The Metric System from Industry Week, 1981 November 30

Used in nearly every country in the world, the Metric System was devised by French scientists in the late 18 th century. The goal of this effort was to produce a system that used the decimal system rather than fractions as well as a single unified system that could be used throughout the entire world.

Quantity measuredUnitSymbolRelationship Length, width, distance, thickness, girth, etc. millimetermm10 mm=1 cm centimeter cm100 cm=1 m meter m kilometer km1 km=1000 m Mass (“weight”)* milligrammg1000 mg=1 g gram g kilogram kg1 kg=1000 g metric ton t1 t=1000 kg Time seconds Temperature degree Celsius°C Area square meterm² hectare ha1 ha= m² square kilometer km²1 km²=100 ha Volume millilitermL1000 mL=1 L cubic centimeter cm³1 cm³=1 mL liter L1000 L=1 m³ cubic meter m³

Speed, velocity meter per secondm/s kilometer per hour km/h1 km/h=0.278 m/s Density kilogram per cubic meterkg/m³ Force newtonN Pressure, stress kilopascalkPa Power wattW kilowatt kW1 kW=1000 W Energy kilojoulekJ megajoule MJ1 MJ=1000 kJ kilowatt hour kW·h1 kW·h=3.6 MJ Electric current ampereA Quantity measured Unit SymbolRelationship

Ttera trillion Ggiga billion Mmega million kkilo thousand hhecto* hundred dadeka* ten one ddeci*10  tenth ccenti*10  hundredth mmilli10  thousandth µmicro10  millionth nnano10  billionth ppico10  trillionth Prefixes

Converting with the Metric System When converting within the metric system it is simply a measure of moving the decimal in the appropriate direction.

Converting with the Metric System King Henry Drinks Milk During Castle Meetings Kilo Hecto Deca Meter Deci Centi Milli m = ______ km.001 hg = ______ dg 42.7 L = _____ cL

Things to remember 1.The short forms for metric units are called symbols, NOT abbreviations 2.Metric symbols never end with a period unless they are the last word in a sentence. RIGHT: 20 mm, 10 kg WRONG: 20 mm., 10 kg. 3.Metric symbols should be preceded by digits and a space must separate the digits from the symbols RIGHT: the box was 2 m wide WRONG: the box was 2m wide

Things to remember 4.Symbols are always written in the singular form RIGHT: 500 hL, 43 kg WRONG: 500 hLs, 43 kgs BUT: It is correct to pluralize the written out metric unit names: 500 hectoliters, 43 kilograms 5.The compound symbols must be written out with the appropriate mathematical sign included RIGHT: 30 km/h, 12 cm/s WRONG: 30 kmph, 30 kph (do NOT use a p to symbolize “per”) BUT: It is ok to write out “kilometers per hour”

Things to remember 6.The meaning of a metric symbol is different depending on if it is lowercase or capitalized mm is millimeters (1/1000 meters) Mm is Megameters (1 million meters)