Transcript The Metric System

The Metric System
Why Should I Use the Metric
System?
Metric System
Customary System
Multiplying and Dividing
by 10 is quick and easy!
Multiplying or dividing
by 8, 12, 16, 36, 5280,
etc… takes longer!
Meters, Liters, Grams
Pint, Quart, Gallon,
Pounds, Ounces, Tons,
Inches, Feet, Yards, Miles
Decimals 
Fractions 
Nearly every country in
the world uses it!
The United States is
about the ONLY country
in the world that is still
using it!
Have You Ever Lost $125,000,000?
Mix up between Metric
and Customary Units
Thrust Calculations
are inaccurate
Yup.. 3 in to
the left….
Just 3 cm to
the left….
NASA Mars Polar
Lander burns up on
entry in December
2000.
MARS POLAR LANDER PAGE
METER, LITER, GRAM
• METER = LENGTH
• LITER = VOLUME
• GRAM = MASS
Metric System…….NEW AND IMPROVED 
KILO1000
HECTO100
DEKA10
Meter
Liter
Gram
Base
DECI1/10
CENTI1/100
MILLI1/1000
Let’s Try a Few…….
1) 1 kg =____g
2) 1 L =_______mL
3) 1 km =_______m
4) 1 m =_______cm
Let’s Try a Few…….
1) 100 g =____kg
2) 2200 mL =_______L
3) 8.9 km =_______m
4) 5 kg =_______g
Think of a meter stick….
Divide it into 100ths and
you have ________.
Divide it into 1000ths and
you have_________.
Take 1000 meter sticks
in a row and you have
______.
Must know!
• Kilo= 1000 x
• There are 1000 meters in a kilometer
or 1000 grams in a kilogram
• Centi= 1/100. There are 100 cm in a
meter
• Milli= 1/1000. There are 1000
milligrams in a gram or 1000 mL in a
liter.
Metric System Links
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Units of Measurement
History of Metric System in the US
Metric Prefixes
The EVIL, EVIL Customary System