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Conversion of Units

conversion unidades

Uploaded by

Juan S. Rivas
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© © All Rights Reserved
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11 views

Conversion of Units

conversion unidades

Uploaded by

Juan S. Rivas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Conversion of units

Example:
Give the following density in units of the IS
𝑔
13′6
𝑐𝑚3

Steps:

1) Identify the initial units we want to convert, and the final units we want to get

𝑔 𝑘𝑔
The problem gives us . As we are required to give it in units of the IS, we must transform them into
𝑐𝑚3 𝑐𝑚3

2) Identify how many units we want to convert

𝑔
Problem: That is, 2 units. Grams and cubic centimetres.
𝑐𝑚3

3) Multiply the initial data by as many fractions as units we want to convert:


𝑔
13′6 · ·
𝑐𝑚3

4) Each fraction will convert one of the units. If the initial mass unit was in the upper side of the fraction, the
new mass unit has to be also in the upper side. If the initial volume unit (cubic centimetres) was in the down
side of the fraction, the new volume unit has to be also in the down side.

𝑔 𝑘𝑔
13′6 · ·
𝑐𝑚3 𝑚3

5) If we want to get rid of the initial units, we have to write them in the opposite position.
𝑔 𝑘𝑔 𝑐𝑚3
13′6 · ·
𝑐𝑚3 𝑔 𝑚3

6) Now we must look into the fractions, and look for the biggest, the initial or the final one. In this case, the
kilogram is bigger than the gram, and the cubic meter is bigger than the cubic centimetre. Therefore, we
place a 1 multiplying each of said “big units”:

𝑔 1 · 𝑘𝑔 𝑐𝑚3
13′6 · ·
𝑐𝑚3 𝑔 1 · 𝑚3

7) Now we complete each of the fractions by reasoning how many “small units” fit into 1 of the “big units”. In
this case, we know that 1 kg is made of 1000 g, and that 1 cubic meter is made of 1 000 000 cubic
centimetres (as they add 3 zeros for each step we go down, don’t forget).

𝑔 1 · 𝑘𝑔 1 000 000 · 𝑐𝑚3


13′6 · ·
𝑐𝑚3 1000 · 𝑔 1 · 𝑚3
8) We can cancel the units that appear both in the upper side and in the down side of the fractions, just as we
usually do with repeated numbers (because the result remains the same if we multiply by a quantity and
then divide by the same quantity). DO NOT THINK THE REMAINING NUMBERS STILL HOLD ANY
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITS THEY WERE ACCOMPANYING. They are just numbers now.

𝑔 1 · 𝑘𝑔 1 000 000 · 𝑐𝑚3 1 · 𝑘𝑔 1 000 000


13′6 · · = 13′6 · ·
𝑐𝑚3 1000 · 𝑔 1 · 𝑚3 1000 1 · 𝑚3

9) We must now gather all the numbers in the left side of the expression, and all the units in the right side of
the expression. Remember that this is a product of fractions. Therefore, all the numerators will multiply, and
all the denominators will divide in the final expression.

1 000 000 𝑘𝑔
13′6 · ·
1000 𝑚3

10) Finally, we conduct the multiplications and division and we get the final expression we were asked for:

1 000 000 𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
13′ 6 · · = 13′ 6 · 1000 · = 13600 3
1000 𝑚3 𝑚 3 𝑚

𝒈 𝒌𝒈
𝟏𝟑′ 𝟔 = 𝟏𝟑𝟔𝟎𝟎
𝒄𝒎𝟑 𝒎𝟑

Note: Remember than units may have different multiples when converting.

Thus:

1 hour = 60 minutes = 3600 seconds

1 L = 1 dm3 = 1000 cm3

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