Metric System Chart

Metric system is the international decimal system of measurement, which was first adopted by France in 1791. Today it is a common system of measuring units almost through the world. The system may exist in different variations and have different choice of fundamental units. Although over the last two centuries, different variations of the metric system have been considered, it is the International System of Units, adopted since the 1960s' has been recognized as the standard metric system. The metric system chart is used all through the world for both personal as well as commercial purposes.

The metric system conversion chart makes use of standard set of prefixes in powers of ten, which are used to derive larger as well as smaller units from the base units. Fractions of a unit is not used formally. The practical use of the decimal metric system is to replace other non decimal systems, outside the metric system of measurement. It was the simplicity of decimal prefixes, which encouraged the adoption of the metric system. For each unit, there is a specific metric system conversion table, which is used. Let's see the conversion chart for metric system used for different units, which will help to understand metric measurements better.

Metric System Conversion Chart

The metric system has three basic units, namely meter, gram and liter. To measure weight the unit used is gram, while to measure length meter is the unit of measure and for capacity it is liter. These units are affixed with different prefixes, while giving out the exact measure. The prefix from the lowest to the highest are as follows:

• Milli-
• Centi-
• Deci-
• Meter/Gram/Liter
• Deca-
• Hecto-
• Kilo-

Only the units meter, gram or liter do not have any prefixes. Some examples of these are centimeter, kiloliter, milligram, etc. The function of the prefix is to multiply or divide the measure either by a factor of ten, one hundred or a positive integer power of one thousand. When the prefix is derived from Greek, the resultant measure is a positive power, while if the prefix is Latin derived, the resultant measure is a negative power. However, when the standard metric system came into use, the Greek greater than one and Latin less than one convention was not followed. Having said that, let's turn to metric system conversion charts.

Metric Conversion Chart for Length

1 centimeter	=	10 millimeters
1 decimeter	=	10 centimeters
1 meter	=	10 decimeters
1 decameter	=	10 meters
1 hectometer	=	10 decameters
1 kilometer	=	10 hectometers

Metric Conversion Chart for Area

1 square centimeter	=	100 millimeter square
1 square meter	=	10000 centimeter square
1 hectare	=	10000 meter square
1 square kilometer	=	100 hectares

Metric Conversion Chart for Volume

1 cubic decimeter	=	100 centimeter cube
1 cubic meter	=	1000 decimeter cube
1 liter	=	1 decimeter cube
1 hectoliter	=	100 liter

Metric Conversion Chart for Mass

1 gram	=	1000 milligram
1 kilogram	=	1000 gram
1 tonne	=	1000 kilogram

Metric Conversion Chart for Capacity

1 centiliter	=	10 milliliters
1 deciliter	=	10 centiliters
1 liter	=	10 deciliters
1 cubic meter	=	1000 liters

You will be able to find printable metric chart, which will help you to make metric system chart for kids. It is this chart, which made it easy to convert not only distances, but also area, volumes, mass, etc. Using the metric system conversion chart, making the conversions will be easy as well as accurate.