Activity 3.

3 Unit Conversion Answer Key

Introduction
Engineers of all disciplines are constantly required to work with measurements of a
variety of quantities – length, area, volume, mass, force, time, temperature, electric
current, etc. It is often necessary to be able to express those measurements in
different units. For example, when designing a water distribution piping system, it is
important to know how much water pressure is lost as the fluid flows through the
pipe. The pressure loss depends on the length of the pipe which is often measured
in miles. One formula that is sometimes used to calculate pressure loss requires that
the pipe length be input in feet. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to convert miles
to feet.

In other situations you may be forced to work between the SI and U S Customary
measurement systems. Say, for example, that as a U S company, your product is
manufactured and produced based on U S Customary units. However, a European
company would like a proposal to incorporate your system into their existing
assembly line, the characteristics of which are based on SI units. You must be able
to convert between the two systems in order to provide a proposal for a design
which includes your company’s U S product.

In this activity you will convert measurements among units in both the U S
Customary System and the SI system, and you will convert quantities between the
two systems of measurement. You will also gain experience with converting units
among units that are not specific to one measurement system (such as people and
tanks of water) and use the skills you learn to solve everyday problems (such as
calculating the cost of gas to travel a given distance).

Equipment
 Engineering notebook
 Pencil
 Ruler – U S Customary and metric
 Tape measure
 PLTW Engineering Formula Sheet

Procedure
Complete each of the following. When a calculation is required, show your work.

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Introduction to Engineering Design Activity 3.2 Unit Conversion Answer Key – Page 1
1. Convert each of the following quantities to the indicated units. Use the
appropriate number of significant figures to express your answer unless
directed otherwise.
a. 6.30 yards to feet.

6.30 yd (31 ftyd ) = 18.9 ft

b. 0.55 feet to inches.

0.55 ft (121 ftin. ) = 6.6 in.

c. 4.567 trillion (4,567,000,000,000) meters to Gigameters.

4,567,000,000 , 000
( 1 Gm
9
10 m )
= 4567 Gm

d. 14520 liters to milliliters. Report to the nearest hundredth of a liter.

14 , 520 ,000 mL
e. 43 thousand microseconds to seconds. Report to the nearest thousandth of a
second.

( )
-6
10 s
43000 μ m = 0.043 s
1 μs
f. 9 ft – 2 ½ in. to inches..
1
9 ft - 2 in. = 9 ft
2 1 ft(
12 in. 1
) 1
+ 2 in. = 110 in. or 110.5 in
2 2
g. 3 ft – 5 inches to decimal feet. Report to the nearest hundredth of a foot.

3 ft - 5 in. = 3 ft + 5 in. (11 2ft in. ) = 3.42 ft

h. 59.2 cm to inches.

59.2cm ( 12.54in. cm ) = 23.3 in.

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Introduction to Engineering Design Activity 3.2 Unit Conversion Answer Key – Page 2
i. 5.174 kg to lb.

5.174 kg (2.205
1 kg
lb
)= 11.409
j. 3.20 yards to inches.

3.20d (31 ftyd )(121 ftin. ) = 115 in.

k. 350.0 billion nanoliters to decaliters.

( )( )
-9
10 L 1 dL
350,000,000,000 nL 1
= 35.00 dL
1 nL 10 L
2. A village on a Caribbean island was devastated by a hurricane. The supply of
fresh water was contaminated when the storm surge washed over the island,
inundating the wells. Several tanks of fresh water were delivered to the
village. Each tank contains 10.5 hectoliters of water.
a. How many liters of water does each tank contain?

( )
2
10 L
10.5 hL = 1050 L
1 hL
b. On any given day, one person needs an average of 2.5 liters of water to
survive. How many people will a tank supply for the day? Hint: Create a
conversion factor to convert from liters to people.

1050 L (12.5person/day
L ) = 420 people/day
c. If the village (which includes people and livestock) requires a total of 430 liters
of water each day, approximately how long (in days) will one tank provide an
adequate supply for the village? Give your answer to the nearest tenth of a
day. Hint: Create a conversion factor to convert form liters to days.

1050 L (1430dayL ) = 2.4 days

d. Convert the result to days and hours. Give your answer to the nearest hour.

2.44 days = 2 days + 0.44 days (241 dayhours ) = 2 days + 11 hours

or 58 – 59 hours hours
3. It is 3.67 miles to your grandparents’ home.
a. If you can walk 4 miles in one hour, how long will it take for you to walk to
your grandparents’ home? Express your answer in decimal hours and then
convert the time to minutes (to the nearest minute).

