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Introduction
Measurements are the processes of quantifying the length, size, capacity or quantity of substances. The word ‘measurement’ comes from the Greek word ‘metron’, meaning a limited proportion. It is vital in our day to day life.
In the olden days, the use of body parts as means of informal measurements was common among people. For instance, they used cubit, foot, fathom, or headspan to measure the length or size of objects. However, this measurement system wasn’t accurate enough as body parts length would vary with each person. Thus, different measurement systems were brought to use and standardised around the globe.
What is measurement?
Measurement is a method of finding the number that depicts the size, quantity or length of substance. It is essential to measure items in our day to day life accurately. Measurements are the keystone in various fields such as trade, science and technology, to name a few.
People have used several methods of measuring the quantity or size of substances since the olden days. However, all physical substances are measured with reference to some fixed quantity called unit, which is used as a standard.
Some time ago, people used body parts to measure length, such as handspan, foot, pace, yard, fathom or cubit. However, this type of measurement was not a reliable technique as the length of body parts would differ with each person. Therefore, they realised the need for standardised units of measurements.
Standard measurements remain fixed and do not change with person or place. For instance, the metric system of measurements is considered a standard set of units.
There are different systems of measurements around the globe, such as
- International System of Units or SI (the modern metric system)
- United States Customary System
- British Imperial System
International System of Units or SI
Choosing a more standardised form of units to measure substances wasn’t enough as different countries used varied sets of standard measurement units. Therefore, a common set of units came into existence, known as the International System of Units or SI. It eased the communication of scientists and researchers of different countries to share their results. In the SI unit system, all units can be represented by seven units, namely kilogram, second, metre, mole, candela, kelvin and ampere.
Multiples and submultiples of metric units are associated with the powers of ten. The SI system is formed based on the decimal system of numbers.
Out of all the other systems of measurements, the metric system is used several times in our day to day life. For example,
- The papaya weighs 1 kilogram
- Ram takes 5 millilitres of syrup
- Vipul runs 2 kilometres a day.
Metric Units
You need to choose a suitable unit depending on the substances we measure. Several units of measurements are there in the metric system to quantify length, area, capacity, and mass.
The metric units of measurement of length, mass, area and capacity are given below.
Length measurement
- Millimetres (mm)
- Centimetres (cm)
- Metres (m)
- Kilometres (km)
Mass/ weight measurement
- Milligrams (mg)
- Centigrams (cg)
- Grams (g)
- Kilograms (kg)
- Tonne (t)
Area measurement
- Square centimetres (sq. cm)
- Square metres (sq. m)
- Square kilometres (sq. km)
- Hectare (ha)
Capacity measurement
- Millilitres (ml)
- Centilitres (cl)
- Litres (l)
- Kiloliters (kl)
Conversion of Units in the Metric System
The SI system allows easy conversion or switching of units with the same base. However, the prefixes of these units have to be different. For instance, to convert metres to centimetres, you need to multiply the number of metres by 100. On the other hand, to convert centimetres to metres, you must divide the number of centimetres by 100.
The metric system chart is handy as it has the formulae for converting metric units. The chart makes conversions easier as you can convert one unit to another using its multiplying factor. For example, one metre is equal to one hundred centimetres. Looking at it from the chart, you can easily convert seven metres to centimetres. All you need to do is multiply seven with one hundred.
The metric system chart is given below.
Length | Capacity | Mass or Weight |
1 millimetre = 0.1 centimetre | 1 millilitre = 0.1 centilitre | 1 milligram = 0.1 centigram |
1 centimetre = 10 millimeter | 1 centilitre = 10 millilitre | 1 centigram= 10 milligrams |
1 centimetre = 0.01 meter | 1 centilitre = 0.01 litre | 1 gram = 100 centigrams |
1 metre = 100 centimeter | 1 litre = 100 centilitre | 1 centigram = 0.01 gram |
1 metre = 0.001 kilometer | 1 millilitre = 0.001 litre | 1 gram = 1000 milligrams |
1 kilometre = 1000 metre | 1 litre = 1000 millilitre | 1 milligram = 0.001 gram |
1 kiloliter = 1000 liter | 1 kilogram = 1000 grams | |
1 liter = 0.001 kiloliter | 1 gram = 0.001 kilogram | |
1 kilogram = 0.001 tonne | ||
1 tonne = 1000 kilograms |
Some of the standard formulae used in measurement conversion are
- Conversion of m to cm —> multiply by 100
- Conversion of cm to mm —-> multiply by 10
- Conversion of km to m —-> multiply by 1000
- Conversion of kg to g —-> multiply by 1000
- Conversion of g to mg —-> multiply by 1000
- Conversion of l to ml —–> multiply by 1000
- Conversion of kl to l —–> multiply by 1000
Conclusion
Measurements are one of the most fundamental topics in basic science and engineering. There are a lot of study materials to understand the concepts of units and measurements, both online and offline. The standardised units of measurement are used worldwide to avoid confusion with the units.
There are three effective measurement systems out of which the International System of Units is widely utilised.
