19

Measurements
Making observations is fundamental to all science. These observations can be
qualitative or quantitative. A quantitative observation is called a measurement, which
always has two parts: a number and a scale (called a unit). Both parts must be present for a
measurement to be meaningful. It is the process of getting the actual measure of an object’s
dimension or property in comparison with the standard unit of acquiring the value. A
qualitative observation does not involve a number.
Scientists recognized long ago that standard systems of units had to be adopted if
measurements were to be useful. Different standards were adopted in different parts of the
world. The two major systems are the English system used in the United States and the metric
system used by most of the rest of the industrialized world.
Most scientists in all countries have used the metric system for many years. In 1960,
an international agreement set up a system of units called the International System (le
Systè me International in French), or the SI system. This system is based on the metric system
and units derived from the metric system. The fundamental SI units are listed in the Table 1.
Table 1. Fundamental SI Units
Physical Quantity Name of Unit Abbreviation
Mass kilogram kg
Length meter m
Time second s
Temperature kelvin K
Electric Current ampere A
Amount of Substance mole mol
Luminous Intensity candela Cd

Because the fundamental units are not always convenient, prefixes are used to change
the size of the unit. These are listed in Table 2.

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Table 2. Prefixes Used in the SI System

Prefix Symbol Meaning Exponential Notation
exa E 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 1018
peta P 1 000 000 000 000 000 1015
tera T 1 000 000 000 000 1012
giga G 1 000 000 000 109
mega M 1 000 000 106
kilo k 1 000 103
hecto h 100 102
deka da 10 101
- - 1 100
deci d 0.1 10-1
centi c 0.01 10-2
milli m 0.001 10-3
micro μ 0.000001 10-6
nano n 0.000000001 10-9
pico p 0.000000000001 10-12
femto f 0.000000000000001 10-15
atto a 0.000000000000000001 10-18

One physical quantity that is very important in chemistry is volume, which is not a
fundamental SI unit but is derived from length.
The most common conversion factors for volume is shown below.
1 L = 1 (dm)3 = (10 cm)3 = 1000 cm3
1cm3 = 1 mL
1L = 1000 cm3 = 1000 mL

1.0 Basic Types of Quantity:
a. Fundamental Quantities. It is referred to as the basic quantities. Quantities which
are measured by the direct method. The units assigned to the fundamental quantities
are called fundamental units.
The fundamental units meter, kilogram and second (MKS) are the standard units
for length, mass, and time, respectively. However for smaller quantities, centimeter,
gram, and second are used as fundamental units (CGS). It is important to consider these
units, particularly in solving problems.

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b. Derived Quantities. Quantities that emanate or a result of the combination of

fundamental quantities after a set of operations. Area, volume, and density are some
examples of derived quantities.

2.0 Significant Figures
It is very important to realize that a measurement always has some degree of
uncertainty. The uncertainty of a measurement depends on the precision of the measuring
device. Consider the measurement of the volume of a liquid using a buret.

Table shows that the first three numbers (20.1) remain the same regardless of who
makes the measurement; these are called certain digits. However, the digit to the right of the
1 must be estimated and therefore varies; it is called an uncertain digit. We customarily
report a measurement by recording all digits that are known with certainty plus the first
uncertain digit. This is done by always recording the certain digits and the first uncertain
digit (the estimated number). These numbers are called the significant figures of a
measurement.

Rules for Counting Significant Figures
1. Non-zero integers. Non-zero integers always count as significant figures. The number
1458 has four (4) non-zero digits, all of which count as significant figures.
2. Zeros. There are three classes of zeros:
a. Leading zeros are zeros that precede all the non-zero digits. These do not count
as significant figures. The number 0.0025, the three zeros simply indicate the
position of the decimal point. This number has only two (2) significant figures.
b. Captive zeros are zeros between non-zero digits. These always count as significant
figures. The number 1.008 has four (4) significant figures.

