SI Units Review
Physics
Objectives:
 Understand the SI System
 Describe the base units
 Review the unit prefixes
 Practice conversion
SI Units: What are they and where did they come from?
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French for Système International
Evolved from the MKS system
Commonly called the metric system
Standard established in 1960 to provide a common basis of measurement for commerce
and science
Seven Base Units:
meter
kilogram
second
Ampere
Kelvin
mole
candela
Standard Prefixes used for Multiples of 10:
Prefix
Tera
Giga
Mega
Kilo
Hecto
Deka
Symbol
T
G
M
k
h
da
Factor
1012
109
106
103
102
101
Prefix
Pico
Nano
Micro
Milli
Centi
Deci
Symbol
p
n
µ
m
c
d
Factor
10-12
10-9
10-6
10-3
10-2
10-1
Practice problems:
1. Convert 1,730 millimeters to meters.
2. Convert 2.3 kg to grams.
3. Convert 1 meter to inches. (hint 1 in = 2.54 cm)
4. Convert 0.2 Amperes into milliamperes
5. Convert 750 meters into miles (hint 1 mile = 1.609 km)
6. Convert 25 meters/sec into miles per hour (1 mi/hr = 0.447 m/s)
7. Convert 2.2 centimeters into millimeters
8. Convert 2.2 centimeters into meters