Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Unit Conversions

For converting SI units, make sure to convert to the base units FIRST then you can start converting to the designated unit.

Unit Conversion Involving ONE Unit

E.g. Convert 8.6ns into ms

First, map out how you are planning to convert it: nssms

8.6ns   ×        1s               ×       103ms    = 8.6× 10-6ms
                   109ns                        1s

Unit Conversion Involving TWO Units

E.g. Convert 90km/h to m/s

You can simply convert the top then the bottom or vice versa.
To convert the top: kmm
To convert the bottom: h min s

 90km     ×    103m       ×     1h         ×     1min     =    9×104m    =  25m/s
    h                1km             60min             60s              3600s             

NOTE: Make sure to write the final answer in scientific notation when coming across very SMALL or very LARGE numbers. You don't want to write 0.0000086 when you can simply just write 8.6 × 10-6 right?

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