How to Use The Metric System
By Carolyn Wood
What is the Metric System?
See the picture below for the stair step.
Why are the metric system and the SI units so important and useful?
What is the metric stair step and how can I remember it?
The metric stair step is a method to help with the units.
King- Kilo
Harry- Hecto
Didn't- Deka
Buy- Base Unit
Denim- Deci
Car- Centi
Motors- Milli
What is Si?
Are there abbreviations?
A little bit of History of the Si unit
How to use the Metric stair step
2. Decide if you need to go up the stair or down
3. Count how many you need to go. If you go to the right the decimal will go to the right. If you go to the left the decimal will go to the left
Example :
Making it larger
45 grams - Hectograms
You will move to the left so the answer would be
.45
Making it smaller
33 liters- Milliliters
You will move to the right so the answer would be
33,000 mL
More Examples
Move to the left 3
.29488 Kg
___________________________
678.2 Centimeters- Hectometers
Move to the left 4
.06782 hm
___________________________
999 Liters- Centiliters
Move to the right 2
99.9 cm
___________________________
.6842 Dekameters- Decimeters
move to the right 2
68.42 dm
____________________________
.0000003 Kilometers- Millimeters
Move to the right 6
0.3 mm
____________________________
0.03 Millimeters- Meters
Move to the left 3
0.00003 m
____________________________
Sites used
"Brief History of the SI." Brief History of the SI. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014
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"Lesson I: The Metric System and SI Units." Lesson I: The Metric System and SI Units. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
http://www2.southeastern.edu/Academics/Faculty/wparkinson/help/metric_units/
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"Units: The International System." Units: The International System. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/sipm.html
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