Converting Metric Measurements

• The metric system is very easy to convert because it is based on 10. One meter is made up of centimeters the same way a foot is made of inches, but the numbers are much easier to remember with metric measurements. There are 100 centimeters to a meter. Similarly a centimeter can be broken down to millimeters. There are 10 millimeters in a centimeter. One kilometer is made of 1,000 meters. These prefixes -- milli, centi, kilo -- are used in all metric measurements exactly the same way. One liter is 100 centiliters, one centiliter is 10 milliliters, and one kiloliter is 1,000 liters.
  
  

Converting to Imperial Measurements

• Rulers sometimes measure in both inches and centimeters.Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  The metric system was intended to replace the imperial system, which it has done successfully in every industrialized nation except the United States. Because it was not meant to coexist with imperial measurements, converting between the two systems is sometimes complicated. One kilometer is slightly more than half of a mile, for example. It is 5/8 of a mile to be more precise. A kilogram is 2.2 liters. One meter is 39.37 inches. These fractional differences can make conversion difficult.
  
  

Measurement Functions

• Different measurements can only be used in specific circumstances. Measurements used to calculate weight cannot be used to measure height. As such, some measurements cannot be converted to other measurements. Liters cannot be converted into grams, and inches cannot be converted into liters. There are some measurements that seem to be an exception, such as ounces. Ounces can be converted into cups and into pounds. That is because there are two different measurements called ounces. One measures volume and the other measures weight.
  
  

Temperature

• Thermometers often give temperatures in multiple formats.Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  There are two scales for measuring temperature within the metric system and one in the imperial system. Measuring temperature in degrees Fahrenheit is using the imperial system. Metric countries typically measure temperature in degrees Celsius. Scientists using the metric system will more often measure temperature in kelvins, a system similar to Celsius except that while the Celsius scale measures from 0 at waters freezing point to 100 at its boiling point, the kelvin scale stretches down to absolute zero. This means that 0 kelvins is -273.15 degrees Celsius and 0 degrees Celsius is 273.15 kelvins. Converting to Fahrenheit is more complex and requires multiplying the temperature in Celsius by 1.8 and adding 32. To convert back, subtract 32 and divide by 1.8.