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c. Trailing zeros are zeros at the right end of the number. They are significant only
if the number contains a decimal point. The number 100 has only one significant
figure, whereas the number 1.00 x 102 has three (3) significant figures. The
number one hundred written as 100. Also has three (3) significant figures.

3. Exact numbers. Many times calculations involve numbers that were not obtained
using measuring devices but were determined by counting: 10 experiments, 3 apples,
8 molecules. Such numbers are called exact numbers. They can be assumed to have
an infinite number of significant figures. Other examples of exact numbers are the 2
in 2πr (the circumference of a circle) and the 4 and the 3 in 4/3πr3 (the volume of a
sphere). Exact numbers also can arise from definitions. For example, 1 inch is defined
as exactly 2.54 centimeters. Thus, in the statement 1 in = 2.54 cm, neither the 2.54
nor the 1 limits the number of significant figures when used in a calculation.

Note that the number 1.00 x 102 is written in exponential notation. This type of
notation has at least two advantages: the number of significant figures can be easily
indicated, and fewer zeros are needed to write a very large or very small number. For
example, the number 0.000060 is much more conveniently represented as 6.0 x 10-5. (The
number has two significant figures.) It is often necessary to set the decimal point using the
power-of-10 notation to avoid introducing the appearance of unwanted significant figures.

Scientific notation is a form of shorthand used to write an extremely large and

exceedingly small numbers. A number in scientific notation has two parts. The first part is a
number between 1 and 10 (N). The second part is a power of 10 (10n) as shown below
N x 10n
The exponent n can be a positive or negative integer. To write numbers in scientific
notation, move the decimal point such that you have a number between 1 and 10. Determine
the correct exponent by counting the number of times the decimal point is moved. When the
decimal point is moved to the right, the exponent is written as a negative number. When the
decimal point is moved to the left, the exponent is written as a positive number.

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Example:
a. 0.00567 5.67 x 10-3 b. 456000 4.56 x 105

Rules for Significant Figures in Mathematical Operations

a. For multiplication or division, the number of significant figures in the result is the same
as the number in the least precise measurement used in the calculation. For example,
consider the calculation
4.56 x 1.4 = 6.38 Final answer = 6.4

Limiting term has two Two significant
significant figures figures

The product should have only two significant figures, since 1.4 has only two significant
figures.

b. For addition or subtraction, the result has the same number of decimal places as the
least precise measurement used in the calculation. For example, consider the sum
22.13
17.0 Limiting term has one
2.024 decimal place
_____________

41.154 Final answer 41.2

One decimal place

The correct result is 41.1, since 17.0 has only one decimal place.

3.0 Precision and Accuracy
Two terms often used to describe the reliability of measurements are precision and
accuracy. Accuracy refers to the agreement of a particular value with the true value. Precision
refers to the degree of agreement among several measurements of the same quantity.
Precision reflects the reproducibility of a given type of measurement. The difference between
these terms is illustrated by the results of three different dart throws shown below

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a b c

Poor precision Good precision Good precision
Poor accuracy Poor accuracy Good accuracy

Two different types of errors are illustrated in Figure above. A random error (also
called an indeterminate error) means that a measurement has an equal probability of being
high or low. This type of error occurs in estimating the value of the last digit of a
measurement. The second type of error is called systematic error (or determinate error).
This type of error occurs in the same direction each time; it is either always high or always
low. Fig. (a) indicates large random errors (poor technique). Fig. (b) indicates small random
errors but a large systematic error, and Fig. (c) indicates small random errors and no
systematic error.

4.0 Dimensional Analysis
It is often necessary to convert a given result from one system of units to another. The
best way to do this is by a method called the unit factor method or, more commonly,
dimensional analysis. The pattern to illustrate the use of this method is shown below.

Desired unit

Given unit x ___________________ = Desired unit
Given unit


Some equivalents in the English and metric systems are given below.

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Example 1

A pencil is 7.00 in long. What is its length in centimeters?

