Metric System Basics
Metric System
The metric system is based on a base unit that corresponds to a certain kind of measurement
Length = meter
Volume = liter
Weight = gram
Prefixes plus base units make up the metric system 
Example:
Kilo + meter = Kilometer
Kilo + liter = Kiloliter
Metric System
The three prefixes that we will use the most are:
kilo
centi
milli
Metric System
So if you needed to measure length you would choose meter as your base unit
Length of a ball of twine
50 meters
Length of a fallen tree
12 meters
Length of a room 
5 meters
Metric System
But what if you need to measure a longer distance, like from your house to school?
Let’s say you live approximately 10 miles from school
10 miles = 16093 meters 
16093 is a big number, but what if you could add a prefix onto the base unit to make it more appropriate:
16093 meters = 16 kilometers 
Metric System
These prefixes are based on powers of 10. What does this mean?
From each prefix every “step” is either:
10 times larger
   or
10 times smaller
For example
Centimeters are 10 times larger than millimeters
1 centimeter = 10 millimeters 
Metric System
For each “step” to right, 			you are multiplying by 10
For example, let’s go from a base unit to centi
1 liter =  10 deciliters = 100 centiliters
( 1 x 10 = 10)       and    (10 x 10 = 100)
2 grams = 20 decigrams = 200 centigrams
  			(2 x 10 = 20)      and       (20 x 10 = 200)
Metric System
An easy way to move within the metric system is by moving the decimal point for each “step”
1 liter =  10 deciliters = 100 centiliters
				or
1.00 liters = 10.0 deciliters = 100. centiliters
Metric System
Let’s try our previous example from meters to kilometers:
16093 meters = 1609.3 decameters = 160.93 hectometers = 16.093 kilometers
So for every “step” from the base unit to kilo, we moved the decimal 1 place to the left (the same direction as in the diagram below)
Metric System
Now let’s start from centimeters and convert kilometers

400000 centimeters = 4 kilometers

400000 centimeters = 4.00000 kilometers

Metric System
Now let’s start from kilometers and convert to millimeters

4 kilometers = 4000000 millimeters
				or
4 kilometers = 40 hectometers = 400 decameters 
		= 4000 meters = 40000 decimeters 
		    = 400000 centimeters = 4000000 millimeters
Metric System
Summary
Base units in the metric system are meter, liter, gram
Metric system is based on powers of 10
For conversions within the metric system, each “step” is 1 decimal place to the right or left
Using the diagram below, converting to the right, moves the decimal to the right and vice versa