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The
Metric system of measurement
was
created about two hundred years ago by a group of French
scientists to simplify measurement. |
In the
metric system, each of the common kinds of measure -- length, weight,
capacity -- has one basic unit of measure. To measure
smaller amounts, divide the basic unit into parts of ten, a hundred, or
a thousand, and so on. To measure larger amounts, multiply the
basic unit by ten, a hundred, or a thousand, and so on.
Length:
1 kilometer
(km) =
1000 meters (m)
1 centimeter (cm) = .01 meter (m)
1 millimeter (mm) = .001 meter (m)
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Capacity:
1
milliliter = .001 liter (l) |
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Weight:
1 kilogram
(kg) = 1000 grams (g)
1 milligram (mg) = .001 gram (g)
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Kilo
means thousand (1000)
Hecto means hundred (100)
Deca means ten (10)
Deci
means one-tenth (1/10)
Centi means one-hundredth (1/100)
Milli means one-thousandth (1/1000) |
Conversions
Sometimes you need
to convert from one unit of measure
to another similar unit.
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Proportions
will help you make conversions when working with
measurements.
Create a unit conversion
ratio, which is always equal to 1:
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Example 1:
Convert 1.254 kilometers to meters.
Using a conversion
ratio:
Solving algebraically, the answer
is 1254.0 m
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Another
way to look at the problem:
When making metric conversions, arrange the prefixes
from largest to smallest:
kilo
hecto deca
UNIT
deci centi
milli
(meter,
gram or liter)
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To convert 1.254
kilometers to meters, notice that in the chart above, the name meter
is three places to the right of the name kilo.
This implies that the decimal point in our number needs to be moved three
places to the right. The answer is 1254.0 meters.
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