What you need to know First things first, you need to understand the basics There are two systems of measurement –US/Customary System which we use here –Then there is the metric system which is used all over the world

Measurement Basics Length: is the distance of something measured Volume/Capacity: how much something can hold ( generally liquid) Weight: how much something weighs Mass: how much space something takes up

US/Customary System The US/Customary system has many different units of measurement Each unit has a completely different name They also have completely different conversion factors

Metric System The metric system has base unit and many different prefixes

Metric Base Units of Measurement Meters: Measures length –the distance of something Liters: Measures volume or capacity –how much something can hold (generally liquid) Grams: measures weight/mass –how much something weighs or how much space sometime takes up

Metric System So if you needed to measure length you would choose meter as your base unit. –Length of a pencil 0.1 meters –Length of a room 5 meters –Length of a ball of twine stretched out 25 meters

Metric System But what if you need to measure a longer distance, like from your house to school? –Let’s say you live approximately 10 miles from school 10 miles = meters –16093 is a big number. –The metric system has prefixes that you can add to the base unit to make it easier to manage:

Metric System The three prefixes that we will use the most are: –kilo –centi –milli kilohectodeca Base Units meter gram liter decicentimilli

Metric System Prefixes Mili- 1/1000, which means that 1000mm=1m Centi- 1/100, which means that 100cg=1g Deci- 1/10, which means that 10dl=1l Deka- 10, which means that 1dkm=10m Hecto- 100, which means that 1hg=100g Kilo- 1000, which means that 1kl=1000l

Metric System For each “step” to right, you are multiplying by 10 For example, let’s go from a base unit to centi 1 liter = 10 deciliters = 100 centiliters 2 grams = 20 decigrams = 200 centigrams kilo hectodeca meter liter gram deci centimilli ( 1 x 10 = 10) = (10 x 10 = 100) (2 x 10 = 20) = (20 x 10 = 200)

Metric System –Centimeters are 10 times larger than millimeters so it takes more millimeters for the same length 1 centimeter = 10 millimeters Example not to scale 1 mm 1 cm

Units of Measurement: Volume US System –Cups –Pints –Quarts –Gallons –Fluid Ounces Metric System –Liters

Units of Measurement: Length US System –Inches –Feet –Yards –Miles Metric –Meters

Units of Measurement: Weight/Mass US System –Ounce –Pound –Tons Metric –Gram

1 liter of water weighs 1 kilogram, so 1 cubic meter — 1000 liters — of water weighs 1000 kilograms or 1 metric ton

A US cent weighs exactly 2.5 g, while the nickel weighs exactly 5 g.

A doorknob is typically about 1 m high.

The diameter of a CD or DVD is 12 cm.