SI - The Metrics International System of Units: Conversion Symbols
SI - The Metrics International System of Units: Conversion Symbols
SI - The Metrics International System of Units: Conversion Symbols
SI provides a logical and interconnected framework for all measurements in science, industry, and commerce. The
metric system is much simpler to use than the existing English system since all its units of measurement are
divisible by 10.
Conversion Factors
The following list provides the conversion relationship between U.S. customary units and SI (International System )
units. The proper conversion procedure is to multiply the specified value on the left (primarily U.S. customary
values) by the conversion factor exactly as given below and then round to the appropriate number of significant
digits desired. For example, to convert 11.4 ft to meters: 11.4 X 0.3048 = 3.47472, which rounds to 3.47 meters. Do
not round either value before performing the multiplication, as accuracy would be reduced.
Conversion Symbols
The prefixes and symbols listed below are commonly used to form names and symbols of the decimal multiples and
sub multiples of the SI units.
AS USED IN THE METRIC
STANDARD ITEM TABLE EQUIVALENT
CUBIC YARD cubic meter (m3)
GALLON/MGALLON liter (L), cubic meter (m3)
HUNDRED WEIGHT kilogram (kg)
LINEAR FOOT meter (m)
MBOARD FEET cubic meter (m3)
MILE kilometer (km)
NAUTICAL MILE Nautical Mile
POUND kilogram (kg) for mass
newton (N) for force
SQUARE FOOT square meter (m2)
SQUARE YARD square meter (m2)
TON tonne (t)
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT METRIC
USED IN SPECIAL PROVISIONS EQUIVALENT
AND GENERAL SPECIAL PROVISIONS
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GAGE;GAUGE METAL THICKNESS gage (mm)
FAHRENHEIT TEMPERATURE kelvin (K) or degree Celsius (C)
FATHOM WATER DEPTH meter (m)
FOOT/LBS TORQUE newton-meter (N-m)
LBS/SQ. IN PRESSURES kilopascal (kPa)
megapascal (MPa)
(if very large number)
LBS/SQ. FT kilopascal (kPa)
LBS/SQ YD kilopascal (kPa)
INCH LINEAR millimeter (mm)
KIPS;KSI TENSION kilopascal (kPa) or
megapascal (MPa)
LBS/CU. FT. DENSITY kilogram per cubic meter (kg/m3)
MIL THICKNESS micrometer (um)
FT. LBS./SEC. HORSE POWER watt (W)
Power
horsepower (hp) watt (W) 745.6999 E
(550 ft-lb/sec)
Velocity
mile per hour (mph) kilometer per hour(km/hr) 1.60934
mile per hour (mph) meter per second (m/s) 0.44704
Permeability
darcy centimeter per 0.000968
second (cm/sec)
feet per day (ft/day) centimeter per 0.000352
second (cm/sec)
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*indicates that the factor given is exact.
**One U.S. gallon equals 0.8327 Canadian gallon.
t--A pascal equals 1.000 newton per square meter.
Note:
One U.S. gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds (U.S.) at 60 degrees F.
One cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds (U.S.).
One milliliter of water has a mass of 1 gram and has a volume of one cubic
centimeter.
One U.S. bag of cement weighs 94 lbs.
Mass lb kg 0.4536
kip (1000 lb) metric ton (1000kg) 0.4536
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* 4 significant digits
**denotes exact conversion
Since few, if any, pipe products have actual dimensions that are in even, round inch-pound numbers, there is no
need to convert them to even, round metric numbers. Instead, only their names will change--from inch-pound to
metric. Pipe cross sections will not change. Fittings, flanges, couplings, valves, and other piping components will be
renamed in like manner as will pipe threads. Here are the inch-pound names for pipe products (called NPS or
"nominal pipe size") and their metric equivalents (called DN or "diameter nominal"). The metric names conform to
International Standards Organization (ISO) usage and apply to all plumbing, natural gas, heating oil, drainage, and
miscellaneous piping used in buildings and civil works projects.
