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# Equivalent Metric Units of Length

## Recognize equivalent expressions of metric length.

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Equivalent Metric Units of Length
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Corey measures the distance between two trees in his backyard. He finds that the measurement is 8 meters, but he wants to express the measurement in centimeters. How many centimeters are in 8 meters?

In this concept, you will learn how to convert with metric units of measurements.

### Converting Using Whole Number Values

Length measures how long something is from one end to the other end.

Here are the common metric units of length from smallest to largest.

A millimeter is the smallest unit. Millimeters are most useful when measuring really tiny things. You can find millimeters on some rulers.

A centimeter is the next smallest unit. Centimeters can also be found on a ruler.

A meter is a little more than 3 feet.

A kilometer is used to measure longer distances.

Here is a chart to help with the conversions.

\begin{align*}& 1 \ km \qquad 1000 \ m\\ & 1 \ m \qquad \ \; 100 \ cm\\ & 1 \ cm \qquad \; 10 \ mm\end{align*}

Now that you know the conversions, you can change one unit to another unit.

5 km = ____ m

You can convert larger units to smaller units by multiplying. There are 1000 meters in one kilometer.

\begin{align*}5 \ km &= \underline{\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;} \ m\\ 5 \times 1000 &= 5000 \ m\end{align*}

The answer is 5000 m.

Here's an example of converting smaller units to larger units.

600 cm = ______ m

You can convert smaller units to larger units by dividing. There are 100 cm in one meter.

600 \begin{align*}\div\end{align*} 100 \begin{align*}=\end{align*} 6

The answer is 6 m.

### Examples

#### Example 1

Earlier, you were given a problem about Corey's measurement of his tree.

His measurement is 8 meters, but he wants to convert it to centimeters. How many centimeters are equal to 8 meters?

8 m = _____ cm

First, determine if the conversion is from smaller units to larger units or larger units to smaller units.

Larger to smaller

Next, perform the appropriate operation.

8 \begin{align*}\times \end{align*} 100

Then, write the value.

800

The answer is 800 cm. The distance between the two trees is 800 cm.

#### Example 2

Find the equivalent metric measurement.

6 m = ______ mm

First, determine if the conversion is from smaller units to larger units or larger units to smaller units.

Larger to smaller

Next, perform the appropriate operation.

6 \begin{align*}\times \end{align*} 1000

Then, write the value.

6000

The answer is 6000 mm.

#### Example 3

Find the equivalent metric measurement.

2000 mm = ______ cm

First, determine if the conversion is from smaller units to larger units or larger units to smaller units.

Smaller to larger

Next, perform the appropriate operation.

2000 \begin{align*}\div\end{align*} 10

Then, write the value.

200

The answer is 200 cm.

#### Example 4

Find the equivalent metric measurement.

3 km = _____ m

First, determine if the conversion is from smaller units to larger units or larger units to smaller units.

Larger to smaller

Next, perform the appropriate operation.

3 \begin{align*}\times \end{align*} 1000

Then, write the value.

3000

The answer is 3000 m.

#### Example 5

Find the equivalent metric measurement.

4000 cm = ______ m

First, determine if the conversion is from smaller units to larger units or larger units to smaller units.

Smaller to larger

Next, perform the appropriate operation.

4000 \begin{align*}\div \end{align*} 100

Then, write the value.

40

The answer is 40 m.

### Review

Complete the following metric equivalents.

1. 6 km = ______ m
2. 5 m = ______ cm
3. 100 cm = ______ m
4. 400 cm = ______ m
5. 9 km = ______ m
6. 2000 m = ______ km
7. 20 mm = ______ cm
8. 8 cm = ______ mm
9. 900 cm = ______ m
10. 12 m = ______ cm
11. 10 cm = ______ mm
12. 100 cm = _____ mm
13. 6700 m = ______ km
14. 8200 m = ______ km
15. 12,500 m = ______ km

To see the Review answers, open this PDF file and look for section 3.5.

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### Vocabulary Language: English

Centimeter

A centimeter is a very small unit of metric measure. A centimeter is one hundredth of one meter.

Kilometer

A kilometer is a common metric unit of length that is equal to 1,000 meters.

Length

Length is a measurement of how long something is. Examples of customary units of length are inches, feet, yards and miles.

Meter

A meter is a common metric unit of length that is slightly larger than a yard.

Metric System

The metric system is a system of measurement commonly used outside of the United States. It contains units such as meters, liters, and grams, all in multiples of ten.

Millimeter

A millimeter is the smallest common metric unit of length.