How to Do Conversions

In the next screens, you are asked to convert between units of length.

To convert from a larger unit to a smaller unit

  1. Find by how many times the larger unit is bigger than the smaller unit
  2. Multiply the larger unit by this number


To convert from a smaller unit to a larger unit

  1. Find by how many times the smaller unit is less than the larger unit
  2. Divide the smaller unit by this number
Example
Convert 5.6 centimetres to micrometres.

1 cm = 10-2 m
1 µm = 10-6 m

1 cm is 10-2 times ie 104 times larger than 1 micrometre
10-6
Thus: 5.6 cm = 5.6 x 104 mm = 56000 mm
Click to Continue
Example
Convert 70 millimetres to decimetres.

1 mm = 10-3 m
1 dm = 10-1 m

1 millimetre is 10-1 times ie 102 times smaller than a decimetre
10-3
Thus: 70 mm = 70 / 102dm = 0.7dm
Click to Continue