Solution
Since we want to convert from inches to centimeters, we need the equivalence
!.#$ &'
statement 2.54 cm = 1 in. The correct unit factor in this case is
( )*

!.#$ &'
7.00 %& ' ( )*
= 7.00 (2.54)./ = 17.8 ./

Here the inch units cancel, leaving centimeters, as requested.

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Example 2
A student has entered a 10.0 km run. How long is the run in miles?

Solution

This conversion can be accomplished in several different ways. Since we

have the equivalence statement 1 m = 1.094 yd, we will proceed by a path
that uses this fact. Before we start any
calculations, let us consider our
strategy. We have kilometres, which we want to change to miles. We can do

this by the following route:


kilometers meters yards miles


Sample Problem 3
To proceed in this way, we need the following equivalence statements.

1 km = 1 000 m

1 m = 1.094 yd

1760 yd = 1 mi
1000 / 1.094 45 1 /%
10.0 2/ ' ' ' = 6.216 /%
1 2/ 1 / 1 760 45


Note in this case that 1 mi equals exactly 1760 yd by designation.
Thus 1760 is an exact number.

Since the distance was originally given as 10.0 km, the result can
have only three significant figures and should be rounded to 6.22 mi. Thus,

10.0 km =6.22 mi

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Example 3
The speed limit on many highways in the United States is 55 mi/h. What
number would be posted in kilometres per hour?
Solution
We use the following unit factors to make the required conversion:

55 /% 1760 45 1 / 1 2/
' ' ' = 88 2//ℎ
ℎ 1 /% 1 .094 45 1 000 /
Result obtained by
rounding only at the
end of the calculation

Note that all units cancel except the desired kilometres per hour



Example 4


A Japanese car is advertised as having a gas mileage of 15 km/L. Covert this
rating to miles per gallon.
Solution
We use the following unit factors to make the required conversion:

15 2/ 1000 / 1.094 45 1 /% 1 9 4 :;
' ' ' ' ' = 35 /%/<=>
9 1 2/ 1 / 1 760 45 1.06 :; 1 <=>

Result obtained by
rounding only at the
end of the calculation


Example 5
The latest model Corvette has an engine with a displacement of 6.20 L. What
is the displacement in units of cubic inches?
Solution
We use the following unit factors to make the required conversion:
1 @; + (12 %&)+
6.20 9 ' ' = 378 %&+
28.32 9 (1 @;)+

Note that the unit factor for conversion of feet to inches must be cubed to

accommodate the conversion of ft3 to in3

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7.0 Temperature
Although many of the SI units have found their way gradually into everyday use, the
units for temperature may be the least familiar. Temperature scales arise from the choice of
two standard reference points that can be used to calibrate temperature with the use of a
thermometer. The familiar Fahrenheit scale originally chose body temperature as one
reference and set it at 100°F. The second reference point was the coldest temperature that
could be achieved by adding salt to ice water, a practice that lowers the melting point of ice.
This established 0°F, and the temperature range between the two points was divided into
100 equal units. The scale is now defined by setting the freezing point of water at 32°F and
the boiling point of water at 212°F. The Celsius scale was developed in a similar way, but
with the freezing point of pure water set at 0°C and the boiling point of water at 100°C.
Conversions between the two scales are given by the following expressions:
°F = (1.8 × °C) + 32
°C = (°F − 32) /1.8
Conversions between Celsius degrees and kelvins are common in science and are also
more straightforward.
K = °C + 273.15
°C = K − 273.15

References:
Brown, L., Brown, L. S., & Holme, T. (2011). Chemistry for engineering students. Nelson
Education.

Macalalada A. A. & Magoling B. A. (2015). Laboratory Manual in Organic Chemistry for Allied
Health Sciences.

Skoog, D., West, D., Holler, J., Crouch, S., Chen, S. (2011). Introduction to Analytical Chemistry.
(Philippine Edition), Cengage Learning,

Zumdahl S. S. & Zumdahl S. A. (2014). Chemistry (9th edition), Cengage Learning.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/material-safety-data-sheet-msds-definition-
purpose.html

https://chem.libretexts.org/

SCI 401 –GENERAL CHEMISTRY