Equivalent Metric Units of
Length
Jen Kershaw, M.ed
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Printed: November 30, 2014
AUTHOR
Jen Kershaw, M.ed
www.ck12.org
C HAPTER
Chapter 1. Equivalent Metric Units of Length
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Equivalent Metric Units of
Length
Here you’ll learn to identify equivalent metric units of length.
Have you ever had to measure distances in metrics? Have you ever made a map?
Well, Julie is working on math that shows the distance from the local high school to the ice cream stand. She began
by going to the town hall to look at maps and distances of her town. She figured out that it is 6500 meters from the
ice cream stand to the high school.
Julie thinks that meters is a strange way to write this measurement. She would much rather use kilometers.
How can she do this? Is it possible?
This is where you come in. This Concept is all about equivalent metric units of length. Pay attention and you
will be able to help Julie at the end of the Concept.
Guidance
This Concept focuses on metric units of measurements.
What are the metric units for measuring length?
When measuring length, we are measuring how long something is, or you could say we are measuring from one end
to the other end. That is the length of the item.
Here are the common metric units of length from the smallest unit to the largest unit.
Millimeter
Centimeter
Meter
Kilometer
A millimeter is the smallest unit. Millimeters are most useful when measuring really tiny things. You can find
millimeters on some rulers.
A centimeter is the next smallest unit. Centimeters can also be found on a ruler.
A meter is a little more than 3 feet. A meter is a unit that would be very helpful to a carpenter or to someone working
in construction.
A kilometer is used to measure longer distances. You often hear the word kilometer mentioned when talking about
a road race that is 5k (or 5 kilometers) long.
How can we convert metric units of length?
When working with the customary units of length: inches, feet, etc., we know that we can convert them from one to
another to change the units we are working with. For example, if you have 24 inches, it might make more sense to
say that we have 2 feet. We can do the same thing when working with metric units. Here is a chart to help us with
the conversions.
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1 km
1000 m
1m
100 cm
1 cm
10 mm
Now that you know the conversions, we can change one unit to another unit.
5 km = ____ m
Here we are converting kilometers to meters.
How can we convert larger units to smaller units?
We can convert larger units to smaller units by multiplying. There are 1000 meters in one kilometer.
5 km =
m
5 × 1000 = 5000 m
Our answer is 5000 m.
600 cm = ______ m
Here we are converting smaller units to larger units.
How can we convert smaller units to larger units?
We can convert smaller units to larger units by dividing. There are 100 cm in one meter.
600 ÷ 100 = 6
Our answer is 6.
Now let’s practice. Find each equivalent unit.
Example A
2000 mm = ______ cm
Solution: 200
Example B
3 km = ______ m
Solution: 3000
Example C
4000 cm = ______ m
Solution: 40
Do you know how to help Julie with her measurement? Let’s go back and look at the original problem.
Well, Julie is working on math that shows the distance from the local high school to the ice cream stand. She began
by going to the town hall to look at maps and distances of her town. She figured out that it is 6500 meters from the
ice cream stand to the high school.
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Chapter 1. Equivalent Metric Units of Length
Julie thinks that meters is a strange way to write this measurement. She would much rather use kilometers.
How can she do this? Is it possible?
First, let’s think about the measurement that Julie knows. She knows that it is 6500 meters from the ice cream stand
to the high school. Julie wants to convert this measurement into kilometers.
To do this, let’s write down the equivalent measure from meters to kilometers.
There are 1000 meters in 1 kilometer.
Next, we can convert 6500 meters into kilometers. When we convert from a small unit to a larger unit, we divide.
We can divide 6500 by 1000.
Our answer is 6.5.
It is 6.5 kilometers from the ice cream stand to the high school.
Vocabulary
Millimeter
A millimeter is the smallest common metric unit of length.
Centimeter
A centimeter is a very small unit of metric measure.
Meter
A meter is a common metric unit of length that is slightly larger than a yard.
Kilometer
A kilometer is a common metric unit of length that is equal to 1,000 meters.
Metric System
The metric system is a system of measurement commonly used outside of the United States. It contains units
such as meters, liters, and grams.
Guided Practice
Here is one for you to try on your own.
Mark has measured his walkway using a meter stick. Mark has measured that his walkway is 6 meters long. How
many centimeters is Mark’s walkway? How many millimeters?
Answer
There are two answers to this problem. Let’s begin by thinking about the equivalent units.
1 meter = 100 cm
1 cm = 10 mm
Let’s convert from meters to centimeters first. When you convert from a larger unit to a smaller unit, we multiply.
6 × 100 = 600
Mark’s walkway is 600 centimeters.
Now we can convert from centimeters to millimeters.
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600 × 10 = 6000
Mark’s walkway is 6000 millimeters.
Video Review
MEDIA
Click image to the left or use the URL below.
URL: http://www.ck12.org/flx/render/embeddedobject/5318
James Sousa, Converting Between Metric Units
Other Videos:
1. http://www.mathplayground.com/howto_Metric.html –This video expands on the basic information of the
metric system. It also begins working with metric conversions.
Explore More
Directions: Complete the following metric equivalents.
1. 6 km = ______ m
2. 5 m = ______ cm
3. 100 cm = ______ m
4. 400 cm = ______ m
5. 9 km = ______ m
6. 2000 m = ______ km
7. 20 mm = ______ cm
8. 8 cm = ______ mm
9. 900 cm = ______ m
10. 12 m = ______ cm
11. 10 cm = ______ mm
12. 100 cm = _____ mm
13. 6700 m = ______ km
14. 8200 m = ______ km
15. 12,500 m = ______ km
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