Chapter 1: Matter, Energy, and Measurement Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards created from Chapter 1 lecture notes covering SI units, metric prefixes, temperature, density, volume measurements, uncertainty, accuracy, precision, significant figures, scientific notation, and dimensional analysis.

SI Units (Système International d’Unités)

A measurement system containing seven fundamental base units from which all other units are derived.

SI Base Units Table

The standard SI units for key physical quantities: Mass (Kilogram, $\text{kg}$), Length (Meter, $\text{m}$), Time (Second, $\text{s}$), Temperature (Kelvin, $\text{K}$), Amount of substance (Mole, $\text{mol}$), Electric current (Ampere, $\text{A}$), and Luminous intensity (Candela, $\text{cd}$).

Temperature

A measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample.

Density

A physical property of a substance defined as mass divided by volume ($d = \frac{m}{V}$).

Exact Numbers

Values that are known exactly because a standard has been defined or obtained by counting discrete objects.

Inexact Numbers

Values obtained by measurement that inherently contain some degree of uncertainty or estimation.

Accuracy

The proximity or closeness of a measured value to the true value of a quantity.

Precision

The proximity or closeness of several repeated measurements to each other.

Significant Figures

Digits in a measured quantity that were actually measured, including all certain digits plus one final estimated/uncertain digit.

Scientific Notation

A method of writing very large or small numbers in the form $D.DD \times 10^n$, where the coefficient is between 1 and 10.

Dimensional Analysis

A problem-solving technique using unit cancellation with conversion factors to convert a quantity from one unit of measurement to another.

Conversion Factor

A fractional ratio derived from an equivalence statement, used in dimensional analysis to convert between units.

Target Pattern: Poor Accuracy and Poor Precision

A distribution where trial measurements are scattered far apart from each other and far from the true target value (bullseye).

Target Pattern: Poor Accuracy and Good Precision

A distribution where trial measurements are closely grouped together but off-center from the true target value (bullseye).

Target Pattern: Good Accuracy and Good Precision

A distribution where trial measurements are closely grouped together directly on the true target value (bullseye).

Volumetric Flask

Laboratory glassware designed specifically to hold a single, precise volume of liquid.

Burette

Laboratory equipment fitted with a stopcock to control fluid flow, used to deliver variable volumes of liquid.

Ladder Method

A visual metric unit conversion method where moving to a larger unit moves the decimal to the left (or subtracts from exponent), and moving to a smaller unit moves the decimal to the right (or adds to exponent).

Volume by Displacement

A method to calculate the volume of an insoluble solid object by measuring the change in liquid level in a graduated cylinder before and after submerging the object.

Significant Figures Addition and Subtraction Rule

Calculated results must contain the same number of decimal places as the measurement with the fewest number of decimal places.

Significant Figures Multiplication and Division Rule

Calculated results must contain the same number of significant figures as the measurement with the fewest number of significant figures.

Micro ($\mu$)

A metric prefix represented by the Greek letter mu, denoting a factor of $10^{-6}$.

Giga (G)

A metric prefix denoting a factor of $10^9$.

Femto (f)

A metric prefix denoting a factor of $10^{-15}$.