Unit Conversion Definition

Unit conversion is defined as the process of converting one unit to another. There are a number of metric prefixes involved in unit conversions:

Metric prefixes:  kilo-, hecto-, deca-, deci-, centi- and milli-

The following sentence is used to remember the prefixes in order : "King Henry Doesn't (Usually) Drink Chocolate Milk" kilo- hecto- deca- (Unit)- deci- centi- milli-

The first letters of the words stand for the prefixes. "Usually" stands for Unit being meters, grams or liters.

Each step is ten times or one-tenth as much as the step on either side. So, we have:

1 kilometer = 10 hectometers

= 100 decameters

= 1000 meters

= 10,000 decimeters

= 100,000 centimeters

= 1,000,000 millimeters

Metric Prefix	Common Unit	Exponent	Symbol
Kilo	1000	103$$103	K
Hecto	100	102$$102	H
Deka	10	101$$101	D or Da
Base Unit	1	100$$100	Meters, Grams or Liters
Deci	0.1	10−1$$10−1	d
Centi	0.01	10−2$$10−2	c
Milli	0.001	10−3$$10−3	m