Introduction
The metric system is a system of measurement used by scientists and everyone else around the world except for the United States. It is based on intervals of ten which makes it easier to compute and convert measurements. My hypothesis was that if matter could be measured accurately with the metric system, then I can test this theory out by measuring anything of matter and have it be accurate.
Materials and Methods
For each station during the experiment, we used many materials and methods to test out our theory. These materials were as follows:
- Station 1: Meter stick
- Station 2: Metric ruler, regular object
- Station 3: Graduated cylinder, beaker with colored liquid
- Station 4: Triple-beam balance, small pebble
- Station 5: Graduated cylinder, beaker of water, irregular object
- Station 6: Celsius thermometer, beaker with ice and water, and paper towel.
The methods are as followed:
- Station 1: Use meter stick to measure the length, width and height of the desk.
- Station 2: Use the metric ruler to find the volume of the regular object in cubic centimeters.
- Station 3: Use the graduated cylinder to find the volume of the colored liquid in millimeters.
- Station 4: Place the clip on the triple-beam balance. Record the mass of the pebble in grams.
- Station 5: Fill the graduated cylinder half full with water and find the volume of the irregular object in cubic centimeters.
- Station 6: Use the Celsius thermometer and find the temperature of the ice cold water in Celsius.
Results:
| Stations | Measurements |
| 1 | 151 cm. , 59 ½ cm. |
| 2 | 22 cm., 28 cm., 1 cm., The volume is 616 cm.³ |
| 3 | 12 ½ mL is the volume |
| 4 | 23 ¼ grams |
| 5 | 25 mL, 29 mL, so the volume is 4cc |
| 6 | 12 degrees Celsius |
Discussion:
We learned and discovered many things during this experiment; I will get into it in this paragraph. The classroom measurements did not have the exact same value for each station which I will explain in a few moments. The stations that had the closest together measurements were the ones in which we measured the same solid which would not normally change dramatically in mass or volume. I think the measurements that were most varied had to be the stations that involved liquid because of the fact that we never measured precisely how much liquid was to be used, we just estimated the amount. Also, I think it is one of the hardest things to measure in terms of matter. After all of this I think that I have confirmed my hypothesis in which I stated that matter could be measured accurately if you do it correctly and take your time because of the fact that most everyone that participated in this experiment had around the same answer.
Conclusion
All in all, we have learned and discovered many things during this lab which I will review in this paragraph. We have learned that measuring using the metric system is not as exact as you would want it to be. Out measurements were around the same, but the keyword is
around.
None of us had the same exact measurements. In conclusion, the metric system is accurate but not perfect and matter can be measured approximately but not perfectly.
