Difference between revisions of "Metric system"
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=== Volume === | === Volume === | ||
| − | The base unit of volume is the ' | + | The base unit of volume is derived from the meter: it's the ''cubic meter'' [m<sup>3</sup>]. Traditionally, the ''liter''<ref>http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter4/table6.html</ref> is used. 1 liter is defined as 10<sup>-3</sup> m<sup>3</sup> = 1 dm<sup>3</sup>. |
=== Mass === | === Mass === | ||
Revision as of 20:24, August 15, 2008
The metric system is a system of measurement developed during the French Revolution's anti-religious Cult of Reason[1] and based on permanent natural standards rather than on royal decrees. Joseph Lagrange headed the Revolutionary weights-and-measures committee that developed it and set its initial definitions.
Traditional systems of measurement all used standard lengths of parts of the human body, or standard distances that a human might walk. The metric system, by contrast, initially used the earth itself as the ultimate standard.
In 1878 the United States signed the treaty called the Convention du Mètre. Since then, both the metric system and the United States customary units (miles, inches, pounds, etc.) have had legal status in the US. US Customary units are in fact defined by reference to metric units; that is, legally, an inch is defined to be exactly 25.4 millimeters.
In international scientific usage, the Convention du Mètre is superseded by the conventions of the International System of Units. However, many of the conventions of the metric system survive, including definitions of units that are not, strictly speaking, SI.
Contents
Definitions
All measurement systems must start with one basic unit. For the metric system, this unit is the meter. Every other named unit of the metric system had a definition that depended upon it.
Prefixes
All base units of the metric system have prefixes that multiply, or divide, the unit by various factors of ten (or alternatively, a thousand). They are:[2][3]
| The prefix: | Abbreviated: | Multiplies the unit by: |
|---|---|---|
| atto- | a | 10-18 |
| femto- | f | 10-15 |
| pico- | p | 10-12 |
| nano- | n | 10-9 |
| micro- (Greek small) | μ | 10-6 |
| milli- (Latin one thousand) | m | 10-3 |
| centi- (Latin one hundred) | c | 10-2 |
| deci- (Latin ten) | d | 10-1 |
| deka- (Greek ten) | da | 101 |
| hecto- (Greek one hundred) | H | 102 |
| kilo- (Greek one thousand) | k | 103 |
| mega- (Greek large) | M | 106 |
| giga- (Latin gigantic) | G | 109 |
| tera- (Greek wonder) | T | 1012 |
Other, related systems (see below) use the same prefixes to multiply their units.
Length
The base unit of length, and originally the unit from which all other definitions flowed, is the meter. The original definition was "one ten-millionth the distance from the equator to the north pole." Lagrange's surveyors computed this distance (probably using a variation on Eratosthenes' tropical-shadow experiment) and inscribed it on a metal bar that they kept at the weights-and-measures headquarters building in Sèvres, France.
But this artifact, being made of metal, tended to expand and contract. Centuries later, when the scientific community realized what had happened, the task of re-standardizing all meter sticks to the equator-to-pole-times-10-7 definition was judged too onerous. Therefore the meter was redefined. At first it was defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red line in the excitation spectrum of krypton-86. Today it is defined as 1⁄299,792,458th of a light-second.
The meter in all its multiples replaces all other units of measurement, long and short. Long distance is measured in the meter multiplied by a thousand--the kilometer. Short distances are measured in centimeters--or millimeters, or micrometers, or however small one needs to measure them.
Volume
The base unit of volume is derived from the meter: it's the cubic meter [m3]. Traditionally, the liter[4] is used. 1 liter is defined as 10-3 m3 = 1 dm3.
Mass
The base unit of mass is the gram. Originally a gram was the mass of one cubic centimeter (see above), then called a milliliter, of water. The Lagrange committee fashioned an artifact exactly one thousand times as heavy as this--the volume, in short, of one liter of water--and stored this permanently at Sèvres.
Lagrange's committee also proposed a unit of mass called the grave, to be equal to one thousand grams. But the Revolutionary government rejected this name as sounding too much like the German word graf, translated as comte or count in French. Therefore, the artifact at Sèvres would be called a kilogram instead--and that artifact has that name to this day.
Mass never changes. But in addition to the prototype meter changing its length over time, scientists later realized that water has different densities at different temperatures.
Today, the standard kilogram is kept at the International Bureau of Standards headquarters in Sèvres. It remains today the only generally accepted unit of measurement based on an artifact. But the definition of the liter has now changed, and is no longer dependent on the length of the meter. Today, one liter is defined as the volume of one kilogram of water at four degrees Celsius. One milliliter is simply one-thousandth of this, and one milliliter of water at this temperature weighs one gram. But to say that one liter is "one thousand cubic centimeters" is no longer correct, simply because the definition of length has changed, while that of mass has not.
Relation to other systems of measurement
The International System of Units borrows some definitions and concepts from the metric system--most notably the meter and the kilogram--and adds other definitions of other quantities, most notably time, force, amount of substance, plane angle, solid angle, and luminous intensity. The liter is not the unit of volume in that system, however, but liter is accepted for use with the SI.
In addition to the International System (or in French, Systèm International, or SI for short), scientists have invented other systems of measurement that include units of time, force, energy, and electric charge. The most popular are the meter-kilogram-second and centimeter-gram-second systems.
Various governing authorities have established conversion ratios to assist people in converting between the metric system and other, more traditional units of measurement. The definitions of US Customary units in the United States is an example of this.
References
- ↑ However, according to researcher Pat Norton, the system was described a century earlier by Englishman John Wilkins. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 15 July 2007 (retrieved 15 July 2007.)
- ↑ Wile, Dr. Jay L. Exploring Creation With Chemistry. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998
- ↑ Common metric prefixes
- ↑ http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter4/table6.html
See Also
- Metric system by CreationWiki
- Metric system by Essex1.com
- The United States Metric Association
