Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Objectives
Your performance will be satisfactory when you are able to
1. Exponential Numbers
Thenumbersthatwedealwithinthelaboratoryareoftenverylargeorverysmall.Consequently,these
numbersareexpressedinscientificnotation,usingexponentialnumbers.Theserulesapplytotheuseof
exponents:
Whennisapositiveinteger,theexpression10nmeansmultiply10byitselfntimes.Thus,
101=10
102=10X10=100
103=10X10X10=1,000
etc.
Whennisanegativeinteger,theexpression10nmeansmultiply1/10byitselfntimes.Thus,
101=0.1
Examples:
102=0.1X0.1=0.01
103=0.1X0.1X0.1=0.001
etc.
2x101=2X10=20
2.62x102=2.62X100=262
5.30x101=5.30X0.1=0.530
8.1x102=8.1X0.01=0.081
Inscientificnotation,allnumbersareexpressedastheproductofanumber(between1and10)andawhole
numberpowerof10.Thisisalsocalledexponentialnotation.Toexpressanumberinscientificnotation,do
thefollowing:
1. Firstexpressthenumericalquantitybetween1and10.
2. Counttheplacesthatthedecimalpointwasmovedtoobtainthisnumber.Ifthedecimalpointhastobe
movedtotheleft,nisapositiveinteger;ifthedecimalpointhastobemovedtotheright,nisanegative
integer.
Examples:
8162
requiresthedecimaltobemoved3placestotheleft
=8.162x103
0.054
requiresthedecimaltobemoved2placestotheright
=5.4x102
Practice:
Express the following numbers in scientific notation.
20,205
2.0205 x 104
40,230,000 =
4.023 x 107
34.5 x 103 =
3.45 x 104
0.004 x 10-3 =
4.0 x 10-6
0.72 x 10-6 =
7.2 x 10-7
0.029 x 102 =
2.9
Practice:
(5.4 x 10-8) + (6.6 x 10-9) = 6.06 x 10-8
OR
Practice:
All answers should be left in scientific notation.
(3.4 x 103)(2.0 x 107) = 6.8 x 1010
8.8 x 106
2.2 x 10-2
5.2 x 10-3
1.3 x 102
= 4.0 x 108
=
4.0 x 10-5
Combine everything you have learned and perform the following calculation. Write your answer in scientific
notation.
(3.24 x 108)(14,000)/(3.5 x 10-3) = 1.296 x 1015
4. Metric Units
Themetricsystemisusedinthesciencestomeasurevolumes,weights,andlengths.Inthebioscience
laboratory,amountsareoftenextremelysmallsoitisnecessarytoexpressthevaluesinscientificnotation.You
willbeexpectedtoidentifytheexponentialnumberassociatedwitheachprefix.
Fillintherestofthenumbersinthetablebelow.
Prefix
Exponential
Kilo103
Hecto102
Deca101
Primary unit
100
Deci10-1
Centi10-2
Milli10-3
Micro10-6
Nano10-9
Pico10-12
Femto10-15
Meaning
100.0
10.0
1.0
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.000001
0.000000001
0.000000000001
0.000000000000001
Practice:
1)
0.003 g is equal to 3 m g
2)
4000 L is equal to 4K L
5 x 10-6 L is equal to 5 L
Symbol
k
h
da
N/A
d
c
m
n
p
f
Practice:
44 g = 44x 10-3 kg
8.3 cm = 83 mm
2 pm = 2.0 x 103 fm
1000g = 1 kg
so
1000g/kg
or
1 kg/1000g
1 L = 1000 mL so
1 L/1000mL
or
0.001 L/mL
1m=100cm
100cm/m
or
0.01m/cm
so
1 microliters
0.001 militers
1 gram
1000 miligram
1 week
7 days
How many days are there in 4 weeks? 28 days. How would you figure this out? You know that there are 7 days in a
week, so there are 4 weeks x 7 days per week = 28 days. This problem was solved using dimensional analysis and
involves a per expression as a conversion factor. The per expression in this problem is 7 days/week, and you can
also write it as 1 week/ 7 days, or as an equality where 7 days = 1 week. The only mathematical requirement for a
PER expression or conversion factor is that the two quantities are directly proportional.
A conversion factor is used to change a quantity of either unit in the conversion factor to an equivalent amount of the
other unit. The conversion follows a unit path from the given quantities (GIVEN) to the wanted quantities
(WANTED). In the previous example, the one-step unit path is weeks to days, which can be written weeks days.
