What Does metric system Mean
To understand what the metric system is , you have to know what the idea of a system of units refers to : it is a group of units of measurement . A unit of measurement, on the other hand, is a quantity of a certain physical quantity that is defined, standardized and adopted in a conventional way.
With this in mind, we can go ahead and say that the metric system is a system of units that has the meter as its base unit of measure . This unit of measurement is a unit of length (the physical quantity that indicates the amount of space that exists between two points: that is, the distance ).
Let's review all these notions so that it is clear what the metric system is. Units of measurement refer to quantities of physical quantities. These units form sets that are known as systems of units. Among the different systems of units, is the metric.
The peculiarity of the metric system, as mentioned above, is that it is based on the unit of measurement known as the meter . This unit, and therefore the entire metric system, is used to name the physical quantity known as distance.
The meter is defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in a time period of 1/299 792 458 of a second . When the metric system relates the units of measurement by multiples and submultiples of 10 , it is called the decimal metric system (considered the oldest unified system of measurement).
Those that we have exposed are the measurements that are used to carry out the measurement of the length, however, we cannot ignore that there are others that are used to undertake the same but with the mass, the capacity, the surface ... To be able to understand it, nothing better than to see some examples:
-To measure mass, we come across the fact that the measurement is the gram and then there are units greater or less than it, such as the kilogram (1,000 grams) or the decigram (0.1 gram).
-To proceed to measure the capacity, on the other hand, we come across the liter as a “basic” measure and then from there other units arise such as the hectoliter (100 liters), the deciliter (0.1 liter), the kiloliter (1,000 liters) ...
-In the case that you want to measure what the surface is, the metric system bets on the square meters: m2, which is the fundamental unit. From this, other units are already created, such as the square kilometer (km2), which is 1,000,000 m2 or the square decameter (dam2), which corresponds to 100 m2, among others.
-Of course, we must not forget the cubic meter (m3), which is the unit used to carry out the volume measurement. It should be noted that, as in the aforementioned cases, there are also other measures that are greater or less than the one cited. Thus, for example, there are the cubic decameter (dam3), which corresponds to 1,000 m3, or the cubic decimeter (dm3), which is equivalent to 0.001 m3.
The establishment of the decimal metric system as a universal system took place in 1875 and contributed to the development of commercial and scientific exchange, by establishing the same unit of measurement for all countries . It is important to point out that until that moment, there was in each country (and, many times, in each of its regions) a different system of units from the rest; even, the same name could come to represent different values in each place, or vary its meaning over time.
A clear example of the lack of consistency between the units of measurement that took place before the emergence of the decimal metric system can be seen when observing the measure of length known as vara , which has an equivalence for its Spanish version (from 0 , 8359 meters), and another for its Aragonese version (0.7704 meters).
One of the most obvious characteristics of the decimal metric system is that it has a system of notations to distinguish between several of its multiples and submultiples, something that arose to end the lack of order that existed among the first measurement systems , which did not use Decimal multiples and submultiples, nor did they have consistency in the choice of their names, which generated confusion and complications when using them to perform mathematical calculations.
Para construir el nombre de cada uno de los múltiplos y submúltiplos del sistema métrico decimal basta con anteponer un prefijo a la palabra «metro», y así obtenemos los siguientes términos: decámetro (10 metros); hectómetro (100 metros); kilómetro (1.000 metros); miriámetro (10.000 metros); decímetro (la décima parte de un metro); centímetro (la centésima parte de un metro); milímetro (la milésima parte de un metro). Existen otros valores que también se distinguen con prefijos, tanto mayores al miriámetro como menores al milímetro, aunque surgieron mucho más tarde que éstos y no son tan conocidos fuera del ámbito científico.
A pesar de los intentos del ser humano por establecer parámetros universales para la medición de las diversas magnitudes, todavía existen demasiadas unidades de medida y excepciones como para que una persona pueda entender espontáneamente los valores que se encuentra al salir de su país. Cuando alguien acostumbrado al sistema métrico se enfrenta a la milla o a los pies, por ejemplo, lo normal es que no conozca las equivalencias.