Metric Unit Conversions
There are times when you will need to convert metric measurements to a smaller or larger unit.
Since the metric system is a base 10 system, converting metric measurements boils down to
multiplying or dividing by powers of 10 (10, 100, 1000, .1, …). The shortcut to multiplying and
dividing by powers of 10 is moving the decimal point in a number to either the right or left. To
begin, you need to understand the prefixes used in the metric system.
Prefix
Symbol
Value
Kilo
k
1000
Hecto
h
100
Deca
da
10
Deci
d
.1 or 1/10
Centi
c
.01 or 1/100
Milli
m
.001 or 1/1000
There is a fun acronym you can learn to remember the order of the prefixes –
King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk
The B in By represents the base unit such as meter, gram, or liter. So here is a complete
example of the King Henry breakdown using meters.
km (kilometer = 1000 meters)
hm (hectometer = 100 meters)
dam (decameter = 10 meters)
m (meter)
dm (decimeter = 1/10 of a meter)
cm (centimeter = 1/100 of a meter)
mm (millimeter = 1/1000 of a meter)
Example Problem:
1.
How many centimeters are in 3 kilometers? 3 km = _____ cm
First, you want to write the prefixes for metric measurements in order from left to right.
k
h
da
B
d
c
m
To go from kilometers to centimeters, you have to jump 5 places to the right (the Base
unit counts as one jump). The shortcut here is to move the decimal 5 places to the right.
3.
=
300,000
3 km = 300,000 cm
2. How many kilometers are in 5 meters?
5 m =________ km
Again, write the prefixes for metric measurements in order from left to right.
k
h
da
B
d
c
m
This time you have to move left from B (base unit of meters) to kilometers a total of 3
spaces. The shortcut is to move the decimal 3 places to the left.
5.
=
.005
5 m = .005 km
Practice Problems
1.
7.4 km = _________ m
2.
8.7 cL = _________ kL
3.
4 mg = __________ cg
4.
30 mL = __________ L
5.
1600 kg = __________ g
6.
38 dm = __________ hm