Convert Between cm, m and km

In this activity, we're going to be converting measures between different units of length including cm, m and km.

 

Things we need to know:

There are 100 cm in 1 m

There are 1,000 m in 1 km

cm = centimetre

m = metre

km = kilometre (kilo means 1,000)

 

Let's have a look at an example:

Convert 4,500 m into km.

 

We know that there are 1,000 m in 1 km.

To convert m to km we simply need to divide 4,500 by 1,000

4,500 ÷ 1,000 = 4.5  (all the digits move 3 places to the right)

 

Now let's look at another question -  this time as a word problem:

 

Sam has a  piece of rope that is 5 m in length.

He cuts the rope into 2 equal pieces.

How many cm is each piece of rope?

 

 

We know that Sam has 5 m of rope and that half of 5 is 2.5

2.5 m is equal to 250 cm (2.5 x 100)

Each piece is 250 cm long.

 

Now, why don't you have a go at some questions?