CH 104: Lesson 1a

Estimating Measurements

One objective of this lesson is to be able to estimate the sizes or the amounts of a meter, a centimeter, a millimeter, a liter, a milliliter, and a gram.

Let's start with length. A meter is approximately the same as a yard. A centimeter (cm) is a little less than half an inch, or about the thickness of the end of your little finger. A millimeter (mm) is 1/1,000th of a meter, the same as a tenth of a centimeter. If you take a dull pencil and draw a line with it, the thickness of that line is about one millimeter.

Next, volume. A liter is approximately the same as a quart. One liter is the same as 1000 milliliters. Therefore, one milliliter is 1/1,000th the size of a quart. It's about the size of the first segment of your little finger down to the fingernail bed. A milliliter is abbreviated ml or mL. When you see the abbreviation mL, you should think milliliter (thousandth of a liter). If you are familiar with fluid ounces, there are about 30 milliliters in one fluid ounce. In the lab area there are some containers of various volumes. In a moment, or when you are in the lab, you should check them out. 

Next, mass and the gram. There's no real way of describing what a gram is. You have to feel it. A nickel weighs about five grams. Actually, what you feel is the weight rather than the mass. On the demonstration table in the lab are some objects of various masses, including some of about one gram.

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