This math skill involves converting metric units by using the base unit grams. To switch between units, understand the prefixes (centi, kilo) and their mathematical representations. The process involves stepwise multiplication or division based on these prefixes.
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Converting between metric units
Test your understanding of converting between metric units by practicing it! Work through the below exercises to use it in practice.
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Let's convert 4 centigrams into kilograms. In this case we are converting small units, centigrams, into larger units, kilograms, so we should get a much smaller number of kilograms. We'll do it as a two step process, converting to and from the base unit of grams.
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First let's convert to grams. Centi means 1 one hundredth
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So 4 centigrams is 4 hundredths of a gram, or zero point zero four grams.
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Kilo means thousand, so a gram is 1 one thousandth of a kilogram.
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So we can divide another time by one thousand, and we have zero point zero zero zero zero four kilograms. That's definitely a much smaller number than 4, so we know we converted in the right direction.