NPS DN NPS DN
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1/8" 6 mm 8" 200 mm
3/16" 7 mm 10" 250 mm
1/4" 8 mm 12" 300 mm
3/8" 10 mm 14" 350 mm
1/2" 15 mm 16" 400 mm
5/8" 18 mm 18" 450 mm
3/4" 20 mm 20" 500 mm
1" 25 mm 24" 600 mm
1-1/4" 32 mm 28" 700 mm
1-1/2" 40 mm 30" 750 mm
2" 50 mm 32" 800 mm
2-1/2" 65 mm 36" 900 mm
3" 80 mm 40" 1000 mm
3-1/2" 90 mm 44" 1100 mm
4" 100 mm 48" 1200 mm
4-1/2" 115 mm 52" 1300 mm
5" 125 mm 56" 1400 mm
6" 150 mm 60" 1500 mm
**(For pipe over 60 inches, use 1 inch equals 25 mm)
CONVERSION FACTORS
Length Area
12 inches = 1 foot 144 sq. inches = 1 square foot
3 feet = 1 yard 9 sq. feet = 1 square yard
220 yards = 1 furlong 4840 sq. yards = 1 acre
8 furlongs = 1 mile 640 acres = 1 square mile
5280 feet = 1 mile 1 sq.mile = 1 section
1760 yards = 1 mile 36 sections = 1 township
Volume
1728 cu. inches = 1 cubic foot
27 cu. feet = 1 cubic yard
Mass
437.5 grains = 1 ounce Troy Weights
16 ounces = 1 pound (7000 grains) 24 grains = 1 pennyweight
14 pounds = 1 stone 20 pennyweights = 1 ounce (480 grains)
100 pounds = 1 hundredweight [cwt] 12 ounces = 1 pound (5760 grains)
20 cwt = 1 ton (2000 pounds)
metres [m] 1
AREA
square metres 1
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--
VOLUME
litres [l or L] 1
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-
MASS
kilograms [kg] 1
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DENSITY
kilograms/litre 1
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-
ENERGY
British thermal units(IT)x 1055.056
Btu (th) x 1054.350
Btu (mean) x 1055.87
calories - cal (IT) x 4.1868 #
- cal (th) x 4.184 #
- cal (mean) x 4.190 02
- cal (15C) x 4.185 80
- cal (20C) x 4.181 90
Calorie (food) x 4186 (approx.)
centigrade heat units x 1900.4
ergs divide by 10 000 000 #
foot pounds-force x 1.355 818
foot poundals x 0.042 140
gigajoules [GJ] x 1000 000 000 #
horsepower hours x 2 684 520 (approx.)
joules [J] 1
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-
FORCE
newtons [N] 1
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To change into
miles per gallon (UK) miles per gallon (US) multiply by 0.833
miles per gallon (UK) miles per litre multiply by 0.22
miles per litre miles per gallon (UK) multiply by 4.546
miles per gallon (UK) kilometres per litre multiply by 0.354
miles per gallon (US) miles per gallon (UK) multiply by 1.2
miles per gallon (US) miles per litre multiply by 0.2642
miles per litre miles per gallon (US) multiply by 3.785
miles per gallon (US) kilometres per litre multiply by 0.4251
X miles per gallon (UK) litres per 100 km: divide 282.5 by X
X miles per gallon (US) litres per 100 km: divide 235.2 by X
X km per litre litres per 100 km: divide 100 by X
X miles per litre litres per 100 km: divide 62.14 by X
POWER
watts [W] 1
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PRESSURE
pascals [Pa] 1
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--
SPEED
metres/second [m/s] 1
miles/hour x 0.447 04 #
miles/minute x 26.8224 #
miles/second x 1609.344 #
yards/hour divide by 3937
yards/minute x 0.015 24 #
yards/second x 0.9144 #
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TORQUE
dyne centimetres divide by 10 000 000 #
gram-force centimetres x 0.000 098 066 5 #
kg-force centimetres x 0.098 066 5 #
kg-force metres x 9.806 65 #
newton centimetres divide by 100 #