Conversion Factors

I've never quite been able to fully understand conversion factors.

Can you provide two examples?

 

There many different types of measurements that sometimes require conversions: length (linear), area (two dimensional) and volume (three dimensional) are the most common, but you can also use conversion factors to convert mass, speed, density, and force.

A conversion factor is the number or formula you need to convert a measurement in one set of units to the same measurement in another set of units. The number is usually given as a numerical ratio or fraction that can be used as a multiplication factor. For example, say you have a length that is measured in feet and you wish to report on it in meters. If you know that there are 3.048 feet in a meter, then you can use that as a conversion factor to determine what the same distance is in meters.

One foot is 12 inches long, and the conversion factor of 1 foot to inches is 12. In yards, 1 foot is equal to 1/3 yard (conversion factor of 1 foot to yards is 1/3) so forth. The same length is 0.3048 meters, and it is also 30.48 centimeters.

To convert 10 feet to inches, multiply 10 times 12 (the conversion factor) = 120 inches
To convert 10 feet to yards, multiply 10 x 1/3 = 3.3333 yards (or 3 1/3 yards)

 

After moving to my new place, I will dedicate more time to conversion factors.