General Chemistry (Chem 1)

Chapter II
SIZE & SCALE
A. Accuracy and Presicion
Accuracy and presicion are two concepts that have important uses in science, engineering, and
statistics.
Used by professionals to ensure quality control and reduce errors.
Also used in experimentation to check errors.

 Precision
-refers to the closeness of measurements within a set of data
-agreement between repeated measurements of its value
-to assess precision in a data set, several trials are made especially during experimentation. The
obtained data should be close to each other regardless of the true value for the set data to be
considered precise.

 Accurary
-indicates how close a measurement is to the accepted value or true value
-qualitative term used in determining the degree of conformity of a test result to a true or
accepted value

Checking for Accuracy:

1. Using the Mean ( X ), also known as average to solve.
-The closer is the mean value, the higher is the accuracy of the data

Example:
The nutritional label of your banana ketchup claimed to contain 2mg sodium (Na). After
triplicate analysis in the laboratory, the results were 1.843mg, 1.951 mg and 2.110mg Na.

Therefore, the measurement of the data have high accuracy, and the claimed Na content of the
banana Ketchup is true

2. Using Magnitude Error

Error refers to the absolute value of the difference between the theoritical value (the accepted
value) and the experimental value.

Equation

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 General Chemistry (Chem 1)

Example:
The density of Na measured in the laboratory is 0.567g/cm3. Solve for %error

Checking for Precision

1. Using Standard deviation (SD), σ (the Greek letter sigma)
-Standard deviation describes how spread out or distributed the data are
-the lower the SD value, the higher is the precision
Equation:

or

Where:
Σ- summation
X- individual value
X - mean
N- total number of data
Example:
1. IPI Manufacturing Company produces 1000 botlle of efficascent massage oil per batch. The
label state it contains 6g of camphor. The Quality control department uses 6 items resulting to 9g,
2g, 5g, 4g, 12g, and 7g of camphor. Solve for precision.

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 General Chemistry (Chem 1)

2. Pfzier Manufaturing Laboratory added 5pcs of tablets weighing 10g, 9.8g, 9.7g, 10g, and 9.8g
for their 2nd batch of Cefuroxime500mg . Check the precision.

 Therefore it is precise

B. Review on Scientific Notation

Scientific Notation is simplified expression for very large or very small number of quantity. The
standard form of scientific notation is: A x 10B

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 General Chemistry (Chem 1)

C. Significant Figures & Rounding Off

Significant Figures
When we work with numbers we must be able to recognize how many significant figures they
contain. We do this by first remembering that nonzero digits are always significant, no matter
where they occur. The only problem in counting significant figures, then, is deciding whether a
zero is significant. To do so, use the following rules:

1. A zero alone in front of a decimal point is not significant; it is used simply to make sure we
do not overlook the decimal point

0.02086 0.002806

2. A zero to the right of the decimal point but before the first nonzero digit is simply a place
marker and is not significant

0.002806

3. A zero between nonzero numbers is significant

2806 0.002806

4. A zero at the end of a number and to the right of the decimal point is significant

0.002860 2806.0

5. A zero at the end of a number and to the left of the decimal point may or may not be
significant. We cannot tell by looking in the number. It may be precisely known, and thus
significant, or it may simply be a placeholder. If we encounter such number, the best we can
assume is that any trailing zeros are not significant

28060

Number Count of Significant Figures

0.2806 4
0.02806 4
2806 4
0.0028060 5
2806.0 5
28060 Assume 4

Rounding off Numbers

When roundingoff number contains more digit than are allowed by the rules of significant figures,
we drop the digits after the last signficant figure, using the following procedure:

1. If the first digit being dropped is less than 5, leave the last significant figure unchage.

Rounding three significant figures, 6.073 becomes 6.07 and 6.073 becomes 6.07 x 103

2. If the first digit being dropped is greater than 5 or is 5 followed by digts other than zero,
increase the last sigificant figure by one unit

Rounding to three signicant figures, 6.077 becomes 6.08 and 60,751 becomes 6.08x 104

3. If the first digit being dropped is 5 followed only by zeros or by no other digits, then increase
the last significant figure by one unit if it is odd but leave it unchanged if it is even.

6.075 becomes 6.08 6.085 becomes 6.08

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D. Unit of Measurement

FRACTIONAL AND MULTIPLE PREFIXES

(See next page for common unit measure equivalents)

E. CONVERTION USING RATIO AND PROPORTION

Use ratios and proportions to convert both customary and metric units
Example 1 :
An average human brain weighs 3 pounds. What is this weight in ounces ? Use a proportion to
convert 3 pounds to ounces.
Solution :
Step 1 : Identify the ratio that compares the units involved.
1 pound = 16 ounces
Step 2 : Write a proportion.
1lb 3lb
16ounce xounce
Step 3: Cross Multiply
16ounce(3lb)
x
ounce
Step 4: Multiply the cancel out same unit

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 General Chemistry (Chem 1)

Common Weights and Measures

Length
1 millimeter = 1/1,000 meter
1 centimeter = 1/100 meter
1 decimeter = 1/10 meter
1 meter (basic unit of length)
1 dekameter = 10 meters
1 kilometer = 1,000 meters
1 inch = 1/36 yard = 1/12 foot
1 foot = 1/3 yard
1 mile = 1,760 yards = 5,280 feet
1 centimeter = 0.39 inch
1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
1 meter = 39.37 inches
1 foot = 0.305 meter
1 meter = 3.28 feet
1 yard = 0.914 meter
1 meter = 1.094 yards
1 kilometer = 0.62 mile
1 mile = 1.609 kilometers
Area
1 acre = 0.405 hectare
1 hectare = 2.47 acres
Volume and Capacity (Liquid and Dry)
1 milliliter = 1/1,000 liter = 1 cubic centimeter
1 centiliter = 1/100 liter
1 deciliter = 1/10 liter
1 liter = 1 cubic decimeter (basic unit of capacity)
1 dekaliter = 10 liters
1 hectoliter = 100 liters = 1/10 cubic meter
1 cubic yard (basic unit of volume)
1 pint = 1/8 gallon = 1/2 quart
1 quart = 1/4 gallon
1 milliliter = 0.034 fluid ounce
1 fluid ounce = 29.6 milliliters
1 U.S. quart = 0.946 liter
1 liter = 1.06 U.S. quarts
1 U.S. gallon = 3.8 liters
1 gallons = 4.5 liters
Weight (Mass)
1 milligram = 1/1,000,000 kilogram = 1/1,000 gram
1 centigram = 1/100,000 kilogram = 1/100 gram
1 decigram = 1/10,000 kilogram = 1/10 gram
1 gram = 1/1,000 kilogram
1 dekagram = 1/100 kilogram = 10 grams
1 hectogram = 1/10 kilogram = 100 grams
1 kilogram (basic unit of weight or mass)
1 metric ton = 1,000 kilograms
1 grain = 1/7,000 pound = 1/437.5 ounce
1 dram = 1/256 pound = 1/16 ounce
1 ounce = 1/16 pound
1 pound (basic unit of weight or mass)
1 long ton = 2,240 pounds
1 milligram = 0.015 grain
1 grain = 64.8 milligrams
1 gram = 0.035 avoirdupois ounce