Converting and Calculating Units of Mass

Learn how to convert between mg, g, kg, and tonnes, and add and subtract masses accurately. Let’s get started! 🚀

Converting and Calculating Units of Mass - introduction visual

Video Lesson

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Flashcards

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Units of mass conversion chart showing milligrams, grams, kilograms, and tons with examples: 10 mg pills, 500 g pasta, 5 kg rice, and 8 t crane.Converting 21 kilograms to 21000 grams and 560 kilograms to 0.56 tonnes using multiplication and division by 1000.Adding and subtracting units of length by standardising to one unit first, showing 3.25 kg + 30 g = 3.28 kg, and 3.25 kg - 30 g = 3.22 kg as examples.

🛎️ What are Metric Units of Mass?

  • Mass is measured in milligrams (mg), grams (g), kilograms (kg), and tonnes (t).
  • The conversion rates you have to know: 1000 mg = 1 g, 1000 g = 1 kg, and 1000 kg = 1 t.

🛎️ How to Convert Units of Mass?

  • Converting to a smaller unit means multiplying; converting to a larger unit means dividing.
  • For example, 21 kg = 21000 g (multiply by 1000) and 560 kg = 0.56 t (divide by 1000).

🛎️ How to Calculate with Different Units?

  • Before adding or subtracting, convert all values to the same unit.
  • Choose one unit (e.g. all grams or all kilograms) and do not mix units.

Practice Questions

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Interactive Activity

Explore how different units of mass relate to each other.

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