Measurements: A Major Tool of Science

Measurement is the process of obtaining numerical values representing physical properties, such as length, mass, or time, by way of a unit of measurement. A unit of measurement is a magnitude representing a physical quantity by use of a standard for measurement of that physical quantity. A measuring device is a piece of equipment used to measure a physical quantity based on a standard for measurement.

Measurement and Objectivity

Measurement is the most objective part of science since the resulting numbers are what they are. The use mechanical devices for measurement aide thus objectivity by removing human subjectivity. The validity of a measurement is only as valid as the theory behind it.

Units of Measure in Physics

Unites of measure are numerical values given physical quantities relative to some standard. The International System of Units (SI) is the system of units of measure used as a global standard by international treaty.

Seven SI Base Units
meter	distance
kilogram	mass
second	time
ampere	current
kelvin	temperature
mole	amount of substance
candela	intensity of light

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There is a list of
SI unit prefixes that that multiply the values from 10²⁴ and
10^-24 below is a partial list.

SI Prefixes
Prefix	Symbol	10n	Scale	decimal
giga-	G	109	billion	1,000,000,000
mega-	M	106	million	1,000,000
Kilo-	k	103	thousand	1,000
Hecto-	h	102	hundred	100
deca-	da	101	ten	10
-	-	100	one	1
deci-	d	10-1	tenth	0.1
centi-	c	10-2	hundredth	0.01
milli-	m	10-3	thousandth	0.001
micro-	m	10-6	millionth	0.000,001
nano-	n	10-9	billionth	0.000,000,001

As a result 1,000 meters is a kilometer, a hundredth of a meter is
centimeter and a thousandth of a meter is a millimeter.