How do you do a metric conversion problem?  It's easy!

I break it down into 5 steps...(relax! once you learn this, you won't need any steps!)
 

  • write your given quantity, including its unit
  • set up a multiplication problem next to it
  • put the wanted unit on top of a fraction and the given unit on bottom (so we can cancel it out)
  • fill numbers into this fraction so that the top equals the bottom (this is called a conversion factor)
  • then, multply across the top and divide by the bottom

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    Here's an example problem...   convert 25m to cm.
    Here are the steps...
    25m

    25m* _____

    25m* _____cm
                        m

    25m* __100cm
                     1 m

    25*100 = 2500cm (the meters cancelled out)

    Are you ready for more? Here is a quiz.  If you need all the conversion factors, look here.