For each of the following commonly used measurements, indicate its symbol. Use the symbols to complete the following sentences with the most appropriate unit. Units may be used more than once or not at all. These are your benchmarks.

_____ milliliter _____ kilogram_____ meter _____ milligram_____ millimeter _____ liter_____ kilometer _____ second_____ centimeter _____ gram

1. Colas may be purchased in two or three _____ bottles.2. The mass of a bowling ball is 7.25 _____.3. The length of the common housefly is about 1 _____.4. The mass of a paperclip is about 1 _____.5. One teaspoon of cough syrup has a volume of 5 _____.6. Stand with your arms raised out to your side. The distance from your nose

to your outstretched fingers is about 1 _____.7. On a statistical basis, smoking a single cigarette lowers your life expectancy

by 642,000 _____, or 10.7 minutes.

16 Sep 2013

SI StaircaseThe Complete How-To Guide to Converting between SI Units

Step 1Copy the complete problem.

Leave a small space between the number and the unit.Example:

25 L = ____________ mL

Step 2If there is no decimal point, add one at the end of the

number.Think about how you would add a period at the end of a

sentence.Our Example:

25 L = __________ mL

If there is a decimal point, start from there.

.

Step 3Decide, will you be going from a larger unit to a

smaller unit?This means you will be going DOWN the staircase.So you will be moving the decimal point to the RIGHT.

Or, will you be going from a smaller unit to a larger unit?This means you w ill be going UP the staircase. So you will be moving the decimal point to the LEFT.Our Example:

L to mL, which way are we going?

Bigger DOWN to smaller.

Step 4After you decide which way the decimal point moves,

draw a small arrow in that direction just above the number to help you remember which way you are going to move the decimal point.

Our Example: 25. L = __________ mL

Step 5Next, look at the SI staircase and decide how many

steps you need to move from the given to the unknown units.

Our example: L to mL① From liter to deci② From deci to centi, ③ From centi to milli

⏎

⏎⏎

• We moved down 3 steps so the decimal point will move three places to the right.

Step 6Next, draw in each arrow, one at a time.

Add zero’s to hold place as needed.Our example: 25 L = ___________ mL

Finally, rewrite the new answer in the blank, including zeros and the new placement of the decimal point.

25. L = 25000. mL

Final placement of the decimal point.

. . ..

Let’s do another example

Step 1Copy the complete problem.

Leave a small space between the number and the unit.Example:

64.7 cm = ____________ km

Step 2If there is no decimal point, add one at the end of the

number.

If there is a decimal point, start from there.Our Example:

64.7 cm = ____________ km

There is already a decimal point in our example.

Step 3Decide which direction you are going to move?

Our Example: cm to kmSo we are going from a _________ unit to a _______ unit.

This means we are going ________ the staircase.

So we will be moving the decimal point to the _______.

smaller bigger

up

left

Step 4After you decide which way the decimal point moves,

draw a small arrow in that direction just above the number to help you remember which way you are going to move the decimal point.

Our Example: 64.7 cm = ____________ km

Step 5Next, count how many steps we need to move up the

staircase, from centi to kilo.① From centi to deci② From deci to meter, ③ From meter to deka④ From deka to hecto⑤ From hecto to kilo ⏎

⏎

⏎

• We moved up 5 steps so the decimal point will move five places to the left.

⏎

⏎

Step 6Draw arrows that swoop to the left , 5 times.

Our example: 6 4 7 cm = ___________ km

Finally, rewrite the new answer in the blank, including zeros and the new placement of the decimal point.

64.7 cm =

Final placement of the decimal point.

......

0.000647 km

Practice Convert the following metric measurements: 1000 mg = _____ g 198 g = _____ kg 8 mm = _____ cm

160 cm = _____ mm 75 mL = _____ L 6.3 cm = _____ mm

109 g = _____ kg 50 cm = _____ m 5.6 m = _____ cm

250 m = _____ km 5 L = _____ mL 26,000 cm = _____ m

14 km = _____ m 16 cm = _____ mm 56,500 mm = _____ km

1 L = _____ mL 65 g = _____ mg 27.5 mg = _____ g

480 cm = _____ m 2500 m = _____ km 923 cm = _____ m

27 g = _____ kg 355 mL = _____ L 0.025 km = _____ cm