The Mathematics 11 Competency Test

Introduction to Unit Conversion: the SI

In this and the next document in this series is presented and illustrated an effective and reliable approach to carrying out unit conversions starting with a value expressed in one set of units of measurement, and calculating the equivalent quantity in another equivalent set of units of measurement. In this particular document, well develop the strategy of the method by illustrating conversion between units of measurement within the SI. In the next document, well illustrate how the method works for conversions between compatible units in the SI and outside the SI. The strategy we will describe here is quite formal it requires you to set your work up in a very specific manner. If you follow the procedure without any shortcuts, the only possible error you can make is in your arithmetic. As we pointed out in an earlier document, errors in unit conversion can be very costly, so there is no justification for short-cuts to this method, or for using other less formal and less reliable methods (such as guess-and-hope-for-the-best, the most frequently used alternative). Unit Conversion Factors By unit conversion factor, we simply mean any true statement of the equivalence of two quantities, expressed with different units. Within the SI, these conversion factors come from the definition of the base units, the prefixes used to indicate multiples or fractions of base units, and definitions of the various supplemental units. So, for example, each of the following are conversion factors implied by information weve given you about the SI: 1 m = 100 cm 1 min = 60 s 1 kg = 1000 g 1 MW = 1 000 000 W and so on. It doesnt really matter how these are stated. So, for instance 1 m = 100 cm and 1 cm = 0.01 m say exactly the same thing, and are equally useful in principle. One of the biggest advantages of the method we are about to describe is that if you know that 1 m = 100 cm you never have to rearrange this to read 1 cm = 0.01 m and thus one major potential source of error in these calculations is eliminated. We strongly recommend that you always use conversion factors in the metric system which involve whole numbers whenever possible. Tabulations of commonly required unit conversion factors are readily available for units outside the SI. We include a short table in the next document in this series. Various publications (for example, the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics) contain very extensive tables of unit
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conversion factors. Also, there are a number of internet sites listing hundreds of unit conversion factors to find them, use a search engine and keywords such as unit conversion, conversion factors, and similar. The Method The method consists of, if you like, four simple but essential steps. We will illustrate it with a fairly simple example. Example 1: Convert the length 4.235 km to its equivalent in units of centimetres. solution: This is kind of a silly request, it would seem, since you might wonder why wed want to know what such a large length as 4.235 km is in units of centimetres. Theres probably no good answer to that question but what you can easily demonstrate is that few people to whom this question is posed would be able to state an answer with confidence, and so it is a good example to use to illustrate the basic unit conversion method. step 1: List a sequence of unit transitions for which you have unit conversion factors, and that will get each initial unit in the problem to its corresponding final unit. (This step is always absolutely essential. To skip it is an error because it means you are willing to accept the risk of a serious error that you could take steps to avoid.) When working within the SI, use the definitions of the base units and prefixes. The sequence of conversions will almost always be simplest to implement if it contains the base units. When working with units outside the SI, you will need to consult an available and adequate table of unit conversion factors to develop the strategy which is the goal of this step. At this stage, no numbers are involved (though you will have to fill in the numbers eventually). This stage is for developing a plan or strategy only. So, in this example, we need a sequence of units that will go from km to cm. Since we know that 1 km = 1000 m and 1 m = 100 cm an appropriate path is km m cm Note that since the initial and final units here are both in the SI, it has been easy to find a path from initial to final units that uses the base unit as an intermediate. Step 2: Write out a product of the initial quantity to be converted, and a factor in the form of a fraction for each arrow that appears in all sequences of conversions developed in step 1. For the moment, each fraction contains just unit symbols in its numerator and denominator. These unit symbols are placed, top or bottom, to cancel the unit at the tail of the arrow, leaving the unit at the head of the arrow. (DO NOT WRITE ANY NUMBERS in these fractions at this step, but leave room to write in numbers in the next step.)

For this example, our sequence from Step 1 has two arrows, so the formula we develop here will have two such fractions:
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4.235 km = 4.235 km

m km

cm m

Notice: the first fraction here must involve m and km (since the first arrow in the sequence from step 1 involves the conversion from km to m). The symbol km is placed in the denominator so that it will cancel the km in the original value. This means that the symbol m must be placed in the numerator. the second fraction must involve m and cm. The symbol m is placed in the denominator since it must cancel the m unit in the numerator of the previous fraction. This means that the symbol cm must go in the numerator.

Again, do not write any numbers in at this stage. Here, we are simply setting up a template for the required calculation. By restricting our attention to the form of the template only, we avoid potential confusion and error due to trying to keep too many things in our minds at once. Notice that if we just look at the unit symbols themselves, cancellation here will occur to produce a result with the desired final units:

4.235 km = 4.235 km

m km

cm = cm m

Step 3: Fill in numbers in the numerator and denominator of each fraction in the expression from step 2 so that the numerator and denominator represent the same physical quantity. Use your source/list of unit conversion factors to do this. In this example, we get

4.235 km = 4.235 km
since we know that 1 km = 1000 m and 1 m = 100 cm

1000 m 100 cm 1 km 1m

Notice that you use the values in the unit conversion factors exactly as they are given. It is not ever necessary to rearrange something like 1 m = 100 cm into 1 cm = 0.01 m first. Notice as well that we didnt have to think too deeply about where each number goes, top or bottom. Since the first fraction already had the form

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m km
and since the top and bottom had to end up being identical physical quantities (in this case identical lengths), and since we know that 1 km = 1000 m we know immediately that the 1 goes with the km in the denominator, and the 1000 goes with the m in the numerator. There is no puzzlement whatsoever by this stage of the problem over whether you should multiply by the 1000 or divide by the 1000 since the template developed in step 2 indicates precisely where the factor of 1000 should go in this fraction. This eliminates one more major source of error in unit conversion calculations mistakenly multiplying when you should divide or dividing when you should multiply, a common error when people attempt to do unit conversion calculations using less systematic methods. Step 4: Do the numerical arithmetic to get the final answer and verify once again that the units cancel or simplify to give the desired final units. So, for this example, we have

4.235 km = 4.235 km

1000 m 100 cm 1m 1 km

= ( 4.235 )(1000 )(100 ) cm

= 423 500 cm
as the final answer.

