Convert Metric Units of
Measurement in Real-World
Situations
Jen Kershaw
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Printed: December 1, 2014
AUTHOR
Jen Kershaw
www.ck12.org
C HAPTER
Chapter 1. Convert Metric Units of Measurement in Real-World Situations
1
Convert Metric Units of
Measurement in Real-World Situations
Here you’ll convert metric units of measurement in real-world situations.
Have you ever used metrics in a real-world problem? Take a look at this situation.
Jessica works in a science lab. She needs to convert the liquid measure that she is working with from liters to
milliliters. She has been given 3.5 liters to convert. If each container that Jessica has holds 100 milliliters, how many
containers will she need?
Many situations require metric conversions. This Concept will show you how to do this in relation to real-world
dilemmas.
Guidance
The metric system of measurement is the primary measurement system in many countries; it contains units
such as meters, kilometers and liters.
You can remember the conversions by learning the prefixes: Milli-means thousandth, centi-means hundredth, and
kilo-means thousand. So a millimeter is one-thousandth of a meter, and a kilometer is one thousand meters.
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Write these units of measurement down in your notebooks.
Now that you have these units of measurement, we can look at converting among the different units of
measurement. Just like we used proportions when we converted among customary units of measurement, we
can use proportions and ratios here too.
How do we use proportions to convert among metric units of measure?
First, set up the proportion in the same way you used to find actual measurements from scale drawings. Use the
conversion factor as the first ratio, and the known and unknown units in the second ratio.
This is especially useful when converting metric units of measurement in real-world problems. Take a look at this
dilemma.
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Chapter 1. Convert Metric Units of Measurement in Real-World Situations
A scale model of a building has a height of 1.5 meters. The scale of the model is 1 cm = 0.5 m. What is the
actual height of the building?
The scale is in centimeters, but the scale model height is given in meters. First convert the scale height to
centimeters. Then find the height of the building.
1 meter
100 centimeters
=
1.5 meters
x centimeters
Now cross multiply to solve for x.
(1)x = 100(1.5)
x = 150
The height of the scale model is 150 centimeters. Now find the height of the actual building.
1 centimeter
0.5 meter
=
150 centimeters
x meters
Next cross multiply to solve for x.
(1)x = 150(0.5)
x = 75
The actual building is 75 meters tall.
Figure out the actual measurements if the scale is 1cm = .5m.
Example A
If the scale measurement is 3.2 meters, what is the actual measurement?
Solution: 160m
Example B
If the scale measurement is .75 meters, what is the actual measurement?
Solution: 37.5m
Example C
If the scale measurement is .25 m, what is the actual measurement?
Solution: 12.5m
Now let’s go back to the dilemma from the beginning of the Concept.
First, notice that there are two parts to this problem. First, let’s figure out how many milliliters are equal to
3.5 liters.
There are 1000 milliliters in one liter.
x
1000 mL
=
1L
3.5 Liters
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Next, we cross multiply and solve for x.
3500 mL = x
Now we can work on figuring out the number of containers Jessica will need. Each container holds 100 mL. We
can divide 3500 mL by 100 mL.
3500 ÷ 100 = 35 containers
Jessica will need 35 containers to hold all of the liquid.
Vocabulary
Metric System
a system of measurement commonly used outside of the United States. It contains units such as meters,
milliliters and grams.
Guided Practice
Here is one for you to try on your own.
Marcy is making beef stew. Her recipe calls for 900 grams of beef. She looks in the refrigerator and sees that she
has 1.5 kilograms of beef wrapped in a package. Marcy isn’t sure how much of the beef she should use. Figure out
how much of the beef Marcy needs for her recipe.
Solution
First, let’s think about the difference between grams and kilograms. We can call this scaling because we are
comparing one measurement to another.
There are 1000 grams in 1 kilogram. We can write that as our first ratio.
1000 grams
1 kilogram
Now we know that Marcy has 1.5 kilograms of beef and she needs 900 grams. Next, we need to convert the kilograms
that Marcy has to grams so we can figure out how much of the whole she will need.
We write a proportion.
1000 g
x
=
1 kg
1.5
Next, cross multiply and solve for x.
1500 g = x
Now let’s think about Marcy. She has 1500 grams of meat, but only needs 900 grams. She will have 600 grams
of meat left over.
Video Review
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Chapter 1. Convert Metric Units of Measurement in Real-World Situations
MEDIA
Click image to the left or use the URL below.
URL: http://www.ck12.org/flx/render/embeddedobject/5318
Converting Between Metric Units
Explore More
Directions: Figure out the measurements if the scale is 1cm = .5m.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
3.5 m
10 m
6.5 m
.5 m
2.5 m
2.2 m
4.5 m
4m
3m
11 m
Directions: Solve each problem.
11. A recipe calls for 400 grams of flour. If Leena makes one quarter of the recipe, how many kilograms of flour
will she need?
12. Two buildings are 9 centimeters apart on a map. The scale of the map is 0.5 centimeter = 2 kilometers. What
is the actual distance between the two buildings in meters?
13. A scale model of a tower is 1.25 meters tall. The scale of the model is 0.5 cm = 5 meters. What is the actual
height of the tower in meters?
14. A scale drawing of a conference center includes a meeting room that measures 1.5 centimeters by 2.5 centimeters. If the scale of the drawing is 1 centimeter = 2 meters, what is the area of the meeting room in square
centimeters?
15. Samir ran a race that was 10 kilometers long. About how many meters did Samir run?
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