Air Pollution Technology

Pre-Course Review Assignment

Name: KEY Date:

Please note: this is not a graded assignment, but will be collected and reviewed on the first day of the course. Please bring the completed assignment with you to class. This assignment is intended to serve as a review of fundamental math skills content from the pre-requisite course “Air Quality Computations.” Please answer the questions below. If you do not feel comfortable with the topic, please refer to the following website for a review of these skills: .

Part A. Units of Measurement

1. Please match the units of measurement on the right with the measurement type on the left.

a metersa. Length or distance

c litersb. Area

ccubic meters c. Volume

akilometers d. Weight or mass

edegrees Celsiuse. Temperature

dkilograms

bsquare meters

amicrometers

dgrams

eKelvin

2.Which is larger, a kilometer or a centimeter? How would you convert kilometers to centimeters?

Kilometer; convert km to cm by multiplying cm value by 100000 (eg. 1 km = 100000 cm)

  1. What types of measurements are used when expressing concentration?

Mass per volume (i.e. g/L or ug/m3) or ratio quantity (i.e. parts per million)

Part B. Calculating with units

Rule 1: When adding or subtracting, the units must be identical and the answer is in the same units. / mg – mg = mg
inches + inches = inches
Rule 2: When multiplying, units are also multiplied. / (inches)(inches) = square inches (in2)
(mm)(mm)(mm) = cubic millimeters (mm3)
Rule 3: When dividing, like units cancel out. / inches/inches = (no units--This is a ratio, so it’s only a number.)
(mm3)/(mm) =(mm2)
g/s = g/s (units are for different measurements)

Practice:(5cm)(3cm) = 15 cm256ml – 32ml = 24 ml

12m + 4.5m =16.5 m(4s)(24m/s) = 96 m

30N/6N = 5 (no units; ratio)(2mm2)(4mm) = 8 mm3

(8in)(2.5cm/in)(0.01m/cm) =0.2 m(6cm3)(3g/cm3) = 18 g

Part C. Conversion Factors

Conversion factors also known as unit fractions and are considered equivalent (equal) measurements. Conversion factors are useful in solving problems involving units of measurement (conversions or calculations)

For example:

One dollar = 4 quarters = 10 dimes = 20 nickels = 100 pennies

One kg = 1000 g = 1,000,000,000 µg

To use a conversion factor, you must first set up the equivalent measurements in fraction form to give a ratio of 1.

100 cmor 1mBoth of these fractions equal “1”

1m 100 cm

Practice: What are the two conversion factors (unit fractions) for each pair of units?

grams and microgramsliters and milliliters

1 g / 1 L
1000000 ug / 1000 mL
1 ug / 1 mL
0.000001 g / 0.001 L

cubic centimeters and cubic metersmeter and kilometer

1 m3 / 1 km
1000000 cm3 / 1000 m
1 cm3 / 1 m
0.000001 m3 / 0.001 km

Part D. Numbers can be expressed a variety of ways: using fractions, decimals, and exponents.

  1. Express the following number as a decimal: 5/16 = 0.3125
  1. Express the following number as a percent: 0.053 = 5.3%
  1. Express the following number using scientific notation: 576,000,000 = 5.76 x 108
  1. Express the following number without scientific notation: 3.443907 x 105 = 344390.7
  1. Express (convert) the following number in parts per million (ppm): 75% (or 75/100)

75 = 750000

100 1000000

Part E. Interpreting data graphs and charts is an instrumental skill in the field of air quality.

What type of situation might be occurring in the community from where this data was gathered?

Revised: 2/20/10