Metric System

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Metric System
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History

• Gabriel Mouton, the vicar of St. Paul's Church in
  Lyon, was the first to propose a new system of
  measurement which was to be defined based on the
  Earth's measurements.
• During the French Revolution, in 1970, The
  National Assembly of France asked the French
  Academy of Science to create a standard measuring
  system that was "for all people, for all time."
  In 1972, Jean Delambre and Pierre Mechain went
  out to do necessary calculations to create the
  metric system.

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• In 1671, Jean Picard proposed that the length of
  a pendulum beating should be the standard unit of
  length.
• Seven years later, in 1977, the metric system
  became a fact in France. It is the universal
  language of measurement of all countries. It is
  used in scientific and medical profession, the
  armed services, and in international relations.

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Units Within the Metric System

• The metric system is the most widely used system
  of measurement in the world. It is a more
  universal measurement standard as compared to the
  customary system used in the United States.
• The three basic units of the metric system are
  the meter, gram, and liter
• The gram measures weight.
• The meter measures length.
• The liter measures capacity.

thousands hundreds tens basic unit tenths hundredths thousandths
1000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001
kilo- hecto- deca- Meter Gram Liter deci- centi- milli-
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Real-Life Connection

• A millimeter is about how thick a dime is.
• A centimeter is how wide one of your fingernails
  is.
• A kilometer is a little more than half of a mile.

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 From smallest to greatest they range
Milli- centi- Deci- Meter Gram liter Deca- Hecto- Kilo-
1 kilometer 1,000 meters
1 meter 100 centimeters
1 centimeter 10 millimeters
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• This system is based on the decimal system and
  base units of 10s. There are two ways to convert
  measurements
• All the measurements can either be multiplied or
  divided by 10, 100, 1,000, and so on. You can
  follow these short 3 steps if you are not sure
  what to do.
• 1. Count the number of zeros in the number you
  are multiplying or dividing by.
• 2. If you are multiplying, move the decimal point
  this number of places to the right.
• 3. If you are dividing, move the decimal point
  this number of place to the left.

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You also can convert metric measurements by using
a chart and moving the decimal according to how
you would move on the chart. Follow these steps.

• 1. Find the unit on the table you are given with.
  
• 2. Find the unit on the table you are going to
  convert into.
• 3. Count the number of places you must move on
  the chart to go from the unit in step 1 to the
  unit in step 2.
• 4. Move the decimal point that number of times in
  the problem.

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Drill and Practice

• Answer the next questions on a sheet of paper.
• Write the equivalents.
• 1) 18 m _____ cm
• 2) 167 mm _____mm
• 3) 500 kg _____g
• 4) 23 dm _____hm
• 5) 1,589 dl _____dm
• 6) 700 ml _____kl
• 7) 5 cm _____mm
• 8) 35.45 mg _____ hg
• 9) 0.5 l _____kl
• 10) 130 dag ______ kg

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Try on metric calculator

• metric converter