¿What are the units that make up the 3 quantities (mass, volume of a substance and density)?
Answered on
The units that make up the three physical quantities—mass, volume, and density—are as follows:
1. Mass: Mass is the measure of the amount of matter in an object. The International System of Units (SI unit) for mass is the kilogram (kg). Other common units used for mass include grams (g), milligrams (mg), and metric tonnes (t).
2. Volume: Volume is the measure of the amount of space an object or substance occupies. The SI unit for volume is the cubic meter (m³). However, volume can be expressed in many different units depending on the context, including liters (L), milliliters (mL), cubic centimeters (cm³), and cubic inches (in³).
3. Density: Density is a measure of mass per unit of volume. It indicates how compactly the mass is distributed in the substance. The SI unit for density is kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m³). Other units for density can include grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm³) or pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft³).
Extra: Understanding these quantities helps students comprehend how the physical world works. For instance, mass is a fundamental property of matter and is related to the concept of inertia, which is an object's resistance to change in its state of motion. Unlike weight, which is the force of gravity acting on an object's mass, mass itself does not change whether you are on the Earth, the Moon, or in space.
Volume tells us how much space an object or substance takes up. When dealing with liquids, volume is an especially useful measurement, as it helps us determine the capacity of containers and the amount of fluid in a given space.
Density is particularly important in understanding whether an object will float in a fluid, which is fundamental to concepts like buoyancy and Archimedes' principle. An object will float in a liquid if its density is less than the density of the liquid. This is why ships made of steel (which is denser than water) float; they are constructed in a way that the overall volume contains enough air, making the ship's average density less than that of water.
Learning about these units and their interrelationships can help students solve problems involving calculations of weight, the design of objects to float or sink, the mixing of substances with different densities, and more.