Metric System Revised

The metric system is a decimal-based system of measurement used globally. It's built on a set of base units and prefixes that represent multiples or fractions of those units.

The Base Units

The fundamental building blocks of the metric system are the seven base units:

• Meter (m) for length 📏
• Kilogram (kg) for mass ⚖️
• Second (s) for time ⏱️
• Ampere (A) for electric current ⚡
• Kelvin (K) for temperature 🌡️
• Mole (mol) for amount of substance 🧪
• Candela (cd) for luminous intensity 💡

Metric Prefixes: Tera to Pico

The prefixes are key to the metric system. They indicate a power of ten and are added to a base unit to make it larger or smaller.

Large Units (Multiples)

• Tera (T): 1012 (one trillion)
• Giga (G): 109 (one billion)
• Mega (M): 106 (one million)
• Kilo (k): 103 (one thousand)
• Hecto (h): 102 (one hundred)
• Deca (da): 101 (ten)

Small Units (Fractions)

• Deci (d): 10−1 (one-tenth)
• Centi (c): 10−2 (one-hundredth)
• Milli (m): 10−3 (one-thousandth)
• Micro (µ): 10−6 (one-millionth)
• Nano (n): 10−9 (one-billionth)
• Pico (p): 10−12 (one-trillionth)

How to Convert

Converting between metric units is straightforward. You just move the decimal point based on the difference in the exponents of the prefixes.

• To convert to a smaller unit, move the decimal to the right.
  • Example: To convert 2 meters to centimeters, you move the decimal two places to the right (because centi is 10−2): 2 m=200 cm.
• To convert to a larger unit, move the decimal to the left.
  • Example: To convert 5,000 grams to kilograms, you move the decimal three places to the left (because kilo is 103): 5,000 g=5 kg.