English Measurement
Measurement unit abbreviations
LENGTH
1 mile = 5280 feet, 1 mile = 1760 yards mi.
1 yard = 3 feet, 1 yard = 36 inches yd., ft., in.
1 foot = 12 inches
English measures
AREA
1 square mile = 640 acres sq. mi.
1 acre = 4840 square yards
1 square yard =
VOLUME
1 cubic yard = 27 cu. ft. cu.
1 cu. ft. = 1728 cu. in.
1 gallon = 4 quarts, gal., qt.
qt. = 2 pints, qt. = 32 fl. pt. ,
1pt = 2 cups c.
1 c. = 8 fluid ounces fl. oz.
1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons T., t.
2 tablespoons = 1 fl.
DRY MEASURE
1 qt. = 67.2 cu. in.
1 peck = 8 qt.
1 bushel = 4 pecks
1 cord = 4'x4'x8'
WEIGHT
1 ton = 2000 pounds t., lb.
1 lb. = 16 oz., 1 lb. = 7000 grains
1 oz. = 437.5 grains
TEMPERATURE
freezing point of water 32° Fahrenheit / 0° Celsius
a warm winter day 50° Fahrenheit / 10° Celsius
a mild spring day 68° Fahrenheit / 20° Celsius
a hot summer day 86 ° Fahrenheit / 30° Celsius
heat wave conditions 104° Fahrenheit / 40° Celsius
boiling point of water 212° Fahrenheit / 100° Celsius
TIME
4.2 weeks = 1 month
Converting like Measures
converting
unit factor help sheet
comparing & ordering
simplifying
TO CHANGE FROM ONE UNIT FACTOR TO ANOTHER, MULTIPLY BY THE APPROPRIATE UNIT FACTOR
Use 1 as the unit factor to convert measures. Make sure it is shown as a fraction .
1. On the left side put down the amount you are converting over one.
2. On the right side put down the converted amount that is equal to 1 unit of the original.
Numerator = the unit you are converting to
Denominator = the unit you are starting with
Example 1 :
Convert 10 meters to centimeters.
Numerator = the unit you are converting to centimeters
Denominator = the unit you are starting with meters
1) 10 meters x 2) 100 meters
1 1 meter
(unit factor is equal to 1)
3) Now cross-cancel and multiply
1) 10 meters x 2) 100 meters = 1000 cm
1 1 meter 1
Example 2 :
Convert 250 decimeters to kilometers.
1) 250 dm x 1 km =
1 10000 dm
Note: It is also helpful to remember that metric measurements are expressed in units of ten , so if you move the decimal the same number of places to the right or left that you are changing you can get the equivalent amount.
Let's say that you had 578 meters and you needed to convert it to kilometers.
since it goes this way:
Kilo- (1000)
Hecto- (100)
Deca-(10)
¬ meter (unit of measure) length
deci- (1/10)
centi- (1/100)
milli- (1/1000)
578.m
¬
Move the decimal place to the left the same number of places as the unit you are converting to.
In this case, there are 3 places to move to the left.
578 meters = .578 kilometers.
2. Sam had 32.6 grams of a substance in his chemistry class and he needed to convert it to centigrams.
Kilo- (1000)
Hecto- (100)
Deca-(10)
¬ meter (unit of measure) length
deci- (1/10)
centi- (1/100)
milli- (1/1000)
32.8 grams
3280.centigrams
32.8grams = 3280 centigrams
Practice moving decimals to convert metric measurements on the pages listed for metrics.
extra measurement practice:
Measurement Video
Item Sheet
Metric Measurement
LENGTH English CAPACITY English Corresponding
prefix unit correspondence abbr. prefix unit corresp text pages video time
myra- meter 6.214 miles Ml myra- liter
10,000 Mm .6214 miles 10,000
kilo- kl kilo- liter 1.308 cu. yd.
hecto- meter .06214 miles hl hecto- liter 3.532 cu. ft.
100 hm
Deca- meter 393.7 inches Dl Deca- liter
10 Dm 32.8 feet 10 164,172,174,175,176
meter 39.37 inches l liter 1.06 qt., 33.9 fl.,
deci- meter 3.97 inches dl deci- liter 6.102 cu. in.
1/10 dm 1/10
centi-_ meter .394 inches cl centi- liter
1/100 cm 1/100
milli- meter .039 inches ml milli- liter
1/1000 mm 1/1000
WEIGHT English
prefix unit grams
metric ton 1,000,000 grams, 1.102 tons
quintal 100,000 grams
kilo- gram 1000 grams 2.205 lb.
hecto- gram 100 grams 3.527 oz.
100
Deca- gram 10 grams 3.53 oz
10
gram .035 oz.
deci- gram 3.97 inches
1/10
centi-_ gram .394 inches
1/100
milli- gram .039 inches
1/1000
AREA
sq. kilometer(km) 1,000,000 sq. m
hect are(ha)1 sq. hectometer(sq. hm) .0624 miles 2
10,000 square meters
are 1 sq. decameter(sq Dm )32.8 ft. squared
100 sq. meters (sq. m)
1sq. meter 100 sq. decimeters, (sq. dm)
10,000 sq. centimeters(sq. cm)
1,000,000 sq. mm.(sq. mm.)
Metric Conversion Factors
multiply
unit by to get
Length: centimeter .3937 inches
inch 2.54 centimeters
foot 30.48 centimeters
meter 39.37 inches
yard .9144 meters
meter 1.0936 yards
kilometer .62137 miles
mile 1.6093 kilometers
Area square square
centimeter .155 inches
square square
inch 6.452 centimeters
square square
meter 1.196 yards
square square
yard .8361 meters
square square
kilometer .386 miles
square square
mile 2.59 kilometers
Volume cubic cubic
centimeter .061 Inches
cubic cubic
inch 16.39 centimeters
cubic cubic
meter 1.308 yards
cubic cubic
yard .7646 meters
liter 1.0567 quarts liquid
Weight gram .03527 ounce
ounce 28.35 grams
kilogram 2.2046 pounds
pounds .4536 kilograms
Larger and Smaller metric units:
A lot of these units of measure you will probably not run into, but some computer and science fields use them.
Value Equivalent Unit Symbol
1 000 000 000 000 000 000 10 18 exa- E
1 000 000 000 000 000 10 15 peta- P
1 000 000 000 000 10 12 tera- T
1 000 000 000 10 9 giga- G
1 000 000 10 6 mega- M
1 000 10 3 kilo- K
100 10 2 hecto- h
10 10 1 deca- da
1 10 0 meter, liter, gram m, l, g
.1 10 -1 deci- d
.01 10 -2 centi- c
.001 10 -3 milli- m
.000 001 10 -6 micro- m
.000 000 001 10 -9 nano- n
.000 000 000 001 10 -12 pico- p
.000 000 000 000 001 10 -15 femto- f
.000 000 000 000 000 001 10 -18 atto- a