Special note on a particular conversion not mentioned above.
Metric conversions where two units (numerator and denominator) are converted
Problem #11: Convert 2.1 Å to nanometers
Solution:
1) Often, a two-step method is used. In the first step, the unit given in the problem is converted to the base unit. In this problem, the base unit is meters. Convert Å to meter:
1 Å = 10¯8 cm (by definition)
1 cm 1 Å x ––––––– = 10¯8 cm 108 Å
1 m 10¯8 cm x ––––––– = 10¯10 m 100 cm 1 Å = 10¯10 m
2) In the second step, you convert from the base unit to the target unit. Convert from 2.1 x 10¯10 m to nanometers:
(2.1 x 10¯10 m) (109 nm / 1 m) = 0.21 nm
3) Make sure to remember that the base unit is the unit without a prefix. Examples of base units include m, s, L, and g.
Problem #12: Convert 0.0030 mm to nm
Solution:
There are 106 nanometers in one millimeter.
106 nm 3.0 x 10¯3 mm x ––––––– = 3.0 x 103 nm 1 mm If we were to convert to the base unit first, it would look like this:
1 m 109 nm 3.0 x 10¯3 mm x ––––––– x ––––––– = 3.0 x 103 nm 103 mm 1 m The first conversion is millimeters to meters and the second is meters to nanometers.
Problem #13: Convert 6.25 x 10¯4 s to ms
Solution:
103 ms 6.25 x 10¯4 s x ––––––– = 0.625 ms 1 s Notice that this is a conversion starting from a base unit.
Problem #14: Convert 38.0 centiliters to kiloliters.
Solution:
1 kL 38.0 cL x ––––––– = 3.80 x 10¯4 kL 105 cL kilo- is 103 and centi- is 10¯2. The absolute exponential distance between them is 105.
You could also convert the cL to the base unit of L first, then convert L to kL.
Problem #15: How many Mg are there in 100,000,000 mg?
Solution:
I will do this conversion in two steps: (a) convert mg to g, then (b) convert g to Mg.
1 g 1 x 108 mg x ––––––– = 1 x 105 g 103 mg
1 Mg 1 x 105 g x ––––––– = 0.1 Mg 106 g
Problem #16: Convert 0.050 kg to mg.
Solution:
First conversion is kg to g and the second is g to mg.
103 g 103 mg 0.050 kg x ––––––– x ––––––– = 5.0 x 104 mg 1 kg 1 g
Problem #17: Convert 722 μg to mg.
Solution:
1) A direct micro- to milli- conversion:
722 μg times (1 mg / 1000 μg) = 0.722 mg
2) Here's the two-step conversion. The first conversion is micrograms to grams, followed by grams being converted to milligrams.
1 g 103 mg 722 μg x ––––––– x ––––––– = 0.722 mg 106 μg 1 g
Problem #18: How many pg in a ng?
Solution:
1 ng times (1000 pg / 1 ng) = 1000 pgRemember, nano- means 10¯9 and pico- means 10¯12. There are 1000 of the smaller thing (pico-) in one of the larger thing (nano-).
Problem #19: How many mm in a km?
Solution:
1) Two-step (going through the base unit):
103 m 103 mm 1 km x ––––––– x ––––––– = 1 x 106 mm 1 km 1 m
2) One-step, using the total exponential distance from kilo- to mlli-:
106 mm 1 km x ––––––– = 1 x 106 mm 1 km
3) One step, done in the sty;e oft-seen on the Internet:
1 km times (106 mm / 1 km) = 1 x 106 mm
Problem #20: How many km in a mm?
Solution:
1) Two-step (going through the base unit of m):
1 m 1 km 1 mm x ––––––– x ––––––– = 1 x 10¯6 km 103 mm 103 m
2) One-step, using the total exponential distance from kilo- to mlli-:
1 km 1 mm x ––––––– = 1 x 10¯6 km 106 mm
Problem #21: Convert 3000 mL to daL.
Solution:
1) milli- means 10¯3 and deca- means 101. That gives an absolute exponential distance of 4, therefore:
3000 mL times (1 daL / 104 mL) = 0.3 daL
2) Done as a two-step through the base unit of L:
1 L 1 daL 3000 mL x ––––––– x ––––––– = 0.3 daL 103 mL 10 L In the first conversion, L is the larger of the units (so the 1 goes with it), but in the second conversion, L is the smaller of the two units (so the 1 goes with daL).
Problem #22: Consider this problem:
____ cm = ____ m
Fill in the blanks by placing numerical values in front of the m and the cm.
Solution #1:
1) Let us decide to put a 1 in front of the meter. The problem then becomes this:
____ cm = 1 m
2) In words, the problem becomes:
How many cm are in 1 meter?
3) To answer the question, think back to this definition:
centi- means hundredththerefore:
centimeter means a hundredth of a meter
4) How many centimeters in one meter?
Since one centimeter is 1/100th of a meter, you need 100 centimeters to make 1 meter.
5) The answer to the fill-in question is:
100 cm = 1 m
Solution #2:
1) Let us decide to put a 1 in front of the centimeter. The problem then becomes this:
1 cm = ____ m
2) In words, the problem becomes:
How many meters are in 1 cm?
3) To answer the question, think back to this definition:
centi- means hundredththerefore:
centimeter means a hundredth of a meter
4) How many meters in one centimeter?
Since one centimeter is 1/100th of a meter, you need 1/100th of a meter to make 1 centimeter.
5) The answer to the fill-in question is:
1 cm = 0.01 m
Problem #23: Convert 0.005 kg to dag
Solution:
kilo- means 103 and da- means 101, so there is a 102 absolute difference between the two.0.005 kg x (___ dg / ___ kg) <--- this is done so as to allow the kg to cancel and put the dag in the numerator, which is where we want it
0.005 kg x (___ dg / 1 kg) <--- I teach a method that ALWAYS puts a 1 in front of the larger unit, so you have to know that kilo is bigger than deca
0.005 kg x (102 dg / 1 kg) <--- the two factors are now in place and it reads this way: there are 102 dag in one kg
0.5 dag is the answer.
Problem #24: Convert 35 mL to dL
Solution:
1) Set up the conversion with units in place:
35 mL x (___ dL / ___ mL)milli = 10¯3 and deci- = 10¯1, so there is 102 in absolute exponential distance between the two units.
2) deci- is bigger than milli-. Therefore, the 1 is placed with the dL:
35 mL x (1 dL / ___ mL)
3) There is 102 in absolute exponential distance:
35 mL x (1 dL / 102 mL) = 0.35 dL
Problem #25: Convert 6.31 Ms to hs
Solution:
Done as a two-step conversion through the base unit of s:
106 s 1 hs 6.31 Ms x ––––––– x ––––––– = 6.31 x 104 hs 1 Ms 102 s
Special note on a particular conversion not mentioned above.
Metric conversions where two units (numerator and denominator) are converted