MEASUREMENT

INTRODUCTION

Measurement is fundamental to most fields of science, including physics, chemistry and biology. Measurement is also essential to a diverse range of industries and commercial applications such as in engineering, construction, automotive, mechatronics and electronics.

Measurement is the process of estimating the ratio of a magnitude of a quantity to a unit of the same type. An example is 9 metres, which is an estimate of an object's length relative to a unit of length, one metre.

Units of measurement were among the earliest tools invented by humans. Primitive societies needed rudimentary measures for many tasks such as constructing dwellings of an appropriate size and shape, fashioning clothing, or bartering food or raw materials.

In this unit, we will learn the two prevalent systems of unit exists, that is, the British or Imperial system and SI or Metric system. 

SYSTEM OF UNITS

There are 2 main system introduced: 

1) British System

2) Metric System

BRITISH OR IMPERIAL SYSTEM

Length is the measurement between 2 point.

Imperial or British System

1 mile       =  1760 yards (yd)

1 yard (yd)  =  3 feet (ft)

1 foot (ft)   =  12 inches (in)

Mass is the measurement of amount of matter in an object.

Imperial or British System

1 ton         =   2000 pounds (lb)

1 pound (lb) =  16 ounces (oz)

Capacity is the measurement of space occupied by a liquid.

Imperial or British System

1 gallon (gal)  =  4 quarts (qt)

1 quart (qt)     =  2 pints (pt)

Temperature is the measurement of the level of environment. There are 2 units measure temperature, Celcius (C) and Fahrenheit (F).

Celsius(ºC) to Fahrenheit (ºF)	Fahrenheit (ºF) to Celsius (ºC)
ºF=   (1.8 x ºC) + 32	ºC =  (ºF - 32)/1.8

SI AND METRIC SYSTEM

Length

SI or Metric System

1 kilometre (km)   =  1000 metres (m)

1 metre (m)        = 100 centimetres (cm)

1 centimetre (cm)  =  10 millmetres (mm)

Mass

SI or Metric System

1 tonne                       =  1000 kilogrammes (kg)

1 kilogramme (kg)       =  1000 grammes (g)

1 gramme (g)               =  1000 milligrammes (mg)

Capacity

SI or Metric System

1 pint          =    0.473 litre

1 quart        =    0.946 litre

Time is a measurement of interval between 2 events.

SI or Metric System
1 millennium =    1000 years	1 week  =    7 days
1 century     =    100 years	1 day    =    24 hours (hr)
1 year         =    12 months	1 hour      =    60 minutes (min)
1 month       =    4 weeks	1 minute  =    60 seconds (sec)

PREFIXES IN SI UNITS

The metric system is system of measurement based upon the powers of ten.  For different types of measurements, a base unit is designated. For length, the base unit is metres, for weight it is grammes, and for capacity is litres.

For each of these types of measurements, different sized units are designated by adding a prefix to the base units.

For example:

kilometre       =     1000 metres

decimetre      =     1/10 of a metre

centimetre     =     1/100 of a metre

millimetre       =     1/1000 of a metre

Prefix	Symbol	Factor
mega	M	1 000 000	= 10 6	(e+6)
Kilo	k	1 000	= 10 3	(e+3)
hecto	h	100	= 10 2	(e+2)
deca	da	10	= 10 1	(e+1)
		1
deci	d	0.1	= 10 -1	(e-1)
centi	c	0.01	= 10 -2	(e-2)
mili	m	0.001	= 10 -3	(e-3)
micro	µ	0.000 001	= 10 -6	(e-6)