Ch.10 – Conversion Reference

📏

Length

US Customary

1 foot (ft)→12 inches× 12

1 yard (yd)→3 feet× 3

1 yard (yd)→36 inches× 36

1 mile (mi)→1,760 yards× 1,760

1 mile (mi)→5,280 feet× 5,280

🌍

Length

Metric

1 km→1,000 meters× 1,000

1 dekameter→10 meters× 10

1 meter→10 decimeters× 10

1 meter→100 cm× 100

1 cm→10 mm× 10

⚖️

Weight / Mass

US & Metric

1 pound (lb)→16 ounces× 16

1 ton (T)→2,000 pounds× 2,000

1 kilogram→1,000 grams× 1,000

1 dekagram→10 grams× 10

100 dekagrams→1 kilogram÷ 100

🥤

Capacity

US Customary & Metric

1 cup (c)→8 fl oz× 8

1 pint (pt)→2 cups× 2

1 quart (qt)→2 pints / 4 cups× 2 / × 4

1 gallon (gal)→4 quarts× 4

1 gallon→8 pints / 16 cups× 8 / × 16

1 liter→1,000 mL× 1,000

⏱️

Time

All conversions

1 minute→60 seconds× 60

1 hour→60 minutes× 60

1 day→24 hours× 24

1 week→7 days× 7

1 year→365 days× 365

1 year→52 weeks× 52

⚙️ How To Convert

📦 → 📦📦 Big unit to small unit

Ask: am I going from a bigger unit to a smaller unit? (like feet → inches)

If YES → MULTIPLY by the conversion factor. Smaller units = more of them!

Look up the conversion factor from the table above and multiply.

✏️ Example: 4 yards → feet
4 × 3 = 12 feet (bigger→smaller = multiply)

📦📦 → 📦 Small unit to big unit

Ask: am I going from a smaller unit to a bigger unit? (like ounces → pounds)

If YES → DIVIDE by the conversion factor. Bigger units = fewer of them!

Look up the conversion factor from the table and divide.

✏️ Example: 8,000 lbs → tons
8,000 ÷ 2,000 = 4 tons (smaller→bigger = divide)

⏱️ Elapsed Time

Write the start time and end time clearly.

Count up from start: jump to the next full hour, then count remaining minutes.

Add all your jumps together → total hours and minutes.

✏️ 3:15 PM → 4:50 PM
3:15→4:00 = 45 min | 4:00→4:50 = 50 min
Total: 1 hr 35 min

💧 Capacity Ladder (Big → Small)

Gallon — the biggest common unit

Quart — 4 per gallon. Going down? × 2 each step.

Pint — 2 per quart, 8 per gallon

Cup — 2 per pint, 16 per gallon

🧠 Memory trick: G Q P C
"Great Big Purple Cats" — each step ×2!

🧠 Memory Tricks

👣

12 inches = 1 foot

Count your 12 fingers and toes... wait, just imagine a ruler: 12 marks, 1 foot!

🏈

1,760 yards = 1 mile

A football field is 100 yards. You'd need about 17 football fields to make a mile!

🐘

2,000 lbs = 1 ton

A car weighs about 1 ton. Two thousand pounds — think of 20 hundred-pound bags!

🥛

G → Q → P → C

"Great Quick Purple Cats" — each step multiplies by 2 going down!

🔬

Metric = Powers of 10

kilo=1000, deka=10, deci=0.1, centi=0.01, milli=0.001. Move the decimal!

⬆️⬇️

Bigger unit → Multiply

Going to SMALLER units? You need MORE of them → MULTIPLY by the factor.

⏰

60 min = 1 hour

Count up on a number line from start time to end time. Don't subtract — count forward!

📏

mm → cm → m → km

Each step ×10 going UP. Divide by 10 for each step going down the chain.