Full transcript
0:01Hello, welcome to Moomeu Math where we
0:03upload a new math video everyday. Today
0:06I'd like to talk about the metric
0:07system.
0:08The metric system is a system of
0:10measurement used throughout the world
0:12and especially in the scientific
0:14community.
0:15It is based on 10s and can be easy and
0:19helpful to use.
0:21Let's begin with some basic units of
0:22measurements used in the metric system.
0:25Let's start with seven frequently used
0:28units of the metric system.
0:30Starting at the left and moving to the
0:32right we have kilo,
0:34hecto,
0:35deca,
0:37base,
0:38deci, centi, and then milli.
0:42Starting at the base unit and moving to
0:45the left, the deca would have a value of
0:4710, a hecto would have a value of 100,
0:51and a kilo 1,000.
0:53Next, if you start at the base, which
0:55would have a value of one, and move to
0:57the right, a deci would be 1/10,
1:00centi is 1/100, and milli is 1/1000.
1:05Next, let's talk about the base unit.
1:08There are three main base units
1:10and they give you a clue as to what is
1:13being measured.
1:15If you see a meter, it is for length.
1:18A liter is used for volume and a gram is
1:22used for measuring mass.
1:24All three of these base units are
1:26related.
1:27A meter is 1
1:3010 millionth the distance from the North
1:32Pole
1:34to the equator on a meridian that passes
1:37through Paris.
1:40If you take this distance and divide it
1:41into 10 million small segments, you get
1:44a meter.
1:46If you then divide the meter into 10
1:49equal parts, you have 10 decimeters.
1:52If you divide the decimeter into 10
1:55equal parts, you have a centimeter.
1:58And then if you subdivide the centimeter
2:00into 10 small parts, you have a
2:02millimeter.
2:04On the other hand, if you have a
2:05thousand meters, you have one kilometer.
2:10A liter is the volume of one cubic
2:14decimeter.
2:15So you can see how
2:17the three base units are related. A
2:21liter, the volume of one decimeter.
2:24Again, you can subdivide the liter into
2:26a centiliter, which is 1/10 of a liter.
2:30Finally, a gram is equal to the mass of
2:33one cubic centimeter of water.
2:37Finally, let's look at one more example
2:39of how the metric system works.
2:42Say for instance, you have five you
2:44measure a distance of five kilometers.
2:48Well, this would be equal to 50
2:50hectometers,
2:52500 decameters,
2:555,000 meters, 50,000 decimeters,
2:59500,000 centimeters, and 5 million
3:04millimeters.
3:06Another nice characteristic of the
3:07metric system is how easy it is to
3:10convert from one unit to another.
3:12I've created another video on how to
3:14convert within the metric system.
3:18Hope this helps, and Mooumou Math
3:20uploads a new math video
3:22every day.