Metric System Cheat Sheet - Deer Valley Unified School District

Metric System Cheat Sheet

Metric System Prefixes

Standard Metric Units

Prefix megakilohectodekadecicentimillimicro-

Symbol M k h D d c m ?

Numerically 1,000,000 1,000 100 10 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.000001

Verbally million thousand hundred ten tenth hundredth thousandth millionth

Measurement Length Mass Temperature Time Volume (liquid) Volume (solid)

Name of Unit Meter Gram Kelvin/Celsius Second Liter Cubic Meter

Abbreviation m g K/?C s L m3

You can combine the prefixes from the table on the left above with the basic units in the table on the right above to create any unit and its abbreviation in the metric system.

Example: The prefix kilo means 1000, so 1 kilogram= 1000 grams. To abbreviate it, combine the symbols for kilo (k) and gram (g). kilogram= kg

Example: The prefix milli means 0.001, so 1 milliliter= 0.001 liters. To abbreviate it, combine the symbols for milli (m) and liter (L) milliliter= mL

Example: The prefix centi means 0.01, so 1 centimeter= 0.01 meters To abbreviate it, combine the symbols for centi (c) and meter (m) centimeter= cm

Converting Units

The staircase above can be used to easily convert between units on the periodic table. To convert from one unit to another, count how many "steps" on the staircase it takes to reach the unit you want to convert to. That is how many places you will move the decimal point.

Example: To convert from hectometers to decimeters, you count 3 steps to the right. So, you move the decimal 3 places to the right, as seen below.

56 hectometers (hm) = 56,000 decimeters (dm) p. 9

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