The Metric System
The nice thing about the metric system is that it is really easy to convert from one unit to
another. Basically, you need to know your left from your right, and you need to be able to
count. The table below gives you a sentence to use to remember the order of the units. You
have to remember the units in this exact order even though there are a lot of units that you
will never see used. This table only includes units for length, but you should not
have to memorize a separate table for mass or volume. You can look back at the introduction
page to see how the mass and volume tables for the metric system are virtually identical to
the length table.
| kilometer |
hectometer |
decameter |
meter |
decimeter |
centimeter |
millimeter |
micrometer |
nanometer |
angstrom |
| k |
h |
d |
m |
d |
c |
m |
micrometer |
nanometer |
angstrom |
| Kelly |
Harris |
drew |
maps |
during |
class |
Monday |
|
|
|
Now we will do some example conversions so that you can see how easy it is to use the metric
system. Let's say that you have 45.5 centimeters, and you need to know how many millimeters
that is. Looking at our table, you can see that millimeters are one place to the right of
centimeters. Now find the decimal point in the number you were given. Move that decimal
point one place to the right. You have 455 (you can leave off the decimal point if it is at
the very end of the number) millimeters. You know that millimeters are smaller than centimeters
so it makes sense that you would need more millimeters than centimeters.
Let's look at a few more problems:
Example #2: 47.1 meters = ? kilometers
Looking at our table, you can see that you need to move three places to the left to move from
meters to kilometers. So, you need to move the decimal point three places to the left. In this
example, the decimal point is easy to see, but this problem is a little more difficult. Once
you move the decimal point two places to the left, you run out of numbers. You still need to
move one more place, though. You move the last place and put a zero in that spot. Therefore
your answer is:
.0471 kilometers
Example #3: 534 meters = ? millimeters
You need to move three places to the right on the table to get from meters to millimeters.
One of the difficulties with this problem is that there does not seem to be a decimal point.
When you do not see the decimal point, it is after the last number. We could rewrite this problem
as 534. meters = ? millimeters. Now move the decimal point three places to the right. You
run out of numbers from the beginning, so you'll have to fill those spaces with zeros. Your
answer is:
534,000 millimeters
Now try working these example problems in your notebook.
1. 1 liter = ? milliliters
2. 154 liters = ? milliliters
3. 0.02 liters = ? milliliters
4. 1 meter = ? centimeters
5. 25 meters = ? centimeters
6. 0.8 meters = ? centimeters
7. 1000 milligrams = ? grams
8. 154,000 milligrams = ? grams
9. 250 milligrams = ? grams
10. 189,000 micrometers = ? millimeters
11. 87 angstrom = ? nanometers
12. 890,000 nanometers = ? centimeters
|
Check your answers. If you made any
mistakes, you need to rework those problems.
Go on to the English system page.
Return to the instructions page.