Measurement and Observation:  The First Steps

Imagine you would being in charge of taking X-rays for patients who potentially have a broken bone.  Or perhaps your role instead is as accountant determining the most prudent way for dollars to be allocated at the company in which you are employed.  Or maybe you are a mechanic reading a repair manual needing to interpret brake calibration....  Regardless of the situation in which you find yourself, prior to you beginning the work,  you will necessarily make certain you understand how to use the instruments and tools at hand.  Not doing so, puts yourself and others at risk.

In chemistry in a similar way,  we will work to see how people have agreed to make measurements and observations.  We'll begin by defining how measurements are taken with different instruments.  We'll learn the proper way to read graduated cylinders, balances, burettes and other tools of the trade that we will be using.  Inherent in this discussion will be definitions of significant figures and their use in analyses.  We'll introduce and utilize technologies that we will be using over the year in various ways. 

Throughout the unit, in the process, we will also be revisiting a number of different concepts that should be somewhat familiar to you.  Concepts such as use of the metric system, ways of identifying and separating physical and chemical changes, introductory chemical terminology, among others will be used as we illustrate to each other the proper ways to make measurements and observations.  This is a lab intensive unit.