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Browse Middle School Measurement
Stars indicate particularly interesting answers or good places to begin browsing.

See also:
      Terms/Units of Measurement

Selected answers to common questions:
    A million/billion seconds.
    Significant figures/digits.
    Unit conversions, unit cancellation.
    Using a protractor, reading a ruler.


Administering Insulin [07/09/2003]

Groups and Units: Multiply or Divide? [04/15/2003]
Changing units to other units.


Measuring Material [07/04/2003]
I need 225 4-inch squares cut from cotton material. If the material is 30 inches wide, how many yards of material will I need?

Operations on Measurement Units [08/21/1998]

Reading a Ruler [09/18/1997]
I need to read a ruler, and I can't. Can you help me?

Unit Analysis and Conversion Factors [02/01/2003]



What does a slide rule do and how does it work?


About Measurements and Unit Conversion [02/03/2002]
I don't understand measurements.

Accuracy in Measurement [02/08/2002]

Accuracy in Measurement [01/09/2007]
I've heard that it's impossible to measure things exactly, and I don't understand that. How can our world be based on estimations?


Benchmarks [03/25/2001]

Calculating Errors in Measurement [08/06/2002]
Suppose you are told that a digital scale measures to the nearest 0.2kg and asked to find the absolute error involved in using the scale to weigh a cat that weighs 7.4 kg.

Changing Units ... and Significant Figures? [08/22/2011]
A student seeks clarity with the significant digits required after converting a measurement from US customary units to metric. Reinforcing how precision applies to measured data, Doctor Peterson walks through an example.

Choosing a Unit of Measurement [05/06/2002]
What's the proper unit of measurement for measuring butterflies?

Comparing Volume and Surface Area [05/01/2002]

Complementary or Supplementary? [04/02/2001]

Converting Grams to Milliliters [05/12/2006]
How many milliliters would 35 grams of flour fill?

Converting Metric Measurements [11/03/2005]

Converting Millimeters to Inches and Back [03/14/2003]
I would like to see how to calculate without a chart.

Converting Units across Measurements [08/31/2010]

Converting Units of Measure [7/17/1996]

Cutting Equal Strips [09/08/2005]

Dimensional Analysis and Unit Conversions [09/15/2002]
Using dimensional analysis, convert 8 feet/second to kilometers/hour.

Does Pi Equal 3.14? [01/27/1998]
We use pi as 3.14. How can this be right?

Exact Numbers and Conversion Statements [07/25/2005]

Explanation of Significant Figures [09/11/2007]

Feet Per Second [02/22/2003]
Determine the velocity in a pipe in ft. per second... Where does the constant term in the formula come from?

Fraction or Decimal? [06/23/1998]

Fundamental Idea of Division [03/24/2000]

How Many Blocks in a Mile? [11/24/2005]
How many city blocks are there in a mile?


Inches and Feet and Miles, Oh My! [04/14/2008]
Why are English measures inconsistent in conversions? The metric system works in the meter and power of tens, but English units are kind of crazy (1 ft = 12 in, 3 ft = 1 yd, 1 mi = 1760 yd or 5280 ft, etc.).

Indirect Measurements and Hubble's Constant [01/31/2003]
How are indirect measurements used in astronomy? For example, how can scientists tell how far the Earth is from Pluto?

Instruments for Measuring Angles [09/28/2001]

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