Metric Mastery B

[-274degreesC]

To prepare for this I guess you would just try to get in a metric frame of mind. In your everyday routines just start getting a feel for what things are in metrics. (How long is your toothbrush? How fast is your car going? What is the volume of the cup you are drinking out of?)

[18k9b01]

does anyone have any other resources to prep for metric mastery???

[18k9b01]

how are we exactly supposed to measure density

[siciscio]

For measuring or for estimating?

Calculating density is simply to dived the mass of an object by it's volume. But you probably know that already.

I think density is something that you'd have to achieve after intense practice with estimating masses and lengths and after that calculating it. At least that's how I'll go around it.A smarter idea is probably to memorize the different densities of different materials and observe the material of the object you are given.

[Skink]

how are we exactly supposed to measure density

I'll have you know this has been discussed in other circles, and I haven't heard any bright ideas yet. We have no instrument that immediately measures density, so I suspect a supervisor cannot have a density station unless you also measure the same thing's mass and volume at the same station (and that would take too long, I suspect, unless three stations were estimating density, mass, and volume of something and then three more measuring stations later of the same thing (only density is done last making rotations complicated)). If anyone out there has ideas, I'd love to hear them.
You can use water, but I don't know if there's an instrument that A)does this and B)is portable enough to be practical at competition.

[hscmom]

I think density is something that you'd have to achieve

Well, the more I am involved with SO, the denser I get. So density IS something I'm achieving.

One thing that I found while coaching our two (quite young...) MM kids about density is: "In your mind's eye, drop the object in a container of water and imagine if it floats or not." That actually helps them a bit. Many common objects have a density close to 1.0 g/ml. The kids naturally know that wood floats, a chunk of metal (ie. not a boat hull holding air or a thin sewing needle held up by surface tension...) sinks, etc. I asked them "What would an apple do?" They imagined it floating. Good guess, because apples float. So, the density of an apple is < 1 g/ml. A fresh egg sinks. Its density is > 1 g/ml. A layer of oil floats. A layer of corn syrup sinks.

[Skink]

That's very good advice for how to get a ballpark estimate! It's reliable as long as the kids passed preschool
But what about at competition? If the kids are asked to estimate the density of an object, then they will also be asked to measure it...somehow. By what means can the measurement be taken?

[-274degreesC]

Practice mass estimates and volume estimates, get good at approximating division. There is no simpler way

[Skink]

That's not the question. That's the estimation portion. The density has to be measured after you do the division in your head and finish all of the other estimations. I want to know how you will likely have to do that.

[RheeJ19]

This is my first year in Science Olympiad and I was wondering how exactly to study for this event. The person to answer my question with exact detail will get a prize! Here is my question: How many kilometers, mile, yards, and feet are in 8325976822819782497310477628 inches?