Metric System Conversions
Ah, the Metric System. It is easy to learn, easy to use, and it lends itself to much more detailed measurements than the Imperial and US customary units, both derived from the English unit system. Here, on Metric Metric, we'll have some articles discussing the benefits of the metric system as well as the goals in consideration when the metric system was developed.
The metric system is based on powers of ten in its system of multiple and submultiple units, meaning that a particular unit is ten times larger than the previous unit, and ten times smaller than the next unit. For example one meter is ten times larger than a decimeter and ten times smaller than a decameter.
This simplicity, accuracy and straightforward nature of the metric system is the reason why it has become the world standard of scientific measurement. It uses based units from which the remaining units of measurement are calculated.
The meter is the base unit of length or distance, and is currently defined as the distance traveled by light in an absolute vacuum during 1/299,792,458 of a second.
The gram is the base unit of mass is currently defined by the mass of a specific object that is kept in a vault in France.
The second is the base unit of time is currently defined by atomic clocks, but was originally 1/86400 of the mean solar day.
Other units are derived from these base units comprising the SI system of measurement. SI is the abbreviation of the French language term Système International d'Unités (International System of Units).
» U.S. Metric Association
» International System of Units
» Metric Information and Conversions - NIST
» Towards a Metric America