Going DOWN the
table move the
decimal to the
RIGHT
Going UP the table
move the decimal
to the LEFT
Metric Conversions Worksheet
k
kilo-
1000
103
h
hecto-
100
102
da
deca-
10
101
NO PREFIX – BASE UNIT
1
100
d
deci-
c
centi-
m
milli-
1
10
1
100
1
1000
Examples of base units:
(the letters in the first column are
used a prefix before the symbol for
the base unit)
10-1
10-2
10-3
Conversion Examples:
1.0 kg = _______mg
1.000000 kg = 1 000 000 mg
2.3 cm = _______m
kilo and milli differ by six zeros;
kilo  milli is going down the table;
therefore move the decimal six places to the right
centi and no prefix differ by two zeros;
centi  no prefix is going up the table;
therefore move the decimal two places to the left
002.3 = 0.023 m
PRACTICE PROBLEMS
Write the shorthand of the
metric conversion scale below
1. Convert the following to grams (g):
Before
converting
Move to left
or right?
Number
of spaces
moved
After converting
2.5 mg
g
0.045 kg
g
2. Convert the following to metres (m):
Before
converting
Move to left
or right?
Number
of spaces
moved
After converting
15.6 mm
g
0.005 km
g
3. Convert the following:
75.4 cm = _______________ m
975 mg = _______________ g
75.4 cm = _______________ mm
975 mg = _______________kg
32.3 s = _______________ ms
4.0 L = _______________ mL
655 mm = _______________ m
4. Use the list of values provided to ESTIMATE the magnitude of each measurement in the table. In the
column to the right, convert the numbers to meters and also in scientific notation.
The Values: 100 cm, 1.2 mm, 6380 km, 0.000 000 000 01 mm, 15.2 m, 500 km, 163 cm, 10 mm, 0.1 mm
Lengths
Radius of the Earth
Distance from Toronto to
Montreal
Height of the school
Height of a student
Height of a desk
Thickness of sheet of paper
Width of tip of finger
Radius of gold nucleus
Diameter of tip of pen
Value
Value in Meters
Scientific Notation
Metric Conversions Practice Problems
1) 18 mL
= _________________ hL
11) 110 dam = _________________ dm
2) 99 ms
= _________________ s
12) 45 mg = _________________ hg
3) 187 hm = _________________ mm
13) 105 dm = _________________ dam
4) 36 dg
= _________________ dag
14) 116 hJ = _________________ kJ
5) 77 cm
= _________________ mm
15) 152 cm = _________________ m
6) 170 dJ
= _________________ mJ
16) 145 km = _________________ cm
7) 168 dm = _________________ km
17) 7 dL
8) 29 hg
= _________________ mg
18) 156 ms = _________________ das
9) 73 daL
= _________________ mL
19) 49 km = _________________ dm
10) 67 hm = _________________ dam
= _________________ daL
20) 110 dam = _________________ dm
Convert the Following
21) ______________ 10 km to cm
24) ______________ 100 m to km
22) ______________ 1 x 106 ml to L
25) ______________ 104 hg to mg
23) ______________ 1 x 109 g to kg
26) ______________ 6.5 cm to dm
27) A grain of sand weighs 4.6 mg or ______________ g.
28) The distance from Toronto to Montreal is approximately 550 km. How far is this in meters
______________ and in centimeters _________________ (use scientific notation)?
29) The length of a caterpillar was measured to be 6.6 cm or ______________ mm.
Solve the Following
30) 10m + 12cm = ____________________ m
32) 45 J - 80 dJ = ______________________ J
31) 15 m x 5 km = ____________________ m
33) 2000 g ÷ 1.5L = ____________________ g/mL
Answers:
(1) 0.00018 hL; (2) 0.099 s; (3) 18700000 mm ; (4) 0.36 dag; (5) 770 mm; (6) 17000 mJ; (7) 0.0168 km; (8) 2900000 mg; (9) 730000 mL; (10)
670 dam; (11) 11000; (12) 0.00045; (13) 1.05 dam; (14) 11.6 kJ; (15) 1.52 m; (16) 14500000 cm; (17) 0.07 daL; (18) 1.56 ds; (19) 490000 dm;
(20) 1610000 mL; (21) 1000000 cm 22) 1 L ; (23) 1 x 106 kg; (24) 0.100km; (25) 109 mg; (26) 0.00065dm; (27) 0.0046 g; (28) 550000m, 5.50 x
108cm; (29) 66mm; (30) 10.12m; (31) 75000m; (32) 37 J; (33) 1.3 g/mL
Practice Quiz on the Metric System and Powers of 10
1. Complete the chart below:
Measurement
Convert to Units
Indicated
Measurement
Convert to Units
Indicated
3 kg
g
0.03 cm
km
0.543 s
ms
0.0544 kL
mL
39 mg
kg
6380 km
mm
60 hs
s
5.43 dm
m
2. Write the following in proper scientific notation.
a) 0.0000031 =
b) 23 200 000 000 000 =
b) 156.3 =
c) 0.00465 =
d) 100 019 =
e) 0.00005032 =
3. Convert the following in to standard notation:
a) 5.65 x 105 =
b) 9.15 x 10-5 =
c) 2.123 x 10-2 =
d) 5.874 x 106 =
e) 6.641 x 10-5 =
f) 1.00578 x 103 =