2: Measurement and Problem Solving
- Page ID
- 323247
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Chemistry, like all sciences, is quantitative. It concerns quantities, things that have amounts and units. Dealing with quantities and relating them to one another is very important in chemistry. In this chapter, we will discuss how we deal with numbers and units, including how they are combined and manipulated.
- 2.1: Taking Measurements
- Chemists measure the properties of matter and express these measurements as quantities. A quantity is an amount of something and consists of a number and a unit. The number tells us how many (or how much), and the unit tells us what the scale of measurement is. For example, when a distance is reported as “5 kilometers,” we know that the quantity has been expressed in units of kilometers and that the number of kilometers is 5.
- 2.2: Scientific Notation - Writing Large and Small Numbers
- Chemists often work with numbers that are exceedingly large or small. For example, entering the mass in grams of a hydrogen atom into a calculator requires a display with at least 24 decimal places. A system called scientific notation avoids much of the tedium and awkwardness of manipulating numbers with large or small magnitudes.
- 2.3: Significant Figures - Writing Numbers to Reflect Precision
- Uncertainty exists in all measurements. The degree of uncertainty is affected in part by the quality of the measuring tool. Significant figures give an indication of the certainty of a measurement. Rules allow decisions to be made about how many digits to use in any given situation.
- 2.4: Significant Figures in Calculations
- To round a number, first decide how many significant figures the number should have. Once you know that, round to that many digits, starting from the left. If the number immediately to the right of the last significant digit is less than 5, it is dropped and the value of the last significant digit remains the same. If the number immediately to the right of the last significant digit is greater than or equal to 5, the last significant digit is increased by 1.
- 2.5: The Basic Units of Measurement
- Metric prefixes derive from Latin or Greek terms. The prefixes are used to make the units manageable. The SI system is based on multiples of ten. There are seven basic units in the SI system. Five of these units are commonly used in chemistry.
- 2.6: Problem Solving and Unit Conversions
- During your studies of chemistry (and physics also), you will note that mathematical equations are used in a number of different applications. Many of these equations have a number of different variables with which you will need to work. Note also that these equations will often require the use of measurements with their units. Algebra skills become very important here!
- 2.7: Density
- Density is a physical property found by dividing the mass of an object by its volume. Regardless of the sample size, density is always constant.