MEASUREMENT system

For Junior High School Year 7 (SMPN 1 Way Tenong)

Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

Definition of Measurement

Measurement: Measuring is an important scientific skill. To measure the length of a table using a book, you compare the length of the table with the length of the book, and the book is used as a unit. Length is one of fundamental quantity.

The result of measurement is useful if it uses a standard of measurement. It is an agreed unit of measurement with fixed value. A book used as a unit of measurement is not standard because there are different lengths of books.

Measuring systems. People used part of their body as units of measurement such as fathoms, span, and step. But those units are not standard and can cause difficulty in communicating the units.
 
You may hear people use units of measurement such as: gallon for water, yard for thread, and inch for pipe. Those units are examples of units in the British system. After 1700 some scientists used measuring system called the metric system. Then, in 1960 the metric system was used and officially called the international system or SI units (Le Système International d'Unitès). In the SI, each fundamental quantity has a unit, for example, meter for length, second for time, and kilogram for mass.

Questions:
1. Books are not standards measurement. Why?
2. What parts of the body did people use to use as units of measurement?
3. What is a unit for ‘time’?
4. What is a unit for ‘mass’?
5. What are examples of units in the British system?
6. What measuring system did scientists use after the 17th century?

GLOSSARY
fundamental quantity : (n). besaran pokok
fathom : (n). depa/hasta
length : (n). panjang
mass : (n). massa
measure : (v)mengukur
measurement : (n) pengukuran
metric system : (n). sistem metrik
scientist : (n) ilmuwan
span : (n). jengkal
standard of measurement : (n).pengukuran standard
unit of measurement : (n). unit pengukuran