Units of Measurement

In metric system of measurement the metre is the basic unit of length, gram is the basic unit of mass and litre is the basic unit of capacity.

In units of measurement of length we use centimeter (cm) to measure. We can use this unit for measuring the length of a pencil, the width of a book etc. but this unit is too big to measure the thicken of a pencil. So we use another unit called millimeter (mm).

Also, centimeter and millimeters are very small units to measure the length of the classroom. We use another unit called meters. Even meter is too small unit when we state the distances between two cities, there we need kilometers (km).

These units are connected with each other by the following relation :

1 kilometer (km) = 1000 meter (m)

1 meter (m) = 100 centimeter (cm)

1 centimeter (cm) = 10 millimeter (mm). 

Also,

1 meter (m) = 100 centimeter (cm) = 100 × 10 millimeter (mm) = 1000 millimeter (mm)

1 kilometer (km) = 1000 meter (m) = 1000 × 100 centimeter (cm) = 100,000 centimeter (cm)

1 kilometer (km) = 100,000 centimeter (cm) = 100,000 × 10 millimeter (mm) = 1,000,000 millimeter (mm)

When we go to market to buy sugar, wheat etc, we buy these items in kilograms (kg).

But, items like ginger, chilies etc. are measured in grams (gm).

In order to measure the weight of compound or chemicals in medicines, we use smaller unit called milligrams (mg).

Following are the relations between these three units of measurement of weight.

1 kilograms (kg) = 1000 grams (gm)

1 grams (gm) = 1000 milligrams (mg)

1 kilograms (kg) = 1000 × 1000 milligrams (mg) = 1,000,000 milligrams (mg)

We buy milk in liters whereas liquid medicines etc. are measured in milliliters (ml).

Following is the relation between these two units.

1 liter (l) = 1000 milliliters (ml).

Following prefixes are used to understand easily the relationship between higher units and lower units.

Kilo – thousand, hector – hundred, deca – ten, deci – tenth, centi – hundredth and milli – thousandth

We can write the place-value chart using all above prefixes for each place explaining the relationship to the basic unit. In the following place-value chart each place is ten times greater than the one to its right, and ten times smaller than the one to its left.

Units of Measurement

We shall express measures now using the decimal rotation.


Note:

In units of measurement, all the units mentioned above have some common words like kilo, milli and centi. It should be noted that kilo is the largest and milli is the smallest. Similarly, centi shows 100 times smaller.









Numbers Page 

6th Grade Page

From Units of Measurement to HOME PAGE


New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. Ask a Question or Answer a Question.



Didn't find what you were looking for? Or want to know more information about Math Only Math. Use this Google Search to find what you need.



Share this page: What’s this?

Recent Articles

  1. Cardinal Numbers and Ordinal Numbers | Cardinal Numbers | Ordinal Num

    Dec 07, 23 01:27 AM

    Cardinal Numbers
    Cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers are explained here with the help of colorful pictures. There are many steps in a staircase as shown in the above figure. The given staircase has nine steps,

    Read More

  2. Smallest and Greatest Number upto 10 | Greater than | Less than | Math

    Dec 06, 23 11:21 PM

    Smallest and Greatest Number upto 10
    We will discuss about the smallest and greatest number upto 10.

    Read More

  3. 2nd grade math Worksheets | Free Math Worksheets | By Grade and Topic

    Dec 06, 23 01:47 PM

    2nd Grade Math Worksheet
    2nd grade math worksheets is carefully planned and thoughtfully presented on mathematics for the students.

    Read More