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Introduction to Engineering Design Activity 3.2 Unit Conversion Answer Key – Page 3
 3.67 mi (14.0h mi ) = 0.92 h
Hours: 0.92 hours

0.92 h (601 hmin ) = 55 min

Minutes: 55 minutes

b. If your average stride length is 2.6 feet, how many strides will it take you to
walk to your grandparents’ home? Hint: You will need two conversion factors.

3.67 mi (5280
1.0 mi )( 2.6 ft )
ft 1 stride
= 7453 strides

c. If you ride your bike at an average speed of 15 mph, how long will it take you
to ride to your grandparents’ home? Express your answer in hours (to the
nearest hundredth of an hour). Convert to minutes (to the nearest minute).

3.67 mi (15h mi ) = 0.24 h

0.24 h (601 hmin ) = 14 min
d. If the circumference of each wheel on your bicycle is 82.6 inches, how many
revolutions of a bicycle wheel will it take to get to your grandparents’ home?
Give your answer to the nearest revolution. Hint: You need to convert miles to
inches and create a conversion factor to convert inches to revolutions of a
wheel.

3.67 mi (5280
mi )( 1 ft )(82.6 in. ) = 2815 rev.
ft 12 in. 1 rev.

4. Measure the size of your desk (length, width, and height) using a tape
measure. Record the measurement in feet and inches, and then convert the
measurements to decimal feet and decimal inches. Answer will vary.

Measurement Feet-inches Decimal feet Decimal inches

width
height
depth

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Introduction to Engineering Design Activity 3.2 Unit Conversion Answer Key – Page 5
 5. Measure and record additional items in your classroom and then convert each
measurement to an alternate unit as directed by your instructor.
Answers will vary.
Object Description of Original Original Converted Converted
Measurement Measurement Measurement Measurement Measurement
Units Units
room length x width 25’-6” x 30’-0” ft-in. 7.77 x 9.15 m
CD diameter 4 5/8 in. 11.75 cm

6. Many track and field events are measured in metric units.

a. In the long jump, if you can jump 5.92 meters, what is your jump length in
feet? In yards?

5.92 m
( ) 2.54 cm 12 in. ) = 19.42 ft
(
1 cm1 in.
-2
10 m )( 1 ft

19.42 ft (
3 ft )
1 yd
= 6.47 yd

b. How many yards must you run to complete a 100 meter dash?

100 .0 m
( 1 cm
-2
10 m () 12.54in. cm )(112ftin. )( 13 ydft ) = 109.4 yd
c. The women’s world record high jump is 6 feet, 10 ¼ inches. What is the
record in meters? Record your answer to the nearest hundredth of a meter.

6 ft - 10
1
4
in. = 6 ft + 10.25 in.
1 ft
12 in. (
= 6.85 ft )
( )( )( )
-2
12 in. 2.54 cm 10 m
6.85 ft = 2.09 m
1 ft 1 in. 1 cm
d. How many meters is equivalent to a mile? Give your answer to the nearest
meter.

( )( )( )( )
-2
5280 ft 12 in. 2.54 cm 10 m
1 mi = 1609 m
1 mi 1 ft 1 in. 1 cm
Alternatively,

1 mi ( 5280
1 mi )(3.28 ft )
ft 1 m
= 1610 m

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Introduction to Engineering Design Activity 3.2 Unit Conversion Answer Key – Page 6
 e. What is the length of a marathon (26.2 miles) in kilometers?

26.2 mi ( 5280
1 mi )( 3.28 ft 1000 m )
ft 1 m
)( 1 km
= 42.2 km

7. A European car manufacturer reports that the fuel efficiency of the new MicroCar
is 28.5 km/L highway and 22.0 km/L city. What are the equivalent fuel efficiency
rates in miles per gal?

28.5 (
km 0.621 mi
L 1 km )(10.264
L
gal ) = 67.0
mi
gal
= 67.0 mpg highway

22.0 (
km 0.621 mi
L 1 km )(10.264
L
gal ) = 51.8
mi
gal
= 51.8 mpg city

If gas costs $3.50 per gal, how much would it cost to drive 500 miles in the city in
this car (assuming the fuel efficiency rating is accurate)?

500 mi ( 151.8galmi )($3.50

1 gal )
= $33.78

Conclusion
1. Why is important to be able to convert measurements?

2. How do you convert measurements?

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