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Converting measures can be very handy.

If a recipe asked you to add 0.2 kg of butter, but your scales only measured in grams, you would have to quickly convert the measure in your head to weigh the correct amount.

This video gives brief introduction to understanding metric measurement.

'Kilo' comes from the Ancient Greek word for 'thousand' (chilioi).

So kilometre actually means 'thousand metres' and kilograms means 'thousand grams'.

• 1 km = 1000 m
• 1 kg = 1000 g

What would 0.4 kg be in grams?

Method 1

Method 2

Another way you could work out the answer is by multiplying by 1000 to convert 0.4 kg into grams.

0.4 kg x 1000 = 400 g

What is 2500 m in kilometres?

Method 1

Method 2

You could use your knowledge of kilo meaning '1000' to divide 2500 m by 1000 to turn it into kilometres.

2500 m ÷ 1000 = 2.5 km

In Maths, 'milli' means 'one thousandth'.

So 'millimetres' means 'one thousandth of a metre' and 'millilitre' means 'one thousandth of a litre.

• 1000 mm = 1 m
• 1000 ml = 1 l

What is 4000 mm in metres?

Method 1

The bar model shows that each metre is the same as 1000 mm.

So 4000 mm is the same as 4 metres.

Method 2:

You could divide 4000 mm by 1000 to find the conversion to metres.

4000 mm ÷ 1000 = 4 m

Method 2

You could use your knowledge of finding fractions to find the answer - divide by the bottom and times by the top.

Use the conversion 1 m = 1000 mm

1000 mm ÷ 10 = 100 mm

100 mm x 8 = 800 mm

Can you complete this metric measurements quiz?

Try your hand at this quiz on converting metric measurements.