This first example appears to be very lengthy because we described the method and discussed issues and strategies in considerable detail as we worked through the actual example. Now well repeat this example without all of the discussion. Example 1 (Repeat): Convert the length 4.235 km to its equivalent in units of centimetres. solution: The required conversion here is from kilometres to centimetres. We know that 1 km = 1000 m and 1 m = 100 cm. So (step 1) a plan to accomplish the conversion from kilometres to centimetres is km m cm Then (step 2) the required template is

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4.235 km = 4.235 km

m km

cm m

This template indicates that the plan will work, so insert the required numbers from the conversion factors to get (step 3)

4.235 km = 4.235 km

1000 m 100 cm 1 km 1 m

= ( 4.235 )(1000 )(100 ) cm

= 423 500 cm
as the final answer.

Youve probably noticed that what makes this strategy work is that we are simply multiplying the original value by fractions with equivalent numerators and denominators (hence they are equal to 1 and so the multiplication doesnt change the real value of the original quantity). However, these fractions multiplied onto the original value are set up to cause undesired units to cancel and to leave the desired units in their place. Example 2: Convert the speed of 550 cm/s to its equivalent in km/h. solution: This is a more difficult problem than the first example. Obviously we need to convert cm to km, and we need to convert s to h.

Now since we know that 100 cm = 1 m and 1000 m = 1 km and, as well, we know that 1 min = 60 s and 1 h = 60 min, then, strategies we can implement here are cm m km and s min h

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This completes step 1. Since our strategies include four arrows altogether, step 2 will now require the formulation of four fractions, once for each arrow in the strategies:

550

cm cm = 550 s s

m cm

km m

s min

min h

Make sure you understand exactly why this expression is the correct one to write down for step 2. Now, insert the numbers in these fractions appropriately

550

cm cm 1 m 1 km 60 s 60 min = 550 s s 100 cm 1000 m 1min 1 h

= 550 1 km 60 s 60 min cm 1 m s 100 cm 1000 m 1 min 1h km h

( 550 )( 60 )( 60 ) (100 )(1000 )

km h

= 19.8

Thus, the speed of 550 cm/s is equivalent to 19.8 km/h.

Example 3: The concentration of salt in a solution is 0.173 g/cm3. Convert this concentration to units of kg/m3. You may use the facts that 1 m3 = 1000 litres and 1 litre = 1000 cm3.

solution: In this conversion, we will be converting the mass units of g to kg, and the volume units of cm3 to m3. The most obvious strategies, given the conversion factors stated in the problem for volumes and the fact that we know that 1 kg = 1000 g are g kg and cm3 litre m3.

Thus, step 2 gives the template

0.173

g g = 0.173 3 cm cm3

kg g

cm 3 litre

litre m3

which becomes (step 3)

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0.173

g 1 kg g = 0.173 3 cm cm3 1000 g

=

1000 cm 3 1 litre
kg m3

1000 litre 1m3

( 0.173 ) ( 1000 ) (1000 )

( 1000 )

= 173 kg
as the final answer.

m3

Example 4: Repeat the conversion in Example 3 above, but use a conversion factor relating centimetres to metres directly. solution: We are asked to do

0.173

g cm 3

kg m3

as in Example 3. Now, however, instead of the strategy cm3 litre m3 we are asked to use simply cm m. As before, the strategy for the mass unit conversion will be simply g kg Now, in step 2, we may start out writing

0.173

g g = 0.173 3 cm cm3

kg g

cm m

But, if you check, youll see that this last fraction replaces only one of the three centimetre units by a unit of metres. In fact, we must repeat the last factor three times to complete the required unit conversion:

0.173

g g = 0.173 3 cm cm 3

kg g

cm m

cm m

cm = m

kg m3

We could compact this notation a bit by using a power or exponent notation:

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g g 0.173 = 0.173 cm3 cm3

kg g

cm m

keeping in mind that because of the exponent, the cm in the numerator of the last fraction really amounts to cm repeated three times. Now, we can fill in the blanks with the appropriate numbers, and do the arithmetic to get the final answer:

g g 1 kg 100 cm 0.173 = 0.173 3 cm cm 3 1000 g 1 m = 0.173 g cm3

(1 kg ) (1003 ) cm3

(1000 g ) (1 ) m
3

1003 kg kg = ( 0.173 ) 3 = 173 3 m 1000 m

as obtained before. Remember that when a bracketed expression is raised to a power, every factor in the expression inside those brackets is raised to the same power. In detail, this means that

100 cm 1003 cm 3 cm3 = = 1003 1m 13 m3 m3

Example 5: A rectangular field is 185 m long and 137 m wide. Compute its area and state your answer in units of hectares. solution: First, to get the area of a rectangular region, we need to multiply the length by the width. Here, this gives A = LW = (185 m)(137 m) = 25345 m2. Now we need to convert this value to units of hectares. Looking back in the preceding document in this series, we find that 1 hectare = 10 000 m2. Thus,

25345 m 2 = 25345 m 2 i

1 hectare 10 000 m 2

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= 2.5345 hectares
The area of this rectangular field is 2.5345 hectares.

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