The document provides information on the International System of Measurement (SI), or the metric system, including common metric prefixes and their meanings. It notes that SI is used globally for scientific research and medicine. Examples are given for converting between metric units using prefixes and moving the decimal place, along with noting some key temperatures and units in the metric system.

1. Notes for : ___________________________ in Science
International System of Measurement
System International or SI
The Metric System
SI is used by nearly all nations of the world. All scientists use the
metric system as a standard for comparing data and recording research
findings. Nearly all medicines are measured in metrics.
Following are some useful metric prefixes and symbols that may be
applied to all standard metric units of measure: International System of
Measurement, or SI, is the metric system. It is based on units of 10.
Multiple and Submultiples Prefix Symbol Meaning
1 000 000 000 000 = 1012 tera (ter'a) T one trillion times
1 000 000 000 = 109 giga (ji'ga) G one billion times
1 000 000 = 106 mega (meg'a) M* one million times
1 000 = 103 kilo (kil'o) k* one thousand times
100 = 102 hecto (hek'to) h one hundred times
10 = 10 deka (dek'a) da ten times
1=1 UNIT OF MEASURE
0.1 = 10-1 deci (des'i) d one-tenth of
0.01 = 10-2 centi (sen'ti) c* one-hundredth of
0.001 = 10-3 milli (mil'i) m* one-thousandth of
0.000 001 = 10-6 micro (mi'kro) µ∗ one-millionth of
0.000 000 001 = 10-9 nano (nan'o) n one-billionth of
0.000 000 000 001 = 10-12 pico (pe'ko) p one-trillionth of
0.000 000 000 000 001 = 10-15 femto (fem'to) f one-quadrillionth of
0.000 000 000 000 000 001 = 10-18 atto (at'to) a one quintillionth of
Metric units
*Most commonly used.
Meter Liter
Gram
Measures distance or _____________ Measures ______________
Measures ____________
(such as water)

2. 1. There are no ___________in the metric system.
2. There are no ___________ in the metric system.
3. When the liter symbol is hand written, it must be a __________ letter
so that is not confused with a _______. When it is with another
symbol, lower case can be used.
Ex: L stands for _______, and ml or mL both mean __________.
4. Metric temperature is __________. Celsius is a more common form of
SI temperature, because it is derived directly from the Kelvin scale. On
the Celsius scale, water freezes at ___oC and boils at _____o C.
Sentence to help you remember: ________________________________
Prefix scale
3 scale
m
L
g
Identify the position of the decimal. If there is no decimal, it is at the end
of the number.
1. Identify the location of prefix that you _____ (and notice if it is a meter,
liter or gram) on the metric scale. Put your pencil there.
2. Identify the ________ position (where the new prefix is located—or
what you want to find out).
3. Determine whether you need to move right or ________ .
4. Determine how many ________ you need to move to get there.
5. Move the _______ the same number times and in the same direction.
• 3.4m = ______ cm
• Notice where the decimal is (.)
• Put your pencil on (units) where m would be.
• Move your pencil right 2 times to cm on the chart.
• Move the decimal right 2 times for the answer.

3. • 500mg = _____ g
• Notice where where the decimal should be and your pencil on the mg box.
• Move your finger 3 times left then move the decimal 3 times left.
• .2kL = _____ L
• Notice the decimal and pencil on the chart.
• Count 3 right then move the decimal 3 right.
• Practice just a few then check your answers with a friend.
• 3.5cm=____mm
• 500mg=____g
• 2L=____mL
• .25km=____m
• Metric units of volume can be converted to cubic centimeters, cc, or
centimeters cubed, cm3, very easily.
• Step one… convert to millileters (mL).
• Step two…milliliters are _________to cubic centimeters and to
centimeters cubed.
• So… _____ = _____ = _____
• 23mL = _____cc
• 55cc = _____cm3
• .7L = _____cc
• First convert to mL
• .7L = _____mL
• You get _______mL
• Then _______mL = ________cc
• Now that wasn’t so tough was it?