Converting Units of Base Quantity :

a) Mass :
A bag of cement has a mass of 50 kg. Convert the unit to gram (g)?

A wooden block has a mass of 380 g. Convert the unit to kilogram(kg)?

b) Length :
The distance of Kota Bharu city to Kuala Lumpur city is 474 km. Find the distance in the units of meter.

A student is 160 cm tall. Determine his height in kilometre

c) Time :
Convert 8 hours to minute?

Convert 300 seconds to hour?

 Base Quantities in S.I. unit :

Base quantity S.I. unit Symbol of S.I. unit Instrument

Length Metre m

Mass Kilogram Kg

Time Second S

Temperature Kelvin K

Electric current Ampere A

Prefix :
- always in front of the base quantities, can be used when the physical unit is too big or too small.

Values of prefixes and symbols for physical quantity units :

Prefix Value Standard form Symbol

giga 1000 000 000 109 G

mega 1000 000 106 M

kilo 1000 103 k

deci 0.1 10−1 d

centi 0.01 10−2 c

milli 0.001 10−3 m

micro 0.000 001 10−6 µ

nano 0.000 000 001 10−9 N

Examples :

For length : 1 x 103 m = 1 km (kilometre)

For Temperature : 1 x 101 = 10 K (kelvin)

For Mass : 1 x 10−6 g = 1 µg (microgram)

For Current : 1 x 10−1 = 10 dA (deciampere)

For Time : 1 x 10−3 s = 1 ms (millisecond)