Why metrics?

•Answer these questions about the English system:oHow many fluid ounces are there in one

gallon?oHow many cups are in a quart?oHow many inches are in a mile?oHow many teaspoons are there in one

tablespoon?

Metric System

•Base 10 easy to use

•Prefixes and base units are all you need to

know

The Prefixes•Kilo (k) 1000 x the base

•Hecto (h) 100 x the base

•Deca (da) 10 x the base

•No prefix = just the base!

•Deci (d) 0.1 x the base 1/10

•Centi (c) 0.01 x base 1/100

•Milli (m) 0.001 x the base 1/1000

•You MUST know these!

The Base units

•Distance = meter (m)

•Volume = liter (L)

•Mass (weight) = gram (g)

•Temperature = Kelvin (K) but we use oC

•There are other but for this class these will

work

How to make sense of the

metric system••The second letter is the base unit

•If there is only one letter you are in your

base unit. The first letter is the prefix

kmPrefix

(k)

Base unit

(m)

K means

Kilo

“1000”

m tells us we are

measuring

distance

“meters”km means 1000 meters

5km can be read 5 “thousand” “meters”

                                    (k)             (m)

•You already use a base 10 system every

day… o(Americans just don’t use the prefixes right)

•Would you rather have 25 dollars or 25

centidollars?

•Would you rather have a kilodollar or a

dollar?

Meters

Liters

Grams

KILO

(k)

1000

HECTO

(h)

100

DEKA

(da)

10 DECI

(d)

0.1

CENTI

(c)

0.01

MILLI

(m)

0.001

Ladder Method

How do you use the “ladder” method?

1st – Determine your starting point.

2nd – Count the “jumps” to your ending

point.

3rd – Move the decimal the same number

of jumps in the same direction.

4 km = _________ m

How many jumps does it take?

Starting

Point

Ending Point

4

.1

__

.2

__

.3__

.= 4000 m

Examples

•Convert the following:o2.0 m to cm

o15 cm to m

o1.5 km to m

o4500 m to km

•2.0 m to cm (move two places right) o200cm

•15 cm to m (move two places left) o0.15m

•1.5 km to m (move three places right) o1500m

•4500 m to km (move three places left) o4.5km