LESSON: Measuring Units

READ: Equivalent Metric Units of Mass

Identify Equivalence of Metric Units of Mass

In the United States, the most common system of measurement is the Customary system of measurement. The Customary system of measurement for mass or weight is measured in pounds and tons. Outside of the United States and when people work with topics in science, people use a system called the Metric system. The metric system measures mass or weight differently from the customary system.

How do we measure mass in the Metric system?

In the metric system we use thee different units to measure mass or weight.

This text box lists the units of measuring mass from the largest unit, the kilogram to the smallest unit, the milligram. If you think back to when you learned about measuring length, the prefix “milli” indicated a very small unit. That is the same here as we measure mass.

How can we find equivalent metric units of mass?

The word equivalent means equal. We can compare different units of measuring mass with kilograms, grams and milligrams. To do this, we need to know how many grams equal one kilogram, how many milligrams equal one gram, etc. Here is a chart to help us understand equivalent units.

Here you can see that when we convert kilograms to grams you multiply by 1000.

When you convert grams to milligrams, you multiply by 1000.

To convert from a large unit to a small unit, we multiply.

To convert from a small unit to a large unit, we divide.

Example 1

5 kg = _____ g

When we go from kilograms to grams, we multiply by 1000.

5 kg = 5000 g

These two values are equivalent.