Biochemistry for Nursing Lecture – Lecture Notes 03

TJ Sotelo
2021 August 24
PRESENTATION
OUTLINE

Introduction: What is measurement in chemistry?

The metric system

Exact and inexact numbers

Significant figures
measurements
Background and Definitions (1)
Role of measurement in chemistry
▪ Most basic tool used in the field to describe and understand matter
▪ Requires the use of numbers (among other things)

Definition
▪ Determination of the dimensions, capacity, quantity, or extent of something (matter)
▪ In a chemical laboratory, mass, volume, length, time, temperature, pressure, and concentration
are commonly measured

STOKER 7TH EDN

Background and Definitions (2)
Different measurement systems
▪ Philippines somehow adopted the use of both the English (imperial) and metric systems of
measurement
▪ English (imperials) system – inch, foot, pound, yard, mile
▪ Metric system – meter, centimeter, liter, etc
▪ Metric system is more convenient to use than the English system because of the interrelationship
between units wherein conversion occurs by moving the decimal point left or right of a number

STOKER 7TH EDN

7
What are the States of Matter?
Characteristics
▪ One base unit (unprefixed) for each type of measurement (length, mass, volume, etc.)
▪ Fractional parts and multiples of the base unit are constructed by adding prefixes to the base
unit

The base unit nomenclature

▪ The prefix is independent of the base unit it modifies and always remains constant even if the
base unit changes
▪ Yes, it’s pretty convenient

STOKER 7TH EDN

Common metric system prefixes and symbols
Metric Base Units

Unit of Base Unit Shorthand Conversion to

Measurement notation imperial unit
Length meter m 1.09 yards
Mass* gram g 0.04 ounce
Volume liter L 1.06 quarts

*mass is a measure of the total quantity of matter in an object. Weight is a measure of force
exerted on an object by gravitational force.
Volume conversions

A cube 10 cm on a side has a volume of 1000 cm3,

which is equal to 1 L. A cube 1 cm on a side has a
volume of 1 cm3, which is equal to 1 mL
Short Q&A 1
1. Which of the following is a correct pairing of prefix and powers of 10?
a. kilo- and 103
b. mega- and 10-3
c. pico- and 106
d. milli- and 10-9

2. If 1 tablespoon (tbsp) is 15 mL and 1 fluid ounce (fl oz) is 30 mL, which of the following
statements is/are true?
a. 45 cm3 is larger than 1.25 fl oz
b. 2 tbsp is smaller than 0.5 fl oz
c. 45 cm3 is the same as 1.5 fl oz
d. Teacher, I don’t really know

STOKER 7TH EDN

There are different numbers?
Exact Numbers
▪ number whose value has no uncertainty associated with it – that is, it is known exactly
▪ Examples: 12 items in a dozen (13 in a baker’s dozen)

Inexact Numbers
▪ number whose value has a degree of uncertainty associated with it
▪ A result when measurements are made as it is IMPOSSIBLE to EXACTLY measure ANYTHING
Further examples
Exact numbers Inexact numbers

Number of students in a class Height measurement

(you can’t have 0.05 people) (you can have uncertainty in
measurement)
Short Q&A 2
1. Which is/are true regarding inexact numbers?
a. The number of legs to a tripod is an inexact valunumberse
b. Inexact numbers come from measurement uncertainty
c. There is absolute certainty in inexact numbers
d. All of the above

2. Which of the following is an example of exact numbers?

a. Number of items in a baker’s dozen
b. Number of days in a fortnight
c. Number of shillings to a pound
d. All of the above

STOKER 7TH EDN

Where does uncertainty come from?
Certainty in measurement
▪ Consider ruler A and ruler B, with different measurement
denominations but both having 1 certain digit and a part where you
estimate the value
▪ In both rulers, uncertainty in the estimate exists

Note!
▪ Only 1 digit is recorded as part of the measurement

STOKER 7TH EDN

What is the relationship with significant figures?
Definition
▪ Digits in a measurement that are known with certainty plus one digit that is estimated
▪ Aka sig figs

# 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 = 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑠 + 1 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑡

STOKER 7TH EDN

Guidelines for Significant Figure Determination
All non-zero digits are significant
▪ Yes, all of them

Zeroes may or may not be significant

▪ Used to position a decimal points
▪ Indicate a measured value
▪ Types of zeroes
▪ Leading – those at the beginning of a number are not significant (0101)
▪ Confined – those between non-zero digits are always significant (101)
▪ Trailing – to the right end of a number; only significant if a decimal point is present (101.0)c

STOKER 7TH EDN

Summary diagram
Other examples

3.063 4
0.001004 4
56.00 4
0.06060 4
6010 3
59,000,000,000 2
 17

Short Q&A 3
1. How many significant figures does 0.006530 have?
a. three
b. four
c. six
d. seven

2. Which of the following statements is/are correct?

a. Trailing zeroes are never significant
b. Leading zeroes are never significant
c. Confined zeroes are never significant
d. Both a. and c.

STOKER 7TH EDN

Thank you for listening.
Questions?