Unit Conversions

Unit Conversions

EQUIVALENCY

UNIT CONVERSION FACTOR

Length

1 foot = 12 inches

____

1 ft

12 in

or

12 in

____

1 ft

1 yard = 3 feet

1 yd

____

3 ft

or

3 ft

____

1 yd

1 mile = 5280 feet

1 mile

______

5280 ft

or

5280 ft

______

1 mile

1 minute = 60 seconds

1 min

______

60 sec

or

60 sec

______

1 min

1 hour = 60 minutes

1 hr

______

60 min

or

60 min

______

1 hr

1 day = 24 hours

1 day

______

24 hr

or

24 hr

______

1 day

1 week = 7 days

1 week

______

7 days

or

7 days

______

1 week

1 cup = 8 fluid ounces

1 cup

______

8 fl oz

or

8 fl oz

______

1 cup

1 pint = 2 cups

1 pt

______

2 cups

or

2 cups

______

1 pt

1 quart = 2 pints

1 qt

______

2 pts

or

2 pts

______

1 qt

1 gallon = 4 quarts

1 gal

______

4 qts

or

4 qts

______

1 gal

1 pound = 16 ounces

1 lb

______

16 oz

or

16 oz

______

1 lb

1 ton = 2000 pounds

1 ton

_______

2000 lbs

or

2000 lbs

_______

1 ton

Time

Volume

(Capacity)

Weight

How to Make a Unit Conversion

STEP1: Select a unit conversion factor.

Which unit conversion factor we use depends on the units we start with and the units we want to end up

with.

Unit conversion factor:

units we want

units to eliminate

Numerator

Denominator

For example, if we want to convert minutes into seconds, we want to eliminate minutes and end up with

seconds. Therefore, we would use 60 sec . However, if we want to convert seconds into minutes,

1 min

we want to eliminate seconds and end up with minutes. Therefore, we would use 1 min .

60 sec

Note: Unit conversion factors are always equal to 1. Therefore, when we multiply any measurement by

a unit conversion factor, we are not changing the value of the measurement, only the units.

STEP 2: Multiply the original unit by the unit conversion factor.

For example, to change 5 minutes into seconds:

5 min =

5 min

60 sec

x

= 300 sec

1

1 min

However, to change 300 seconds into minutes:

300 sec =

1 min

300 sec

x

60 sec

1

= 5 min

In the above examples, we cross canceled the like unit from the numerator and denominator, just like

we would cancel common factors when reducing fractions. This makes it easy to see which units we

end up with.

For example, to convert 21 feet into yards:

7

21 ft =

21 ft

x

1

1 yd

= 7 yd

3 ft

1

Also, we may need to use more than one unit conversion factor if there is not a direct conversion factor.

For example, to change 3 gallons to cups:

3 gal =

4 qt

3 gal

x 1 gal

1

2 pt

x 1 qt

x

2 cups

= 48 cups

1 pt

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download