Name: ____________________________________ Section: ________

Metric Conversions

Metric Conversions Worksheet I

T tera- 1 000 000 000 000 1012
move the decimal to

G giga- 1 000 000 000 109

Going up the table

M mega- 1 000 000 106

k kilo- 1 000 103 These are the metric units.
102 The letter in the first column
the left

h hecto- 100
D deka 10 101 is used as the prefix before
the unit. Some common
NO PREFIX ( UNIT) 1 100 types of units are: grams
Going down the table
move the decimal to

(g), meters (m), liters (L),

d deci 0.1 10-1 joules (J), seconds (s),
c centi- 0.01 10-2 and bytes (B).
m milli- 0.001 10-3
the right

μ micro- 0.000001 10-6

n nano- 0.000000001 10-9

When working in the metric system it is helpful to use a “metric map.” This metric map will enable
you to successfully convert your units.

Units
Liters
Tera Giga Mega Kilo Hecto Deka Meters deci centi milli micro nano
Grams
Joules
Seconds
Bytes

indicates that there is a difference of three steps/decimal places/zeros to get from one prefix to the next.
indicates that there is a difference of only one step/decimal place/zero to get from one prefix to the next.

EXAMPLES

1.0 kg = ? mg kilo and milli differ by six steps/decimal places/zeros;

kilo Æ milli is going to the right on the “map”;
1.0 kg = 1 000 000 mg therefore move the decimal six places to the right

Kilo Hecto Deka Unit deci centi milli

Grams

2.3 cm = ? m centi and no prefix (unit) differ by two

steps/decimal places/zeros; centi Æ no prefix
2.3 cm = 0.023 m (unit) is going to the left on the “map”; therefore move
the decimal two places to the left

Kilo Hecto Deka Unit deci centi milli

Meters
 From To Difference Move decimal
in zeros/ left or right?
prefix unit prefix unit decimal
places/steps

km kilo meters m no prefix meters 3 right

Mg Gg

mL L

kJ mJ

μs ms

B kB

cm mm

cL μL

PROBLEMS

1. Convert the following to grams (g):

Difference Move to
Before in zeros/ After
decimal
left or
converting converting
places/steps right?

1.0 kg g

2.5 kg g

0.045 kg g

100 mg g

2400 mg g
2. Convert the following to meters (m):

Difference Move to
Before in zeros/ After
decimal
left or
converting converting
places/steps right?

4 mm m

15.6 km m

0.005 Mm m

1,000,000 μm m

2400 mm m

3. Convert the following to kiloliters (kL):

Difference Move to
Before in zeros/ After
decimal
left or
converting converting
places/steps right?

1600 L kL

2050 cL kL

5000 mL kL

kL
1.5 HL

0.003 µL kL
Name: ____________________________________ Section: ________
Metric Conversions

Metric Conversions Worksheet II

1. Convert the following to km:

1600.0 m = _______ 2050 cm = _______ 1.033 Mm = _______

245 565 mm = _______ 20 099 m = _______ 499 m = _______

2. Convert the following:

10.034 mJ = _______________ cJ 36.45 cL = ______________ μL

0.05 cm = ______________ mm 1024 B = ______________ kB

0.0325 kJ = ______________ cJ 1202.5 mL = ______________ L

0.42101 Gg = ______________ Mg 25.5 km = ______________ m

0.12907 cm = _____________ mm 756 900 μs = ______________ ms

5600.4 Ms = _____________ Gs 268 000 cm = ______________ km

Name: ____________________________________ Section: ________
Metric Conversions

Metric Conversions Worksheet III

Convert the following:

0.0075 Gm = _______________ km 0.00091 TL = ______________ ML

0.00046 ks = ______________ cs 244475.3 μs = ______________ hs

4096 MB = ______________ GB 210 hm = ______________ cm

0.0002 μg = ______________ mg 448.5 cg = ______________ g

0.00034 μL = ______________ cL 2103.55 s = ______________ ks

11120.33 ng = ______________ cg 0.0000012 GL = ______________ cL

Word Problems
1. The distance from your home to the airport is 0.0000075 Gm. How far is this in km?

2. There are 10 computers in the computer lab that each have 20 GB hard drives. How many bytes
(B) of disk space do we have in the computer lab in total.

3. A challenge: convert 100125368477004 ng to Teragrams.