How to Convert Metrics

A vast majority of the world, including Europe, uses the metric system. Unfortunately, the United States does not and this can create problems when exchanging quantities of goods or materials. Fortunately, once you know the conversion factor, you can execute a simple formula to compute metric quantities into imperial quantities. In addition, each metric unit of measurement has three main components that can be easily converted among each other (e.g., milligrams, grams and kilograms).

Instructions

1

Determine the quantity of what you are measuring using the metric unit. For example, measure the length of something in centimeters, using a metric ruler.

2

Multiply this quantity by the conversion factor to convert it to its corresponding imperial unit. For example, 50 centimeters would be 19.685 inches (50 x conversion factor of 0.3937). A chart of all conversion factors is included as a reference below.

3

Repeat this process for all conversions you need to make. Each metric unit has three components, and these components are converted among each other by increments of 10 or 100. For example, there are 10 milligrams in a gram, and 100 milligrams in a kilogram. There are 10 grams in a kilogram. To convert kilograms to grams, multiply by 10. To convert kilograms to milligrams, multiply by 100. This is the same for all units.