Conversion Factors Worksheet

Part I: Background information on units and conversion factors

1. For each measurement in Table 1, choose both the imperial and metric units (when possible) from
Table 2 that would be most appropriate for making that measurement and fill its abbreviation in
Table 1. [Note: Some measurements in Table 1 may have more than one reasonable unit. Units in
Table 2 may be used more than once while others may not be used at all.]

Table 1

Unit Unit
Measurement Abbreviation Abbreviation
(Imperial) (Metric)
Your age
Yr
Length of a Pencil
in cm
Mass of a large truck
tons tons
Your mass
lb
Length of this room kg
Time spent studying
ft M
each week
Length of a football
hr
field
Temperature of this
yd M
room OF C
Volume of a milk
container L
Mass of a pencil gal
oz
Amount of salt in a
recipe
g
Distance from tsp mg
Sacramento to San
Francisco
mi km
Table 2

grams pounds meters kilometers years

tons hours centimeters cups teaspoons

gallons feet kilograms minutes inches

degrees atomic
miles liters ounces
(Celsius) mass units
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 Conversion Factors Worksheet

2. For each conversion below, write the appropriate equality, the conversion factor and determine
whether the conversion factor has an infinite number of sig. figs. The first one is done for you.

Conversion Equality Conversion Factor Exact Value?

1 lb. 16 oz
oz  lb. 1 lb. = 16 oz or Yes No
16 oz 1 lb.

L  qt
1L 1.0567Gt at Yes
0
No
1
64
m  mm
1m 18mm O
Yes No
m

in.  cm
lin 2.54cm 54m 0
Yes No

3. Take the lengths from Table 3 by ordering their corresponding abbreviations from the shortest to
longest distance. Also fill in how many meters each length is equal to. The first one is done for you.
Table 3

1 megameter 1 picometer 1 kilometer 1 gigameter

1 millimeter 1 decimeter 1 femtometer 1 micrometer

1 terameter 1 centimeter 1 nanometer

Shortest Longest

1 fm
< 1mm <
is iii
< < < < < < < <
10-15
m ion

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 Conversion Factors Worksheet

Part II: Step-by-Step Practice Using Conversion Factors

4. Work step-by-step to determine the number of ps (picoseconds) in 2.5 Ms (megaseconds).

a. Which of the following is a longer duration of time? (Circle your answer)
1 ps or 1 Ms
b. Given your response to question 4a, do you expect there to be a large or small number of ps
in 2.5 Ms? Explain your reasoning.

Largenumber

c. Write out a flow chart similar to that from question 3 that you can use to solve this problem.

Ms s ps
d. Write out the conversion factors that go with each step in your flow chart.

µs s ps
e. Use your flow chart and conversion factors to determine the number of ps in 2.5 Ms.

2.5 Mx 1 2.5 10 ps
4
f. Does your answer agree with your prediction from question 4b?

Yes
5. Follow the steps from question 4 to determine how many kg is equivalent to 1.8 x 104 g.

1.8 10 1.8 105

ngx
y g kg

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 Conversion Factors Worksheet

6. Most food packaging lists the amount of

product in the container in at least 2
different units of measurement. If a bottle of
orange juice states it has a total volume of 89
fluid ounces (fl oz) does this agree with the
other portion of the label which states it
contains 2.63 L?

a. Which is a larger volume, 1 fluid ounce or 1 L?

IL
b. Write out a flow chart to go from fluid ounces to L. Be sure to include any conversion
factors you will need to go between different units of measurement.

floz me L

c. Show all of your work to convert 89 fl oz to L. Show all of your work.

89
floz.fi 35m
xfe 2.632 262

d. This label also states that it contains 2.7 quarts. Is this correct based on the amount it
states it contains in fl oz?

According to our calculation it is a little low

7. You and your PAL team have just won the “No-Bull” prize for being the best PAL team ever! Now
you have to decide which of the following samples of gold to accept as your prize! a.
a. Which sample did your team select? Justify your answer in the spaces provided.
4

Ignore thisprompt
 Conversion Factors Worksheet

Skip this
Sample A: 2.0 x 10-6 tons of gold
question

Sample B: 0.020 lb of gold

Sample C: 2.0 x 1022 gold atoms

Sample D: 2.0 x 106 g of gold

b. If the prize is evenly divided among 4 people, how much is your individual prize worth if gold
sells for 1785.39/troy ounce? 1 troy ounce = 31.103 grams

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 Conversion Factors Worksheet

8. Methylmercury is a toxin commonly found in the tuna that we eat. Different species of tuna have
different levels of this toxin. It is suggested that a person should limit the amount of
methylmercury they ingest to less than 315 ng (nano grams) per 1 lb. of body weight per week.
The table below shows the amount of methyl mercury found in various types of tuna commonly
available. Would it exceed the suggested limit of methylmercury if someone weighing 200 lbs. eats
266 grams of light tuna (the amount in 2 cans of tuna) in one week? How about if they eat the same
amount of yellow tuna in one week? Albacore?

Species
GMetty
Methylmercury per 3.00 ounces

Light tuna (canned) 1.071 x 10-2 mg

a
Yellowfin tuna 3.009 x 10-2 mg
b
Albacore tuna 3.043 x 10-2 mg
C

Firstdeterminethe limit for someone whoweighs 200lbs

200lb 315 Weekly limit

9 630 for 200lb person
1lb ng
Next convert 3.00
tog
oz

3.88oz 28.3495g
oz 85.0486g
amount of tuna eaten
per week
Now we can calculate theamount of methylmercury ingested
a 1
0.0 nightly 106mgHetty 5.35 10 Mettyingested
85 48641 ng
1mgMetly overthe recommened limit
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b 26694
gg10ngMeltg
0.03009mgMelts 9.41x104ngMeHgingested

go.gg Ingmetly
Overtherecommened limit

c 266
gr irex0.03043MeHgx106ngMetlg
85.04868 99 1mgMetty
9.52x104ngMeHgingested

Overthe
recommended limit