LENGTH CONVERSIONS
PROCEDURE:
1. CUT A PIECE OF ELODEA SO THAT IT IS 1 CENTIMETER (1cm) LONG.
2. CUT THE SAME PIECE SO THAT IT IS 1/10 OF A CENTIMETER LONG.
1/10 CM = 1 MM, 0.1CM = 1 MM
3. PRODUCE A WET MOUNT OF THE PIECE OF ELODEA .
4. LOOK AT THE ELODEA UNDER LOW POWER.
5. IF THINGS GET SMALLER THAN 1mm, THEY ARE DIFFICULT TO SEE WELL WITHOUT A MICROSCOPE. DESCRIBE ANY DETAILS THAT YOU SEE IN THE PIECE OF
ELODEA THAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT.
6. MILLIMETERS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO 1000 PARTS CALLED MICROMETERS. AT LOW POWER, MICROMETERS ARE STILL NOT MAGNIFIED ENOUGH TO BE SEEN WELL. FIND A DETAIL IN YOUR SLIDE THAT YOU CAN PUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD OF VIEW.
7. SWITCH TO MEDIUM POWER. NOW EVERYTHING WILL BE 2.5 TIMES BIGGER THAN IT WAS AT LOW POWER. YOU SHOULD NOW BE ABLE TO SEE MORE DETAILS OF THE ITEM THAT YOU SELECTED.
IF NOT, GO BACK TO LOW POWER AND TRY AGAIN.
8. AT HIGH POWER, EACH THING IS MAGNIFIED ALMOST 400 TIMES.
EVEN THE BEST LIGHT MICROSCOPES DON’T RESOLVE BETTER THAN ABOUT 1 MICROMETER. SO WE CANNOT USE OUR SCOPES TO ENVISION THE NEXT SMALLER SIZE. 1 MICROMETER IS ABOUT 1000 NANOMETERS. HOW MANY NANOMETERS WOULD THERE BE IN A MILLIMETER? __________ HOW MANY NANOMETERS WOULD THERE BE IN A CENTIMETER? __________________.
9. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:
a. __ millimeter = 1000 micrometers = 1000000 nanometers
b. 1 centimeter = ___ millimeters = 10000 micrometers = ____nanometers
c. 6 mm = _________ micrometers
d. 6000000 nanometers (nm)= ______ mm
e. 6.3 cm = ______ mm
f. .3 cm = ______ mm
g. .3 mm = ________ micrometers (mm)
h. .3mm = _________nm
10. If a cell is 3 micrometers wide, how many nanometers wide is it?
11. Your science book is about 20 cm tall, how many millimeters is that?
ENRICHMENT:
USE THE NUMBER NAMES ON THE HOME PAGE TO COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:
12.
a. 0.022km = ________m
b. 6.2mm = ________m
c. 6.3m = ________cm
d. .903m = _________mm
e. 15 cm = ________nm
f. 6.12mm = _________m
g. 3.1cm = ________m
h. 14.6m = _________mm
13. WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN #12 AS SCIENTIFIC NOTATION.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
14. Put these in order from shortest to longest:
a. 2 x 104cm b. 6 x 106mm c. .006 km d. 6 x 109nm