exact numbers
Numbers without any uncertainty.
i.e. 9 coins in a bottle
i.e. 1 in = 2.54 cm

Significant figures rules do not apply to exact numbers.
PSS.3 Rounding Off Nonsignificant Digit
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EXAMPLE EXERCISE PSS.4 Rounding Off
Round off the following numbers to three significant
digits:
(a) 22.250 (b)0.34548
(c) 0.072038 (d)12,267
Round off the following numbers to three
significant digits:
(a) 12.514748 (b)0.6015261
(c) 192.49032 (d)14652.832
Practice Exercise
i.e. 5.44 m 2.6103 m = 2.8297 m 2.83 m
When you are adding and subtracting numbers in a
calculation:
Report the answer with the least number of decimal places
PSS.4 Adding and Subtracting Measurements
2 dec 4 dec 2 dec
14
EXAMPLE EXERCISE PSS.5 Addition/Subtraction and Rounding Off
Add or subtract the following measurements and round off your answer:
(a) 106.7 g + 0.25 g + 0.195 g (b) 35.45 mL 30.5 mL
Add or subtract the following measurements and round off your
answer:
(a) 8.6 cm + 50.05 cm (b) 34.1 s 0.55 s
Practice Exercise
15
i.e. 2.4 g/mL x 15.82 mL = 37.968 g 38 g
When you are multiplying and dividing numbers in a
calculation:
Report the answer with the least number of s.f.
PSS.5 Multiplying and Dividing Measurements
2 s.f. 2 s.f. 4 s.f.
EXAMPLE EXERCISE PSS.6 Multiplication/Division and Rounding Off
Multiply or divide the following measurements and round off your answer:
(a) 50.5 cm 12 cm (b) 103.37 g/20.5 mL
Multiply or divide the following measurements and round off your
answer:
(a) (359 cm) (0.20 cm) (b) 73.950 g/25.5 mL
Practice Exercise
Exponents are used to indicate that a number has
been multiplied by itself.
Exponents are written using a superscript; thus,
(2)(2)(2) = 2
3
.
The number 3 is an exponent and indicates that the
number 2 is multiplied by itself 3 times. It is read 2
to the third power or 2 cubed.
(2)(2)(2) = 2
3
= 8
PSS.6 Exponential Numbers
16
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EXAMPLE EXERCISE PSS.7 Converting to Powers of 10
Express each of the following ordinary numbers as
a power of 10:
(a) 100,000 (b)0.000 000 01
Express each of the following ordinary numbers
as a power of 10:
(a) 10,000,000 (b)0.000 000 000 001
Practice Exercise
PSS.7 Scientific Notation
Numbers associated with scientific measurements are often
too large or very small. Do we have time to write all the zeros?
Lets look at this number 1000,000,000,000,000,000,000
How do we write scientific notation?

M x 10
exponent

Number between
1 and less than 10
Negative exp means the number is less than 1
Positive exp means the number is greater than 1
1000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = 1.0 x 10
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EXAMPLE EXERCISE PSS.8
Converting to Ordinary Numbers
Express each of the following powers of 10 as an
ordinary number:
(a) 1 10
4
(b)1 10
9
s
Express each of the following powers of 10 as an
ordinary number:
(a) 1 10
10
(b)1 10
5
Practice Exercise
20
EXAMPLE EXERCISE PSS.9 Scientific Notation
Express each of the following values in scientific notation:
(a) There are 26,800,000,000,000,000,000,000 helium atoms
in a one liter balloon filled with helium gas.

(b) The mass of one helium atom is 0.000 000 000 000 000
000 000 006 65 g.
Express each of the following values in ordinary numbers:
(a) The mass of one mercury atom is 3.33 10
22
g.

(b) The number of atoms in 1 mL of liquid mercury is 4.08
10
22
.
Practice Exercise
21
Homework Assignment
Key Terms

Exercises
1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 37, 39, 41

PSS Self-Test