- In the 18th century, there were various ways to determine units of measurement, and the result was mistakes in trade. The French government developed a system of measurement to enlist a common base standard of measurement to use worldwide.
- In the metric scale, the most common base units of measurement are the meter, gram and liter. The meter measures length, the gram measures mass, and the liter measures volume.
- The base units use metric prefixes to determine length, mass, and volume. The prefixes are kilo, hecto, deca, deci, centi and milli.
- The metric prefixes determine the multiple of ten for the base unit. Kilo represents 1,000 units, hecto represents 100 units, deca represents 10 units, the base unit represents 1 unit, deci represents .10 units, centi represents .01 units, and milli represents .001 units.
- In order to convert in the metric scale, move the decimal place to coincide with the prefix. To make a measurement smaller, shift the decimal right. To make a measurement larger, shift the decimal left.
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