What is distance?
Distance measures length. For example, the distance of a
snake is how long the snake is.
In the metric system of measurement, the most common units
of distance are millimeters, centimeters, meters, and kilometers.
How big are metric units of distance?
A paper clip is about 1 millimeter thick.
A fingernail is about 1 centimeter wide.
The length of a guitar is about 1 meter.
A kilometer is equal to 1000 meters.
Converting larger units to smaller units
1 centimeter=10 millimeters
1 meter=100 centimeters
1 meter=1,000 millimeters
1 kilometer=1,000 meters
1 kilometer=1,000 meters
To convert larger units to smaller units we multiply the
number of larger units by the green conversion factor for the appropriate
smaller units.
Example: Converting meters to centimeters:
1 meter=100 centimeters
11 meters=11×100=1100 centimeters
11 meters=11×100=1100 centimeters
