Page 131 - New Medley 5 Semester 2

Place Th H T O TTh HTh ThTh
value 1000 100 10 1 1 1 1
10 100 1000

Prefixes kilo- hecto- deca- — deci- centi- milli-

Length kilometre hectometre decametre metre decimetre centimetre millimetre
(km) (hm) (dam) (m) (dm) (cm) (mm)

Weight kilogram hectogram decagram gram decigram centigram milligram
(kg) (hg) (dag) (g) (dg) (cg) (mg)
Capacity kilolitre hectolitre decalitre litre decilitre centilitre millilitre

(kL) (hL) (daL) (L) (dL) (cL) (mL)

Conversion of Units

From the place-value chart, it is clear that the value of each successive

place is increasing or decreasing by a factor of 10. On moving rightwards,
the value of each subsequent unit decreases by a factor of 10 and on

moving leftwards, the value of each subsequent unit increases by a factor
of 10. Let us understand it with a diagram.

Rightwards

×10 ×10 ×10 ×10 ×10 ×10

Bigger unit km hm dam m dm cm mm Smaller unit

dag
hg
cg
mg
kg
g
dg
kL hL daL L dL cL mL
÷10 ÷10 ÷10 ÷10 ÷10 ÷10
Leftwards

Example 1: Convert 4 hm into dm and mm.

Solution: Since hm is 10 × 10 × 10 times bigger than dm,

So 4 hm = 4 × 1000 dm

= 4000 dm

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