The Metric System: Measuring Length
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Transcript of The Metric System: Measuring Length
The Metric System: Measuring Length
7th GradeEarth Science
Write Everything in Blue!!!
History
The metric system evolved over the years and in the 1960’s was named the International System of Measurement (SI for short).
Scientific standards were set with the gram, meter, kelvin, second, ampere, candela, & in 1971 – the mole
Advantages of Metric System No numbers to
memorize Only 30 individual
units Easy to say and
write
No fractions only decimals
World standard Converts easily by
multiples of 10.
Units of Measurement Prefixes and
Multiplier: Kilo = 1000 Hecto = 100 Deca = 10 Meter/Gram/Liter = 1 Deci = .1 Centi = .01 Milli = .001
Examples: Kilometer Hectometer Decameter Meter Decimeter Centimeter Millimeter
Length: The standard unit of length in the metric
system is the meter. Other units of length and their equivalents in meters are as follows: 1 millimeter = 0.001 meter1 centimeter = 0.01 meter1 decimeter = 0.1 meter1 decameter = 10 meters1 hectometer = 100 meters1 kilometer = 1000 meters
Metric Length
If you need to measure length, you use the “meter”
If you need to measure longer lengths, you can use the kilometer Lets say you live 10 miles from school▪ 10 miles = 16093 meters▪ 16093 is a large number, so you can move
the decimal 3 spots to make it 16.1 kilometers
Abbreviations:
We abbreviate these lengths as follows:1 millimeter = 1 mm1 centimeter = 1 cm1 meter = 1 m1 decimeter = 1 dm1 kilometer = 1 km
Examples:
For reference, 1 meter is a little longer than 1 yard or 3 feet. It is about half the height of a very tall adult. A centimeter is nearly the diameter of a dime, a little less than half an inch. A millimeter is about the thickness of a dime.
Who Does Not Use It?
The only countries not to use the Metric System are the U.S., Myanmar, and Liberia
English to Metric Conversions 39,370 inches = 1
kilometer 3280.8 feet = 1
kilometer .62 miles = 1
kilometer 39 inches = 1
meter 3.28 feet = 1
meter
1 inch = 254 mm 1 inch = 2.54 cm 1 foot = 30.48 cm 1 yard = 91.44 cm 1 yard = .914 m 1 mile = 1609.3 m 1 mile = 1.609 km
You do not need to know these. They are just for you to get an idea of how these systems compare.
Comparisons
Metric Measurements
The 3 main measurements are the gram (weight), meter (length), & liter (volume)
Metric Prefixes These prefixes are based on powers of 10. What does this mean?
From each prefix every “step” is either:▪ 10 times larger
or▪ 10 times smaller
For example▪ Centimeters are 10 times larger than millimeters▪ 1 centimeter = 10 millimeters
Metric Prefixes
For each “step” to right, you are multiplying by 10
For example, let’s go from a base unit to centi1 liter = 10 deciliters = 100 centiliters
2 grams = 20 decigrams = 200 centigrams
Summary
Summary Base units in the metric system are meter, liter,
gram Metric system is based on powers of 10 For conversions within the metric system, each
“step” is 1 decimal place to the right or left