Mathematically, you multiply the given quantity of 4 weeks by the conversion factor, 7 days /week, to get the
number of days that has the same value as 4 weeks. The calculation setup is
4 weeks x 7 days/week = 28 days
Noticeinthisunitpathwaythatiftheunitsofmeasurementaretreatedalgebraically,theGIVENunitsof
measurementcancelout(weeksdividedbyweeks)leavingonlytheWANTEDunitsofmeasurement(days).When
usingdimensionalanalysis,youdecidehowtosetupyourunitpathwaysbyanalyzingtheunitsofmeasurementof
thegiven,wanted,andconversionfactors.Bytreatingtheunitsofmeasurementalgebraically,youdeterminewhat
conversionfactorsareneeded,andwhethertheconversionfactorsmustbemultipliedordividedinordertosolvethe
problem.
Whensolvingaproblemusingdimensionalanalysis,remembertodothefollowing:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Quantitativeanalysisisveryusefulwhenconvertingfromonesystemtoanotherorconvertingunits.
Example:
Howmanymetersarein2000centimeters?
Multiplythenumberofcentimetersgiventimesthenumberofmeterspercentimeter.
(2.0x103centimeters)(1meter/102centimeter)=20meters
CommonrelationshipsbetweentheEnglishandmetricsystemaregivenbelow.
Mass
1 lb= 454g
1 oz = 28.3 g
2.20 lb = 1 kg
Length
1 in. = 2.54 cm
1.09 yd = 1 m
1 mile = 1.61 km
Volume
1.06 qt = 1 L
1 gal = 3.785 L
1 in3 = 6.39 cm3
1 cc3 = 1mL
Practice:
1.
2.
3.
344.7 mile
apply to measurements or calculations from measurements and do not apply to exact numbers.
are independent of the location of the decimal point
are determined by the measurement process and not the units
For example, a balance can weigh to + 0.01 g. A sample weighs 54.69 g. The doubtful digit is 9.
When an answer given has more numbers than significant, then the last number must be rounded off. If the first
digit to be dropped is <5, leave the doubtful digit before it unchanged. If the first digit to be dropped is >5, then you
round upward by adding a unit to the doubtful digit left behind. For example, a student using the balance above
measures 4.688 g. The correct number will be 4.69 g.
If there is only one digit beyond the doubtful digit in your number, and that digit is exactly 5, the rule is to round it
down half the time and to round it up half the time so that you dont add a systematic error to your data. To keep
track when to round up and when to round down, the rule of thumb is to always round to an even number in the
remaining doubtful digit. For example, if a measurement on a balance with a + 0.01 g accuracy is used to measure
4.895 g, you should record 4.90 g. If it reads 4.885 g, you should record 4.88 g as your data.
Practice:
The uncertainty of a balance measurement is + 0.01 g. Write the numbers that should be record as data with the correct
number of significant figures for the following. Some answers may already be correct.
445.81 g
445.81 g
6.731 g 6.73 g
5872.30 g 5872.30 g
5.556 g 5.56 g
5.555 g
5.565 g
5.56 g
5.56 g
Itissometimesconfusingtodeterminewhetherazeroinanumberisasignificantfigureornot.Generally,azerois
asignificantfigureif:
itliesbetweentwononzerodigitsinanumber
itliestotherightofanumberwithadecimalpoint
itdoesnotlietotherightofanumberwithoutadecimalpoint
itdoesnotlietotheleftofanumber
Examples:
For12.40g,thezeroissignificant.
For110g,thezeroisnotsignificant.
For1.004g,thezeroesaresignificant
For0.004g,thezeroesarenotsignificant
Practice:
Determinethecorrectnumberofsignificantfiguresinthefollowingnumbers.
10.01g
140g
0.0010g
140.0g
1.100g
1100g
For a balance that measures to + 0.01 g, the sum of the following measurements yields:
34.60 + 24.555 g
34.60
+ 24.555
59.155 g
59.16 g
Practice:
Solve the following and report your answer with the correct number of significant figures and units.
16.0 g + 3.106 g + 0.8 g (from a balance that weight to + 0.1 g)
19.9 g
9.002 m - 3.10 m (from a meter stick that measures to the nearest cm)
5.90 m
When multiplying or dividing, the answer may have only as many significant figures as the measurement with
the least number of significant figures. This is especially important to remember when using a calculator, since
your calculator may give you a answer with 11 digits!
Examples:
(1.13 m)(5.1261 m)
Significant figures:
5.79251786 m2
4.96001 g
Significant figures:
=3
4.740 cm3
1.0464135 g/cm3 =
1.046 g/cm3
12.1 cm3
4.1852 x 10-5
4.2 x 10-5
You may need to refer to the math review provided in Appendix B (such as order of operations and the
manipulation of exponents when adding, subtracting, and multiplying, or dividing numbers) to solve the
following.
1.059 g - 0.2 g
0.98 mL - 0.02 mL
5.79 m2
0.89 g/ml
=
1.23g/ml