Department of Physical Sciences

Units of Mass SI Base unit for Mass: kg Commonly used in Chem lab: g (gram) ■ 1000 g = 1 kg, exactly ■ “k” stands for “kilo,” and means 1000 ■ k (lower case!) is an official SI abbreviation ■ 1 packet of sugar is approx. 3.5 g Relation to common English units: ■ A kilogram is a little over 2 pounds, 1 kg = 2.2 lb, ■ A pound is about ½ kilo, 1 lb = 454 g ■ An ounce is about 28 grams (8 packets of sugar)