Experiment No.

1: Measurement: The Metric System

An experiment is a question which science poses to nature, and a measurement is the
recording of nature’s answer. Measurement is part of everyday Life which is integral in
chemistry. Every measurements and experiment must be handled appropriately and
accurately to avoid unnecessary events in future experiments. These experiments teach
students how to gather the mass of an object, volume of both solid and liquid, distance
and temperature. The equipment and apparatuses were handled appropriately and
accurately while taking measurements.

Leader: Shem Andrew Pelayo

Vince Frederick Estrada Dulay
Jericho Martinez
Gerard Escober Mendoza
Leizl Sayo. Trinidad
Francis Ryan Peralta

Group 04, 1:00 – 7:00 PM Fridays, E610, BSPSY 2 -1, Department of Psychology,
College of Social Sciences and Development, Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
To be presented on January 4, 2019 at E610, College of Social Sciences and
Development, Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Introduction

Chemistry is the scientific discipline involved with elements and compounds

composed of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, behavior
and the changes they undergo during a reaction with other substances
.
Chemistry is involved in everything that we do just like cooking, you cannot cook
a dish without using a measurement, even in our professional work such as engineering
you cannot build a house without using proper measurement to it, chemistry cannot be
erase or apart in our everyday life, it is part of our life that continuously teaches to
students and use in everyday life even in the next decades. A measurement has a lot of
uses. But if it was taken inappropriately without the knowledge of the right measurement
a simple cookies can be too much sweets or not sweets at all, A simple dish can be too
salty or not salty at all, and many more. A measurement is very important thing that we
need to know to apply in our everyday life.

The experiments conducted is for students to better understand the significance of

measuring volume, mass, temperature and length in chemistry. The accuracy of the
measurement determines the success of the experiment.

1|Page
Methodology

a. Reagents
The reagent that they used in the experiment is faucet water from the PUP lab.
They used the water for the experiments: volume measurement and temperature
measurement.

b. Equipment and Apparatus

The equipment used in conducting the experiment are the following: Platform
balance for weighing, graduated cylinder and beaker (50ml and 250ml) for
volume measurements, metric ruler for length, thermometer for temperature
reading and string aid for measuring the circumference of beakers.

c. Personal Protective Equipment

We’ve only wore lab gowns in conducting the experiment. The experiment was not
too complicated to require other protective equipment.

d. Experimental Procedure

1. Mass Measurement
Using a platform balance, we weigh it separately three pieces
of old one-peso coins. They recorded the mass of each coin and
put all the old one-peso coin on the pan and weighed them and
then recorded the total mass of the three pieces of old one-peso
coins. And by using the same platform balance once again,
weighed separately the three pieces of new one-peso coins and
lastly recorded the mass of each coin then, they put all the new
one-peso coin on the pan and weighed, finally recorded the
total mass of the three pieces of new one-peso coins.

2. Volume Measurement

Using the graduated cylinder, measure the capacity of a 50-ml

beaker then filled the beaker with water up to 50-ml level, pour the
contents into the graduated cylinder. After that they recorded the
volume that they have read in the graduated cylinder. And repeated
all these procedures, this time using a 100-ml beaker and a 250-ml
beaker.

2|Page
 i. Regular Shaped Solid
Using a metric ruler they measured the length of each of the
edges of a standard sized notebook next, record these values
(length, width and thickness) and lastly calculated the volume
of the irregular shaped solid.
ii. Irregular Shaped Solid
They placed a 40-ml water (initial volume of H₂O) in a
graduated cylinder then immersed the pebble (the irregular
solid) into the graduated cylinder. Then read the rise of the
level of the water, recorded the initial and the final volume and
lastly, calculate the volume of the irregular shaped solid.

