Page 103 - Viva ICSE Science 4 : E-book

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Measurement

Measurement is the process of fi nding out the
KEY CONCEPTS
size, length, quantity or degree of something.
Any measurement is made in units. A unit of • Need for measurement of various

measurement is a fi xed quantity that is used as things
• Measurement of length
a standard for measurements. Let’s learn more
• Measurement of mass
about measurement in this chapter.
• Measurement of capacity

• Measurement of time
Need for Measurement of Various Things
• Measurement of temperature
In our everyday life, measurement plays an
important role as we need to measure various
things for various purposes. We cannot depend on our senses to measure them. For

example, the street vendor measures the quantity of vegetables and fruits using a
balance while selling them, the milkman measures the quantity of milk using a litre can,

the tailor measures the length of clothes using a measuring tape to cut and stitch them,
and so on.

In olden days, people used to measure various things using their body parts like forearm,

palm, foot and hand. The units of measurement that were based on human body parts
were the following.

• Cubit measures the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle fi nger.

• Handspan measures the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the
little fi nger. In this, the fi ngers are completely outstretched to measure things.

• Foot span measures the distance covered by one footstep.

• Arm length measures the length between the shoulder and the middle fi nger.

• Arm span measures the distance between the tips of middle fi ngers of both the

arms. The distance is measured when the arms are raised away from the body and
held parallel to the ground.

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