Units of Measure

1) Why are there two different Measurement Systems ?
The Metric System started in France in 1790 to introduce an official standardised way of measuring everything which used decimals (before then everything was estimated)
The Imperial System started in England in 1824. England did not like France.
UK started to move to Metric in 1965 (but it was not compulsory) and now uses both (mostly metric although distance is still in miles)
In 1975 all countries switched to Metric (except for UK, USA, Liberia and Myanmar)

2) Can you change and convert between the two different unit systems ?

3) What are the Metric Units for the following:
Also called the International System of Units.
A decimal system that uses multiples of 10,
Length - metre (m) - mm, cm (1cm = 10mm), m (1m = 100cm), km (1km = 1000m)
Area - square metres (m2) - mm2, cm2, m2, km2
Volume - cubic metres (m3) - mm3, cm3, m3, ml, litres (1l = 1000ml)
Capacity - litre
Mass - kilogram (kg) - g, kg (1kg = 1000g), (1000kg = 1 tonne)
Velocity/Speed - metres per second (m/s) - m/s, km/h
Acceleration - metres per second per second
Force - newton
Temperature - degrees celsius

4) What is Length ?
The measurement of something from one end to the other end.

5) How many centimeters in a meter ?
100

6) How many centimeters in a kilometer ?
1km = 1000m
1m = 100cm
1km = (1000 x 100) = 100,000

7) How many millimetres in a kilometer ?
1km = 1000m
1m = 100cm
1cm = 10mm
1km = 1,000,000 = (1000 x 100 x 10)

8) How many millimetres in 3.5 centimeters ?
1cm = 10mm
3.5cm = 35mm

9) Which is longer, a mile or a kilometre ?
1 mile = 1.6 km

10) What is Area ?
This is explained in the Geometry section

11) How many mm2 are there in 1cm2 ?
1cm2 = (10 x 10) = 100 mm2

12) How many cm2 are there in 1m2 ?
1m2 = (100 x 100) = 10,000 cm2

13) How many cm3 are there in 1m3 ?
1m3 = (100 x 100 x 100) = 1,000,000 cm3

14) What is 20cm2 in mm2 ?
1cm2 = (10 x 10) = 100mm2
20cm2 = (20 x 100) = 2,000mm2

15) What is 500mm squared, converted to centimetres squared ?
(500 x 500) = 250,000 mm2
(250,000 / (10 x 10) ) = (250,000 / 100) = 2,500 cm2

16) What is 4000cm squared, converted to millimeters squared ?
(4000 x 100) = 400,000 mm2

17) What is 2200cm squared, converted to metres squared ?
(2200 / (100 x 100) ) = (2200 / 10,000) = 0.22 m2

18) What is Volume ?
This is explained in the Geometry section

19) What is Capacity ?
The maximum amount of liquid that something can contain.

20) What is the difference between Volume and Capacity ?

21) How do we measure Capacity ?
The capacity of a container is how much water (or liquid) it will hold.
It is measured in millimeters (ml) or litres (l).
Not all 3D shapes or objects have capacity (eg brick)
Only hollow shapes have capacity.

22) What does Fill mean ?
The amount of something which will occupy all the space inside a 3D shape.

23) What is Mass ?
The amount of matter in an object measured in grams and kilograms.

24) What is Speed ?
Also called Velocity.
Speed is a measure of how quickly an object moves from one place to another.

25) How long would it take a car travelling at 45mph to cover 30 miles ?

26) David ran 300 metres in 50 seconds. What was his sprinting speed in metres per second ?

27) What are the Imperial Units for the following:
Length - inches, feet (12 inches), yards (3 feet), miles (1760 yards)
Area - square inches, square feet, square miles
Volume - cubic inches, cubic feet, pints, gallons (8 pint)
Mass - ounces (oz), pounds (lb, 16 ounces), stones (14 pounds) , tonnes
Speed - mph
Temperature - fahrenheit

28) What are the approximate conversions for the following:

29) How many centimeters is 6 feet and 5 inches ?
1 foot approx 30cm
1 inch approx 2.5cm
(60 x 30) + (5 x 2.5) = 180 + 12.5 = 192.5cm

30) How many yards in a mile ?
1760

31) How many pints in a litre ?
1 3/4

32) How many kilograms in a tonne ?
1000

33) What does Heavy mean ?
Weighing a lot, hard to lift.
When something is heavy we are talking about how much it weighs.
The opposite of heaviest is lightest.

34) What is Temperature ?
Temperature is a measure of how hot or cold something is

35) What is Acceleration ?

Metric vs Imperial

There are two different measurement systems used: Metric and Imperial

Length

Length is used to measure Distance
Length is the distance between two points.

mm - millimetres
cm - centimetres
m - metres
km - kilometres

Mass

Mass is used to measure Weight
Mass is the amount of matter in an object
Weight is the force exerted on an object by gravity. On Earth mass is equal to weight.

mg - milligrams
g - grams
kg - kilograms
t - tonne

Volume

Volume is used to measure Capacity
Volume is the amount of space that an object takes up.

ml - milliltre
cl - centilitre
l - litre

Time

units

Temperature

Density