UNIT CONVERSIONS
Unit conversions are merely a way of changing the measuring device for a particular value. Each value
has units measured in terms of distance, area, volume, time, rate, etc. A unit change does not change
the value itself, so the unit conversion process involves multiplying by 1 only.
In order to complete unit conversions, a conversion factor must be used. In order to convert from yards
to feet, the ratio must be known. This ratio can be written in three different ways.
Conversion Factor Unit Fraction Number 1 Unit Fraction Number 2
1 yard = 3 feet 1 yard 3 feet
=1 =1
3 feet 1 yard
Many times a conversion list or conversion table will give you just a numeric conversion factor. It can
be written either as 1 yard = 3 feet, or as 0.3333 yard = 1 foot.
When doing unit conversions, the thought process is best described as: What units do I have now and
what units do I want to have? The idea is to write what you have as a fraction and multiply by unit
fractions until the units you want are obtained. Units will divide out just like numbers in this system.
Here are a few basic examples, followed by some more complicated ones.
Example 1 How many minutes are in 3 days?
What we are starting with is 3 days. The conversions used will move days into hours, then hours into
minutes. The conversion factors are 1 day = 24 hours, and 1 hours = 60 minutes. Remember from
above that there were two unit fractions. You must choose which one to use in this problem to
eliminate units. Since we are starting with days, we will want to eliminate days.
24 hours
My unit conversions will be = 1 and 60 minutes = 1 .
1 day 1 hour
Then
3 days 24 hours 60 minutes 3 days 24 hours 60 minutes
3 days = ⋅ ⋅ = ⋅ ⋅ = 4320
123 1 1 day 1 hour 1 1 day 1 hour 14 42minutes
44 3
144444424444443 144444424444443
Starting Multiply by unit Eliminate common Final value
value conversions units
Therefore, 3 days = 4320 minutes.
Example 2 How many teaspoons are in a gallon? (probably need a conversion table here)
1 gallon = 4 quarts, 1 quart = 2 pints, 1 pint = 2 cups, 1 cup = 16 tbsp, 1 tbsp = 3 tsp
1 gal 4 qt 2 pint 2 cups 16 tbsp 3 tsp
1 gallon = = 768 tsp
1424 3 1 1 gal 1 qt 1 pint 1 cup 1 tbsp 123
144444444424444444443
Starting Multiply by unit conversions Final value
Value and eliminate common units
Therefore, 1 gallon = 768 teaspoons.
Example 3 A bullet is traveling at 2400 feet per second. How fast is this in miles per hour?
Conversions needed: 1 mile = 5280 feet, 1 hour = 60 minutes, 1 minute = 60 seconds.
2400 ft 60 sec 60 min 1 mile 8640000 mile
2400 feet in one second = = ≈ 1636 mph
1 sec 1 min 1 hr 5280 feet 5280 hour
Example 4 A man is laying carpet in a rectangular room with dimensions of 10 feet by 12 feet.
How many square yards of carpet are needed?
First, calculate the area of the carpet in square feet: 10 ft ⋅12 ft = 120 ft 2 . Since we must convert from
square feet, we will need to square the conversion factor or repeat twice depending on your preference!
2
120 ft 2 1 yard 120 ft 2 1 yd 2 40 2
120 ft =
2
= 2
= yd ≈ 13.3 yd 2
1 3 feet 1 9 ft 3
WARNING: The conversion factor must be squared, cubed or otherwise raised to a power to eliminate
units which are raised to powers. The common mistake is to divide by 3, which would leave you with
40 yd 2 (incorrectly). This would leave you with a lot of extra carpet. Notice the units at the end if you
calculate incorrectly.
120 ft 2 1 yard 120 ft ⋅ ft 1 yd
120 ft =
2
= = 40 yd ⋅ ft
1 3 feet 1 3 ft
These final units are NOT what was asked for (plus they don’t make a lot of sense), so more
conversions would be needed.
Example 5 A car wheel has a radius of 10 inches and it rotates 4 times in one second. Determine
how fast the car is traveling in feet per second and miles per hour.
Here we need to know the distance the wheel travels in one revolution/rotation, so we must use the
circumference. Circumference is the distance around a circle, which would be the same as the distance
traveled by rolling the circle one time. C = 2πr = 2π ⋅ 10 = 20π . Thus 1 revolution = 20π inches.
4 rev 20π in 1 foot 20π feet
4 revolutions in one second = = ≈ 21 fps
1 sec 1 rev 12 in 3 seconds
Using the same information from example 3, we could quickly convert this to mph.
Example 6 A chemist would like to know the density (in g/ml) of a substance which weighs 13
ounces and displaces 7.4 fluid ounces of water.
Conversion units: 1 fl. oz. = 29.574 mL, 1 oz. = 28.35 grams.
13 oz 1 fl oz 28.35 g
13 ounces in 7.4 fluid ounces = ≈ 1.684 g mL
7.4 fl oz 29.574 mL 1 oz
In many of these cases, a good conversion table is needed to complete these conversions, and the
accuracy of your final solution will completely depend on the accuracy of the conversion table values.
