Title: MCPS Science - Metrics
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Making Metric Meaningful
Introduction
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- The International System of Units is officially known as the Systeme
International (SI). It is the official standard of measurement worldwide. The
official physical standards reside in France, and standards throughout the
world can be traced back to these.
The National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), a U.S. federal agency, is responsible for maintaining
the official weights and measures standards for the United States, which can
be traced to the official world standards. The NIST does research and
contributes to the refinement of the world standards. The U.S. Naval
Observatory does research and refines time measurements and provides access to
the U.S. master clock.
The SI metric system of measurement is a
rationalized system of units, which links each unit to others. The diagram
shows relationships among the base units, derived units with special names and
supplementary units. Shown below is a list of some length, volume, mass and
temperature symbols and a list of some standard factor prefixes for SI units,
which are commonly used in every day life.
Detailed information about
the SI metric system of measurement may be obtained from:
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U.S. Department of Commerce |
U.S. Metric Association, Inc |
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National Institute of Standards &
Technology |
10245 Andasol Avenue |
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Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001 |
Northridge, CA 91325-1504 |
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Please send questions and comments to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
This
page was created by Michael Szesze, Program Supervisor for Science.
Special
Thanks to G.Stanley Doore.
All contents copyright � 2001 Montgomery
County Public Schools. All rights reserved.
This page was created on November
7, 2002.
URL:
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/science/instr/metric.htm
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