Metric Conversion
Great Mighty king henry Died by drinking chocolate milk Monday night pretty fast
Giga- Mega- kilo- hecto- deka- base deci- centi- milli- µmicro- nano- pico- femto-
To use metric steps:
The decimal point moves to the right, the same number of steps down…
Example: 1 m(meter) = 10. dm(decimeters) – We start on the b(base), since the meter is the base unit, and to get to d(deci), we need to go right and down one time. Therefore, we move the decimal point to the right once and add a zero in the space after the number. (**Note: if you do not see an actual decimal point, it is behind the number.)
1 m(meter) = 100. cm(centimeters) – This time we start on the b(base) and go to c(centi), which is to the right and down two. Therefore, we move the decimal to the right two times and add two zeros in the spaces after the number.
1 m(meter) = 1000. mm(millimeters) – This time we start on the b(base) and go to m(milli), which is to the right and down three. Therefore, we move the decimal to the right three times and add three zeros in the spaces after the number.
The decimal point moves to the left, the same number of steps up…
Example: 1 L(liter) = 0.1 daL(dekaliter) – We start on the b(base), since the liter is the base unit, and to get to da(deka), we had to go left and up one time. Therefore, we move the decimal to the left one time.
1 L(liter) = 0.01 hL(hectoliter) – This time we start on the b(base), and go to h(hecto), which is to the left and up two times. Therefore, we move the decimal to the left two times and add a zero in the space before the number.
1 L(liter) = 0.001 kL(kiloliter) – This time we start on the b(base), and go to k(kilo), which is to the left and up three times. Therefore, we move the decimal to the left three times and add a zero in the spaces before the number.
Metric Length Conversion practice…
meter (m)
- 2.5 m = 250 cm
- 2.5 cm = 25 mm
- 2.5 m = 2500 mm
- 2.5 m = 0.0025 km
- 2.5 km = 2500 m
- 2.5 m = 25 dm
Metric Volume Conversion practice…
Liter (L)
- 12 L = 12000 mL
- 12 L = 1200 cL
- 12 L = 120 dL
- 12 kL = 12,000 L
- 12 L = 0.012 kL
- 12,000,000 mL = 12kL
- *12,000,000 mL = 12,000,000 cc (cubic centimeters)
Metric Mass Conversion practice…
gram (g)
- .6 g = 6 dg
- .6 g = 60 cg
- .6 g = 600 mg
- .6 g = 0.0006 kg
- .6 kg = 600 g
- .6 cg = 6 mg