3. Distance Measurement
They used a string, encircle the 50-ml, 100-ml and 250-ml
beakers individually to measure the circumference and marked
the overlapped string around each beaker. Next, they measured
the distance between the marks of the string to get the
circumference of each beakers and recorded the values. Then
they measured the diameter of the beakers by putting two
notebooks on the sides of the beaker and then measure the gap
using the metric ruler then recorded the diameters of each
beaker. The experimenters then made a graph of the
circumference of the beakers (y-axis) versus their diameter (x-
axis). They used a ruler, draw a line through the plotted point
and picked the points (P₁ (x₁y₁) and P₂ (x₂y₂) that will be used
to calculate the slope of the line. And lastly determine the slope
of the line.
4. Temperature Measurement
They placed approximately 50-ml of water in a 250-ml beaker
And carefully place the thermometer into the water and
recorded the temperature in ℃, ℉, and K.

3|Page
Results and Discussions

Unlike some non-metric measurements, which can vary even between

countries, metric measurement are set by international agreement and therefore
are the same wherever you happen to be. Chemistry therefore is a science that
includes data taken from experiments, though an experiment from formed
hypothesis to theories can be achieved from continuous experiments hence using
metric system to record your data is highly proposed so that other experimenters
could interpret the data and accurately use it as reference for their experiments.

a. Mass Measurement

At first, the experimenter had a slight problem with our platform balance.
It doesn’t seem to stabilize. After some time, an experimenter mastered the
adjustments of the platform balance to use it in its optimal form. The three
one-peso coin that was made in three different time table (2010, 2014 and
2018) was weighted separately and together with the platform balance.

The results:
One-Peso Coin Results
2010 5.45 g
2014 5.3 g
2018 6.1 g
TOTAL 16.85 g
Table #1: Mass measurement

The experimenters suggested to use the digital equipment, the more

advanced apparatus to get the precise weight of the three one-peso coin rather
than using the platform balance alone. The three one-peso coin was weighted
using the analytical balance and got a more accurate result.

The Result:
TOTAL 16.8074 g

The result of the experiment was a success. There was only a 0.05
difference between the total result of the platform balance and analytical
balance.

b. Volume Measurement

i. Liquid

4|Page
The results:
Liquid Volume Beaker Graduated Cylinder
50-ml 50-ml 38-ml
250-ml 250-ml 213-ml
Table #2: Volume measurement
The gap between the volumes of the two equipment is quite big, assuming
how significant accuracy is in the field of scientific measurements. According to the
references we’ve searched, the graduated cylinder is more accurate in measuring liquid
substances than beaker. Another factor for consideration that the experimenters observed
was the slightly inclined table used during the measuring procedure.

ii. Regular Shaped Solid

For this experiment, we’ve used the cigarette pack as our

regular shaped object.

The Results:

Height Width Length

3.5 inches 2.1 inches .9 Inches

V=lxwxh
V= 3.5 inches x 2.1 16.8021 cm ³ inches x .9 inches
V= 6.615 inches

Then we’ve calculated it to cubic centimeter. The result:

Then from cubic centimeter to liter. The result:

0.001 L
L=16.8 c m 3 x =0.168 L
1 c m3

Then from liter to quarts. The result:

1 gal 4 quarts
0.168 Lx x =2 x 10−8 quarts
3.7854 L 1 gal

5|Page
 iii. Irregular Shaped Solid

For this experiment, the experimenters used a pebble that was

found in the lab as an irregular shaped object.

The Result:
Pebble
Initial Volume Final Volume Volume of the Irregular
Shaped Solid
38 ml 41 ml 3 ml
Table #3: Distance measurement

c. Distance Measurement

In measuring for the different sizes of beakers the experimenters

used a string or yarn to find its circumference. The experimenters put a mark
on it to find its exact measurement, the marked string or yarn was measured in
centimeters using a metric ruler. After that, the experimenters used the same
procedure for getting its diameter.

