Subject: Mathematics Year 8

Strand: Measure
Unit 4 Length, mass and capacity
Worksheet No.: W4
Term, Year: Term 2, 2019/2020
Name: Class: Date:

1. Learning objectives:
ˆ Choose suitable units of measurement to estimate, calculate and solve problems in everyday contexts,
including units of mass, length, area, volume or capacity.
ˆ Know that distances in the USA, the UK and some other countries are measured in miles, and that
5
one kilometre is about of a mile.
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2. READING SCALES
There are many instruments which are used for measuring. They usually have a scale marked on them.
We are all familiar with a ruler for measuring lengths. Rulers have a scale marked in both millimetres
and centimetres.

Haese & Harris MYP 1 Chapter 12 Measurement Exercise 12B Page 220

1. Read the following ruler measurements:

2. Read the temperatures (in °C) for the following thermometers:

3. Read the following fuel gauges:

4. Read as accurately as possible, the speeds on the following:

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 5. Find the weights, in kilograms, shown by the following bathroom scales:

6. Find the quantity of fluid (in mL) in the following jugs:

3. LENGTH

ˆ A length is a measure of the distance between two points.

ˆ Conversion diagram

Haese & Harris MYP 2 Chapter 9 Length and area Exercise 9A.1 Page 176

1. Give the unit you would use to measure:

(a) the length of a paper clip .mm

. . . . or
. . . cm
.... (d) the width of an A4 paper . . . . .cm
.......
(b) the height of a flagpole m
............ (e) the length of a bee mm
............
(c) the length of a journey by train . . . . km
........ (f) the length of a swimming pool . . . . .m
.......

2. Choose the correct answer.

(a) The width of a driveway would be:

A 3 cm B 3m C 30 m D 300 mm

(b) The length of an ant would be:

A 4 km B 40 cm C 4 mm D 400 m

(c) The distance from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok would be:

A 150 000 m B 15 cm C 150 mm D 1500 km

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 4. MASS

ˆ The mass of an object is the amount of matter it contains.

ˆ Be careful not to confuse mass with weight, although in everyday use they are often interchanged.
In fact, they have different meaning. The mass of an object is constant; it is the same no matter
where the object is. In contrast, the weight of an object is the force upon it due to gravity. For this
reason, an object will have less weight on the moon than on the earth although the mass remains
the same.

The weight of an object depends on its distance from the Earth’s centre. The Earth is not a perfect
sphere. It is fatter around its equator than at its poles. This means that you would weigh more at
the North Pole than you would at the equator.
ˆ Conversion diagram

Haese & Harris MYP 1 Chapter 12 Measurement Exercise 12F Page 229

1. Give the units you would use to measure the mass of:

(a) a person . . . . . kg
........ (d) a desktop . . . . . kg
........ (g) a buldozer . . . . . .t. . . . . . .
(b) a ship . . . . . .t. . . . . . . (e) an orange . . . . . .g. . . . . . . (h) a leaf . . . . .mg
........
(c) an iPhone XR . . . . . .g. . . . . . . (f) a capsule . . . . .mg
........ (i) an adult cat . . . . . kg
........

5. CAPACITY

ˆ The capacity of a container is a measure of the amount of fluid it can contain.

ˆ Volume and capacity are very similar terms. The word capacity is usually used when referring to
either a liquid or gas.
ˆ Conversion diagram

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Haese & Harris MYP 1 Chapter 19 Area, volume and capacity Exercise 19F Pages 366 & 367

1. What units of capacity are most suitable for measuring:

(a) a perfume bottle . . . . . . . . .ml

.......... (d) a reservoir . . . . . . . . .Ml
..........
(b) a thermos flask . . . . . . . . . .or
ml . . .l. . . . . . (e) a drinking glass ml
...................
(c) an Olympic pool . . . . . . . . .kl
.......... (f) household water use . . . . . . . . .kl
..........

Haese & Harris MYP 2 Chapter 11 Further measurement Exercise 11C.1 Page 218

1. A small ‘shot’ glass for measuring spirits would most likely have a capacity of:

A 3L B 30 mL C 3 mL D 3 kL E 30 L

2. An Olympic-size swimming pool would most likely have a capacity of:

A 2500 mL B 2500 ML C 25 000 L D 2500 kL E 250 kL

3. A standard bucket would most likely have a capacity of:

A 1000 mL B 100 L C 10 L D 100 mL E 1 kL

6. SOLVING PROBLEMS INVOLVING MEASUREMENTS

To solve problems involving measurements, you must know how to convert between the metric units.
You also need to know how to convert between units of time.

Cambridge Checkpoint Mathematics Coursebook 9 Exercise 4.1 Page 35

1. A pink gold bracelet weights 60 g. It is made from 76% gold, 18% copper and 6% aluminium.

(a) What is the mass of the gold in the bracelet?

. . . . . . .45.6
. . . .g. . . . . . . .
(b) What is the mass of the copper in the bracelet?

. . . . . . .10.8
. . . .g. . . . . . . .
2. A bottle of medicine holds 0.45 L. The instructions on the bottle of medicine say: ‘Take two 5 mL
spoonfuls three times a day’. How many days will a full bottle of medicine last?

. . . . . .15
. . .days
..........

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3. Some instructions for the time it takes to roast a turkey are: ‘allow 20 minutes for every 450 g’. How
long will it take to roast a turkey that weighs 6.3 kg? Give your answer in hours.

