CHAPTER 9
Measurement
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 1
9.1
Measuring Length; The Metric System
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 2
Objectives
1. Use dimensional analysis to change units of
measurement.
2. Understand and use metric prefixes.
3. Convert units within the metric system.
4. Use dimensional analysis to change to and from the
metric system.
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 3
Length
Linear Units of Measure: The English System
12 inches (in.) = 1 foot (ft)
3 feet = 1 yard (yd)
36 inches = 1 yard
5280 feet = 1 mile (mi)
Unit Fractions contain different units and the value of
the unit is 1. Here are some unit fractions:
12 in. 1 ft 3 ft 1 yd 5280 ft 1 mi
1 ft 12 in. 1 yd 3 ft 1 mi 5280 ft
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 4
Dimensional Analysis
To convert a measurement to a different unit, multiply
by the unit fraction (or by unit fractions). The given unit
of measurement should appear in the denominator of the
unit fraction so that this unit cancels upon
multiplication. The unit measurement that needs to be
introduced should appear in the numerator of the
fraction so that this unit will be retained upon
multiplication.
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 5
Example: Using Dimensional Analysis to
Change Units of Measurement.
Options
Convert:
a. 40 inches to feet
Solution:
40 in . 1ft 40 ft 1
40 in. 3 or 3.3 ft
1 12 in. 12 3
Options
b. 13,200 feet to miles
Solution:
13,200 ft 1 mi 13,200 mi
13,200 ft 2.5 mi.
1 5280 ft 5,280
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 6
Length and the Metric System
Used in most industrialized countries
Based on powers of ten.
Commonly used Metric Prefixes
Prefix Symbol Meaning
kilo k 1000 × base unit
hecto h 100 × base unit
deka da 10 × base unit
deci d 1/10 of base unit
centi c 1/100 of base unit
milli m 1/1000 of base unit
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 7
Commonly Used Units of Linear
Measure in the Metric System
The basic unit for linear measure in the metric system is
the meter.
Symbol Unit Meaning
km kilometer 1000 meters
hm hectometer 100 meters
dam dekameter 10 meters
m meter 1 meter
dm decimeter 0.1 meter
cm centimeter 0.01 meter
mm millimeter 0.001 meter
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 8
Changing Units Within the Metric
System
To change from larger units to smaller units involves multiplying by ten.
To change from smaller units to larger units involves dividing by ten.
Metric units for length from largest to smallest
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 9
Example: Changing Units Within the
Metric System
Convert 504.7 meters to kilometers.
Solution:
To convert from meters to kilometers, start at meters
and move three steps to the left to obtain kilometers:
Hence we move the decimal point 3 places to the
left.
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 10
Example continued
Convert 27 meters to centimeters
Solution:
To convert from meters to centimeters, start at meters
and move two steps to the right to obtain centimeters:
Hence we move the decimal point 2 places to the right.
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 11
Using Dimensional Analysis to Change
To and From the Metric System
Approximate English and Metric Equivalents
1 inch (in.) = 2.54 centimeters (cm)
1 foot (ft) = 30.48 centimeters (cm)
1 yard (yd) = 0.9 meter (m)
1 mile (mi) = 1.6 kilometers (km)
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 12
Example: Using Dimensional Analysis to
Change to and from the Metric System
Convert 125 miles to kilometers
Solution:
Use the unit fraction: 1.6 km
1 mi
125 miles = 125 mi ∙ 1.6 km =125(1.6) km = 200 km
1 1 mi
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 13
Example continued
Convert 26,800 millimeters to inches.
Solution:
From the table we see that
26,800 mm = 2680.0 cm
Use the unit fraction: 1 in.
2.54 cm
26,800 mm = 2680 cm
2680 cm 1 in. 2680
in. 1055 in.
1 2.54 cm 2.54
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Section 9.1, Slide 14