The results:
Circumference of beakers
50-ml beaker 13.5 centimeters
100-ml beaker 15.4 centimeters
250-ml beaker 22.6 centimeters
Table #3: Distance measurement

Diameter of beakers
50-ml beaker 4.5 centimeters
100-ml beaker 5.5 centimeters
250-ml beaker 7.5 centimeters
Table #3: Distance measurement

To get a better view of the results, the experimenters drew a graph,

and marked each of the result to its corresponding position. A line was
drawn, using the given formula the data was solved

Δy y 2− y 1
=
Δx x 2−x 1

16.4 cm−22.6 cm
=
5 cm−7.5 cm

Slope of the line = - 2.81 centimeters

6|Page
16

14
13.5
12

10

8
7.5
6
5.3
4

0
0 5 10 15 20 25

1. The distance between carbon atoms in ethylene is 134 picometers. Which of the
following expresses that distance in meters

1 meter
134 x 1 picometers x = 1.34x10−10 meters
0.00000000001

2. The average distance from Earth to the Sun is 150 megameters. What is that
distance in meters?

1,000.00meters
150 mgm x = 1.5x 10−8 meters
1 mgm

3. The mass of a sample is 550 milligrams. Which of the following expresses that
mass in kilograms?

1 gram 1 kg .
550 mg. x x = 0.00055 kilograms
100 mg. 1000 g .

4. A dose of medication was prescribed to be 35 microliters. Which of the following

expresses that volume in centiliters?

1 centiliters
35 microliters x = 0.0035 centiliters
10,000 microliters

7|Page
5. In an average year the American chemical industry produces more than 9.5
million metric tons of sodium carbonate. Over half of this is used in the
manufacture of glass while another third is used in the production of detergents
and other chemicals. How many pounds of sodium carbonate are produced
annually?

1 pound
9,500,000 metric tons x = 2,092,511,013 lbs.
0.000454 metric tons

6. A large pizza has a diameter of 15 inches. Express this diameter in centimeters

1 cm.
15 inches x = 38.07 cm.
0.393inches

7. The average distance between the Earth and the Moon is 240,000 miles. Express
this distance in kilometers

1 km .
240,000 miles x = 38,627,343.43 km.
0.621miles

8. The area of a 15-inch pizza is 176.7¿ .2. Express this are in square centimeters.

21,54 cm.
176.7 ¿ .2 x = 448.818 cm 2
1inch.

9. The speed need to escape the pull of Earth’s gravity is 11/3 km/s. What is this
speed in mi/h?

km. 0.621miles 1 sec . 7.0173miles mi .

11.3 x x x = 25,242.68633
h. 1 km . 0.000278 hr . 0.000278 hr hr .

10. The density of the mercury, the only metal to exist as a liquid at room
temperature, 13.6 g. /cm3. What is that density in pounds per cubic inch?

0.491 lbs. / cm3 inch.

8|Page
Summary

Measurement and measuring apparatus/equipment must be given importance.

Proper usage of these apparatus/equipment will provide credible and legitimate results.
The Metric System provides a lot of help in chemistry. It gives accuracy rather than just
precision. The experimenters are at ease knowing what they need to do because the
metric system is not that hard to understand and quite easy to be thought unto.

Acknowledgements

Our sincerest gratitude to our dear teacher, Ma’am Lacsa. Thank you ma’am,
we’ve learn a lot of things. Using those lab equipment made as really seem like
professionals in the field of science, with all these lab gowns and glass wares, Oh! what a
sight! Kidding aside, ma’am your guidance and welcoming vibe really helped us to be
open in matters of chemistry that we don’t understand. You’ve always had answers for
any questions we give. Thank you also for the staffs of PUP who handles taking care and
lending those lab equipment and apparatus. Thank you Polytechnic University for the
Lab experience!

References
 PUP Chemistry Laboratory Manual
 Google.com

__________________ _____________________
Shem Andrew Pelayo Gerard Escober Mendoza

__________________________ _________________
Vince Frederick Estrada Dulay Leizl Sayo. Trinidad

______________ __________________
Jericho Martinez Francis Ryan Peralta

9|Page
December 14, 2018

10 | P a g e