Units are very important, not only in science but in "real life" as well. Units give numbers meaning. If you are running low on gas between El Paso and Midland, the ambiguous sign "Next Gas 100" can be very important. Is that 100 yards or 100 miles? Getting over a cold would be frustrated by a bottle with the helpful guidelines "Take two twice per day." Two what? Tablespoon? Teaspoons? Bottles?
Units are vitally important to make sense of results in science. Some instructors will not accept answers without proper units, no matter how correct! Therefore, it will be in your best interest to be aware of and utilize units to their fullest.
Units can also be helpful in determining how to get an answer. For example, we know that velocity (or speed) is typically measured in miles per hour, so we can guess that the formula for calculating velocity is distance (miles) divided by (per) time (hour). This is indeed the case.
This tutorial is desgned to help you become familiar with units and how to work with them. Please take the "pre-test" first, to see if you really need to go through the tutorial. Then, if you've missed any of the pre-test problems, move on to the tutorial.
Questions? Ask the designer, Jim Heath
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