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  • Metric Conversion Quick Tutorial and Practice Questions

Metric Conversion Quick Tutorial and Practice Questions

  • Posted by Brian Stocker MA
  • Date March 27, 2014
  • Comments 8 comments

Metric Conversion – A Quick Tutorial 

james watt
British inventor and advocate of an international decimal system of measure

Conversion between metric and standard units can be tricky since the units of distance, volume, area and temperature can seem rather arbitrary when compared to one another.  Although the metric system (using SI units) is the standard system of measure in most parts of the world many countries still use at least some of their traditional units of measure.  In North America those units come from the old British system.

Distance, Volume, Area and Temperature.

John Wilkins, pictured left, in 1668, published an essay proposing a decimal system of measurement.

Below are practice test questions for the metric system similar to what you will find on a standardized test.

Distance

When measuring distance the relation between metric and standard units looks like this:

0.039 in 1 millimeter 1 inch 25.4 mm
3.28 ft 1 meter 1 foot .305 m
0.621 mi 1 kilometer 1 mile 1.61 km

Here, you can see that 1 millimeter is equal to .039 inches and 1 inch equals 25.4 millimeters.

Area

When measuring area the relation between metric and standard looks like this:

.0016 in2 1 square millimeter 1 square inch 645.2 mm2
10.764 ft2 1 square meter 1 square foot .093 m2
.386 mi2 1 square kilometer 1 square mile 2.59 km2
2.47 ac hectare 1 acre .405 ha

 

Weight and Mass

When measuring weight and mass the relation between metric and standard units looks like this:

.035 oz 1 gram 1 ounce 28.35 g
2.202 lbs 1 kilogram 1 pound .454 kg
1.103 T 1 metric ton 1 ton .907 t

It is important to note that in science, the metric units of grams and kilograms are always used to denote the mass of an object rather than its weight.

Temperature

In predominantly metric countries the standard unit of temperature is degrees Celsius while in countries with only limited use of the metric system, such as the United States, degrees Fahrenheit is used.  This chart shows the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius:

0° Celsius 32° Fahrenheit
10° Celsius 50° Fahrenheit
20° Celsius 68° Fahrenheit
30° Celsius 86° Fahrenheit
40° Celsius 104° Fahrenheit
50° Celsius 122° Fahrenheit
60° Celsius 140° Fahrenheit
70° Celsius 158° Fahrenheit
80° Celsius 176° Fahrenheit
90° Celsius 194° Fahrenheit
100° Celsius 212° Fahrenheit

As you can see 0° C is freezing while 32° F is freezing.  Similarity 100° C is boiling while the Fahrenheit system takes until 212° F.  To convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit you need to multiply the temperature in Celsius by 1.8 and then add 32 to it.  (x° F = (y° C*1.8) + 32)  To convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius you do the opposite.  First subtract 32 from the temperature then divide by 1.8.  (x° C = (y° -32) / 1.8)

Volume

Similarly, when measuring volume the relation between metric and standard units looks like this:

3034 fl oz 1 milliliter 1 fluid ounce 29.57 ml
.0264 gal 1 liter 1 gallon 3.785 L
35.314 ft3 1 cubic meter 1 cubic foot .028 m3

 

Practice Questions

1. Convert 10 kg. to grams.

a. 10,000 grams
b. 1,000 grams
c. 100 grams
d. 10.11 grams

2. 1 gallon = _________ liter(s).

a. 1 liter
b. 3.785 liters
c. 37.85 liters
d. 4.5 liters

3. Convert 2.5 liters to milliliters.

a. 1,050 ml.
b. 2,500 ml.
c.
 2,050 ml.
d. 1,500 ml.

4. Convert 210 mg. to grams.

a. 0.21 mg.
b. 2.1 g.
c.
 0.21 g.
d. 2.12 g.

5. Convert 10 pounds to kilograms.

a. 4.54 kg.
b. 11.25 kg.
c.
 15 kg.
d. 10.25 kg.

6. Convert 0.539 grams to milligrams.

a. 539 g.
b. 539 mg.
c.
 53.9 mg.
d. 0.53 g .

7. Convert 16 quarts to gallons.

a. 1 gallons
b. 8 gallons
c. 4 gallons
d. 4.5 gallons

8. Convert 45 kg. to pounds.

a. 10 pounds
b. 100 pounds
c. 1,000 pounds
d. 110 pounds

Answer Key 

1. A
1kg = 1,000 g and 10 kg = 10 x 1,000 = 10,000 g

2. B
1 US gallon = 3.78541178 liters

3. B
1 liter = 1,000 milliliters, 2.5 liters = 2.5 x 1,000 = 2,500 milliliters

4. C
1,000 mg = 1 g, 210 mg = 210/1000 = 0.21 g. Be careful of Choice A, (0.21 mg.)
The numbers are the same but the units are different.

5. A
1 pound = 0.45 kg, 10 pounds = 4.53592, or about 4.54 kg. When multiplying a
decimal by 10, move the decimal point one place to the left.

6. B
1 g = 1,000 mg. 0.539 g = 0.539 x 1000 = 539 mg.

7. C
4 quarts = 1 gallon, 16 quarts = 16/4 = 4 gallons. Conversion problems are easy to get confused. One way to think of them is which is larger – quarts or gallons? Gallons are larger, so if you are converting from quarts to gallons the number of gallons will be a smaller number. Keeping that in mind, you can do a ‘commonsense’ check on your answer.

8. B
0.45 kg = 1 pound, 1 kg. = 1/0.45 and 45 kg = 1/0.45 x 45 = 99.208, or 100 pounds.

Written by, Brian Stocker MA., Complete Test Preparation Inc.

Date Published: Thursday, March 27th, 2014
Date Modified: Tuesday, January 26th, 2021
author avatar
Brian Stocker MA

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Percent Tips and Tricks plus Practice Questions
March 27, 2014

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    8 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    January 12, 2016
    Reply

    IS HOEA TEST THAT SIMPLE as it is shown in these questions

    • Complete Test Prep
      January 17, 2016
      Reply

      Hard to say exactly what will be on the HOAE/PSB – and it changes all the time. These HOAE practice questions cover the same topics – but we can’t make any guarantees – and neither can anyone else.

  2. G
    October 31, 2018
    Reply

    I have benefited from this site.

  3. Anonymous
    November 1, 2018
    Reply

    Metric Conversion Practice

  4. Shay
    January 2, 2020
    Reply

    For the metric conversion do you need to mesmerize the amounts? (that seems excessive when converting random amounts without know the basic amounts)

    • Brian Stocker
      January 3, 2020
      Reply

      Unfortunately yes!

  5. Noura M
    February 14, 2021
    Reply

    Hello!
    Are ‘Volume’ (Weight) questions like the 10 problems in this practice the only metric conversion problems in the CHSPE exam? For example, do I need to memorize the ‘Area’ and ‘Temperature’ conversions? By the way, this is great review! Thank you so much,
    Noura

    • Brian Stocker
      February 14, 2021
      Reply

      Hi – yes a formula sheet is provided

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