METRIC CONVERSIONS Bigger Unit Smaller Unit Smaller Unit Bigger Unit Name __________________________________________ Date _________________ Period __________ METRIC CONVERSIONS The metric system is so much better than any other system of measurement for myriad reasons, chief among them being the ease with which one unit can be converted to another. Below, you’ll find Syracuse’s Method for Ease in Conversion of Metric Units (SMECMU). Follow these few, sprightly steps, and you’ll be well on your way to metric bliss! THE SMECMU ANALOGY: Pretend you work in an upscale gas station and a patron comes in for some change. She hands you Mr. Benjamin and asks for pennies. Will she leave with more or less actual bits of money? More, of course. So, when you convert from a larger unit ($100 bill) to a smaller unit (pennies), the size of your answer will increase. By the same token, going from a smaller unit (like centimeters) to a larger unit (like kilometers) will cause the size of your answer to decrease. See below for a graphical representation. STEP THE FIRST: Estimate your answer’s size. Use the SMECMU analogy! STEP TWO: Write down the number you wish to convert to another unit, with the old unit still on it. STEP THREE: Write down the conversion factor, with the old unit on the bottom, and the new unit on the top. STEP FOUR: Cancel out the old number with the bottom number as much as you can. The old unit should cancel out completely. Multiply by the new unit’s number, and get your answer in the new unit! EXAMPLE 1: Convert 100 centimeters to meters…number should get smaller. EXAMPLE 2: Convert 42 meters to millimeters…number should get bigger. Use the method above to convert the measurements on the back of this page…SHOW YOUR WORK! Bigger Unit Smaller Unit number gets larger number gets smaller Smaller Unit Bigger Unit 1 m 1 m 100 cm 100 cm 1 x 1 = 1 m 100 cm 100 cm 1000 mm 1,000 mm 42 m 42 m 42 x 1,000 = 42,000m 1 m 1 m

1. Convert 35 millimeters to meters. 2. Convert 50 liters to kiloliters. 3. Convert 1 millimeter to deciliters. 4. Convert 25 centigrams to gigagrams. 5. Convert 5.4 liters to kiloliters. 6. Convert 45.7 nanograms to grams. 7. Convert 453.7 micrometers to gigameters.