Identify Units of Measure and Make Conversions Between Units
Length
Common Units:
- Millimeters (mm)
- Centimeters (cm)
- Meters (m)
- Kilometers (km)
- Inches (in)
- Feet (ft)
- Yards (yd)
- Miles (mi)
Example Conversion:
Convert 5 kilometers to meters.
Solution:
- 1 kilometer = 1000 meters
-
\[5 \text{ km} \times 1000 \text{ m/km} = 5000 \text{ m}\]
Weight
Common Units:
- Milligrams (mg)
- Grams (g)
- Kilograms (kg)
- Metric Tons (t)
- Ounces (oz)
- Pounds (lb)
- Tons (short tons)
Example Conversion:
Convert 3 pounds to kilograms.
Solution:
- 1 pound ≈ 0.453592 kilograms
-
\[3 \text{ lb} \times 0.453592 \text{ kg/lb} ≈ 1.36 \text{ kg}\]
Volume
Common Units:
- Milliliters (ml)
- Liters (l)
- Cubic meters (m³)
- Teaspoons (tsp)
- Tablespoons (tbsp)
- Fluid ounces (fl oz)
- Cups (c)
- Pints (pt)
- Quarts (qt)
- Gallons (gal)
Example Conversion:
Convert 2 liters to milliliters.
Solution:
- 1 liter = 1000 milliliters
-
\[2 \text{ l} \times 1000 \text{ ml/l} = 2000 \text{ ml}\]
Temperature
Common Units:
- Celsius (°C)
- Fahrenheit (°F)
- Kelvin (K)
Example Conversion:
Convert 25°C to Fahrenheit.
Solution:
-
\[°F = (°C \times \frac{9}{5}) + 32\]
-
\[°F = (25 \times \frac{9}{5}) + 32 = 77°F\]
Time
Common Units:
- Seconds (s)
- Minutes (min)
- Hours (h)
- Days (d)
- Weeks (wk)
- Months (mo)
- Years (yr)
Example Conversion:
Convert 3 hours to minutes.
Solution:
- 1 hour = 60 minutes
-
\[3 \text{ h} \times 60 \text{ min/h} = 180 \text{ min}\]
Area
Common Units:
- Square millimeters (mm²)
- Square centimeters (cm²)
- Square meters (m²)
- Square kilometers (km²)
- Square inches (in²)
- Square feet (ft²)
- Square yards (yd²)
- Acres (ac)
- Square miles (mi²)
Example Conversion:
Convert 5000 square meters to square kilometers.
- Understanding the Units:
- A kilometer (km) is 1,000 meters (m).
- A square kilometer (km²) is a square with sides of 1 kilometer each.
- Calculating the Area:
- The area of a square is calculated by squaring the length of one of its sides.
- For a square kilometer, each side is 1 kilometer long.
- Conversion to Meters:
- Since 1 kilometer is 1,000 meters, each side of the square kilometer is 1,000 meters.
- Therefore, the area in square meters is calculated as:
\((1,000 \text{ meters}) \times (1,000 \text{ meters}) = 1,000,000 \text{ square meters}\)
Solution:
- 1 square kilometer = 1,000,000 square meters
-
\[5000 \text{ m²} \div 1,000,000 \text{ m²/km²} = 0.005 \text{ km²}\]
Speed
Common Units:
- Meters per second (m/s)
- Kilometers per hour (km/h)
- Miles per hour (mph)
- Feet per second (ft/s)
Example Conversion:
Convert 60 miles per hour to kilometers per hour.
Solution:
- 1 mile ≈ 1.60934 kilometers
-
\[60 \text{ mph} \times 1.60934 \text{ km/mile} ≈ 96.56 \text{ km/h}\]
Practice Questions
Try some random questions to test your knowledge and understanding