2
. . . . . . . 4. .3. .h. . . . . . . .
5. Paolo is building a brick wall. So far, the wall has five layers of bricks. Each brick is 7.5 cm high. The
layers of mortar between the bricks are 15 mm thick.

(a) Work out the total height of the wall, in centimetres.

. . . . . .43.5
. . . . cm
.........
(b) How many more layers of bricks does Paolo need, for the wall to reach a total height of at least
0.7 m?

. . . . . .3. .layers
...........
6. Ismail orders some logs for his open fire. The mass of one log is 2 kg. There are 5 logs in each bag. Ismail
orders 150 bags.

(a) What is the total mass of the logs Ismail orders? Give your answer in tonnes.

. . . . . . . 1.5
. . . .t. . . . . . . .
(b) What is the total amount that Ismail pays for the logs?

. . . . . .$433.50
.............

7. THE IMPERIAL AND METRIC SYSTEMS

ˆ There are two main systems for measuring length, mass and capacity, the Imperial System of
Measurement and the Metric System of Measurement.

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 ˆ A long time ago, Egyptians decided to measure using body parts. They used a foot to measure
a foot, a thumb to measure an inch and the distance from your nose to your outstretched thumb
to measure a yard. They also decided a cup was whatever amount of water you could cup in your
hand. They came up with measurements for other things too, like weight, temperature, and liquid
volume. This lasted for many years, but eventually they discovered a problem: everyone’s thumbs
and feet were different sizes. They decided to make these measurements the same for everyone.
They marked them on an iron rod so they wouldn’t forget what they had decided. That is called
the imperial system, and the United States is one of the three countries that still uses it today.
ˆ The Metric System, developed in France in 1789, is now used more commonly throughout the
world. The advantage of this system is that it uses powers of ten for different sizes. The basic unit
for length is the metre (m) and for mass it is the kilogram (kg). Other smaller and larger units are
named by using prefixes like kilo, milli and centi. This system of units is now known as Le Système
International d’Unités or SI system.
ˆ It’s useful to know the rough conversions between imperial and metric measurements. A guide is
shown below:
Imperial Metric
1 inch just over 2.5 cm
1 foot just over 30 cm
1 yard just over 0.9 m
1 mile just over 1.6 km
1 ounce about 30 g
1 pound almost 0.5 kg
1 stone about 6.5 kg
1 pint just over 0.5 L
1 gallon just over 4.5 L

8. KILOMETRES AND MILES

ˆ When dealing with conversions between miles and kilometres, it is important to remember which is
the larger and which is the smaller unit.
ˆ 1 mile ≈ 1.6 or 8
5 kilometres; 1 mile is longer than 1 kilometre.
ˆ 1 kilometre ≈ 0.625 or 5
8 miles; 1 kilometre is shorter than 1 mile.
ˆ To convert a distance in kilometres to a distance in miles, multiply by 58 .
ˆ To convert a distance in miles to a distance in kilometres, multiply by 85 .

8 km ≈ 5 miles

Cambridge Checkpoint Mathematics Coursebook 8 Exercise 4.2 Pages 47 & 48

1. Write down true (T) or false (F) for each of these statements.

(a) 15 miles is further than 15 km. . . . . . . . . .T. . . . . . . . . .

(b) 100 km is exactly the same distance as 100 miles. . . . . . . . . .F. . . . . . . . . .
(c) 2.5 km is further than 2.5 miles. . . . . . . . . .F. . . . . . . . . .
(d) 6 km is not as far as 6 miles. . . . . . . . . .T. . . . . . . . . .
(e) In one hour, a car travelling at 70 miles per hour will go a shorter distance than a car travelling at
70 kilometers per hour. . . . . . . . . .F. . . . . . . . . .

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 2. Tanesha says, “My brother lives 35 km from my house. My sister lives 35 miles from my house. I live
closer to my brother than to my sister. Is Tanesha correct? Explain your answer. Show your working.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . .≈
. . .km . . .21.875
. . . . . . .miles.
. . . . . . .Yes,
. . . . .a. .kilometre
. . . . . . . . . . .is. .shorter
. . . . . . . . than
. . . . . .a. .mile.
...........................
7. Which is further 104 km or 70 miles? Show your working.

. . . . . 70
. . . .miles
..........
8. Which is further 90 miles or 152 km? Show your working.

. . . . . .152
. . . .km
.........
10. Every car in the USA is fitted with a mileometer. The mileometer shows the total distance that a car
has travelled. Evan is a salesman. This is the reading on his mileometer at the start of one week: 125465
miles. This is the reading on his mileometer at the end of the week: 126335 miles.
(a) How many kilometres has Evan travelled in this week?

Approximately
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1392
. . . . . .km
(b) Evan is paid 20 cents for each kilometre he travels. This is to pay for the petrol he uses. Work out
the amount Evan is paid this week for the petrol he uses. Give your answer to the nearest dollar.

. . . . . . .$278
............

Cambridge Checkpoint Mathematics Practice book 8 Exercise 4.2 Page 10

10. Every car in the USA has a mileometer. The mileometer shows the total distance that a car has travelled.
When Johannes bought a used car, the mileometer read: 008935 miles. Johannes paid $13 995 for the
car. When Johannes wanted to sell the car, the mileometer read: 045405 miles. Johannes has been told
that the value of his car will drop by about 5 cents for every kilometre he drives. How much money
should Johannes expect to get for his car?

. . . . $11
. . . . 077.40
...........
-THE END-

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