Introduction to the
Metric System
IT IS SOOOOOOO MUCH EASIER THAN YOU REALIZE!!!!
Different ways to measure…
What are some of the ways we measure?
(3 most common…)
Distance
Measurement how far it is from one location to another.
Volume
How much space something takes up.
Mass
Amount of matter in an object.
In the US we use…

Standard system of measurement…

Distance

Point

Pica (1 Pica = 12 Points)

Inch (1 Inch = 6 Picas = 72 Points)

Foot (1 Foot = 12 Inches = 72 Picas = 864 Points)

Yard (1 Yard = 3 Feet = 36 Inches = 216 Picas = 2592 Points)

Mile

= 1760 Yards

= 5280 Feet

= 63,360 Inches

= 380,160 Picas

= 4,561,920 Points
In the US we use…
Basic Volume…
Liquid volume…
Cubic Volume…
Minim
Gill
Cubic inch
Dram
Cup
Cubic foot
Teaspoon
Pint
Cubic yard
Tablespoon
Quart
Acre-foot
Fluid ounce
Gallon
Shot
Barrel
Oil Barrel
Hogshead
In the US we use…

Weight
 Grain
 Dram
 Ounce
 Pound
 Hundredweight
 Long
 Ton
hundredweight
History of Metric System

Created during French Revolution
 in
1790
 French
King overthrown
 National
Assembly of France sets up new
government
 French
Academy of Science told to design
new system of weights and measures
 Lavaiosie
appointed to head committee
History
 Called
Systeme International d’Unitès,
or SI - International System of Units
 Revised periodically
by International Bureau of Weight
and Measures
Advantages of Using the Metric System

Simple to use
A
few base units make up all measurements
length
mass
- meter
- grams
volume
- liters
temperature
– degrees Celsius
Advantages of Using the Metric System

There is only one unit of measurement for each
type of quantity
 To
simplify things, very small and very large numbers
are expressed as multiples of the base unit.
 Prefixes
are used to represent how much smaller or larger the
quantity is compared to the base unit.

Easy to convert from one unit to another
 shift
decimal point right
 shift
decimal point left
Advantages of Using the Metric System

Same set of prefixes for all units
 Greek - multiples of the base
kilo - 1000 × the base
hecto - 100 × the base
deka - 10 × the base
 Latin - fractions of the base
deci - tenths of the base
centi - hundredths of the base
milli - thousandths of the base
Metric Prefixes
Mnemonics…

Kilo = 1000 (one thousand)

Hecto = 100 (one hundred)

Deka = 10 (ten)

Base = 1 (One)

Deci = .1 or 1/10 (one tenth)

Centi = .01 or 1/100 (one hundredth)

Milli = .001 or 1/1000 (one thousandth)

Mnemonic: “King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk”

Mnemonic: “Kids Have Dropped Over Dead Converting Metrics.”
NOW YOU COME UP WITH ONE TO HELP YOU REMEMBER!