Metric Units & Converting Between Them

Metric units are very nice to work with, since they are all multiples of ten (or a hundred, or onetenth, etc) of each other. You can convert between the various different sizes by merely moving the decimal point the correct number of places. The basic metric units are meters (for length), grams (for mass or weight), and liters (for volume). And the different units convert into one another rather nicely, with one milliliter equalling one cubic centimeter (the "cc" of medical shows on television) and one gram being the weight of one cc of water. There are many metric-unit prefixes, but the usual ones required in school are these: kilo-, hecto-, deka-, deci-, centi-, and milli-. To convert between the various prefixes, and thus the variouslysized units, you just move up and down this list of prefixes, moving the decimal point as you go. To remember the prefixes in order, you can use the following sentence: King Henry Doesn't [Usually] Drink Chocolate Milk The first letters of the words stand for the prefixes, with "Usually" in the middle standing for the "unit", being meters, grams, or liters. Many memory phrases omit the "Usually", and consequently students forget where the basic unit goes, messing up their conversions. Leave the "Usually" in there so you can keep things straight: kilo- hecto- deka- [unit] deci- centi- milliSince each step is ten times or one-tenth as much as the step on either side, we have: 1 kilometer = 10 hectometers = 100 dekameters = 1000 meters = 10 000 decimeters = 100 000 centimeters = 1 000 000 millimeters Alternatively, we have: 1 milliliter = 0.1 centiliters = 0.01 deciliters = 0.001 liters = 0.000 1 dekaliters = 0.000 01 hectoliters = 0.000 001 kiloliters The point here is that you move from one prefix to another by moving the decimal point one place, filling in, as necessary, with zeroes. To move to a smaller unit (a unit with a prefix some number of places further to the right in the listing), you move the decimal place to the right that same number of places, and vice versa. Together with the prefix sentence ("King Henry..."), this makes conversion between the different metric sizes very simple. Convert 12.54 kilometers to centimeters. How many jumps is it from "kilo-" to "centi-"? Five, to the right.

So I move the decimal point five places to the right, filling in the extra space with zeroes:

You don't have to make a loopy arrow like I did, but the loops help you keep track of the steps that you're counting, and make it really easy to see where to add the zeroes, if you need to. In this case, after moving the decimal point and adding the zeroes, I get: 12.54 km = 1 254 000 cm Convert 457 mL to hL.
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How many jumps is it from "milli-" to "hecto-"? Five, to the left.

So I move the decimal point five places to the left, filling in the empty spots after the decimal point with zeroes:

Then my answer is: 457 mL = 0.00457 hL That's all there is to metric conversions. As long as you keep the prefixes straight and remember where in the sequence the "units" name goes, you'll be fine. Just count the number of jumps and note the direction; then move the decimal point the same direction and the same number of places.

How To Convert Metric Measurements

By Anne Mullenniex, eHow Contributor

Convert from one metric unit of measure to another by moving decimal places. The metric system of measurement is the most commonly used system in the world. The name "metric" comes from its basic unit of length---the meter. The metric system---like the decimal system---is based upon multiples of ten and uses specific prefixes to indicate multipliers of different base units. Read more: How To Convert Metric Measurements | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6925739_convert-metricmeasurements.html#ixzz27u6m5v2V

Instructions
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1 Know the prefixes and their values, so you'll know whether you're converting up or converting down. Using weight as an example, note that "gram" is the base unit and some prefixes are "kilo-," "centi-," "deci-," etc. Since "kilo-"is a multiplier of 1000, a kilogram would be 1000 grams. Since centi- means 1/100th you would multiply your base unit by 1/100, which is the same as dividing it by 100; a centigram is equal to 0.01 grams.

2 Recognize the relationship between decimal places and their values. For example, 0.1 is the same as 1/10th, which is the same as dividing 1 by 10;

0.001 is the same as 1/1000, which is the same as dividing 1 by 1000. According to "Math and Dosage Calculations for Health Care" by Booth and Whaley, converting from one metric unit of measure to another is similar to multiplying and dividing decimals, and is easily accomplished by adhering to the following rules: "1) Move the decimal point to the right if you convert from a larger to a smaller unit, and 2) Move the decimal point to the left if you convert from a smaller to a larger unit." Add zeros as necessary.
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3 Practice converting "down." For example, convert 5 kilograms (kg) to grams (g). You are converting from a larger unit (kg) to a smaller unit (g), therefore you will move the decimal place to the right. In this example, the decimal place wasn't written, but 5 is the same as writing 5.0. Because a kg is 1000g, you will move the decimal three places. This gives you exactly the same result as multiplying the 5 by the kilo- value of 1000. Therefore, 5kg = 5000g

4 Practice converting "up." Convert 500 milligrams (mg) to grams (g). Since you are converting from a smaller unit to a larger unit, you will move the decimal point to the left. Because a milligram is 1/1000th of a gram (0.001), you would move the decimal point three places. This is exactly the same as dividing 500 by 1000 (or multiplying by the milli- value of 1/1000). Therefore, 500mg = 0.5g

5 Practice converting between prefixes. Convert 500 micrograms (mcg) to milligrams (mg). As you are converting from a smaller unit (mcg) to a larger unit (mg), you will move the decimal point to the left. Because micro- = 1/1,000,000 and milli- = 1/1000, the difference between them is 1/1000 or three decimal places. Therefore 500mcg = 0.5mg, which is the same answer you would get from dividing 500 by 1000.

Read more: How To Convert Metric Measurements | eHow.com

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