One Step English Conversions
Introduction
English or Imperial units are non-metric units of measurement. Converting metric units is simple because they all use a variant of base 10. For example, 1 meter is:
100 centimeters 1000 millimeters 0.001 kilometers
However, converting between English units is a little trickier because they are not based on a standard base.
Terms
Lesson
Converting English units in one step means converting between different unit levels. For example, if we measure how far it is from New York City to Washington, D.C., we will need the answer in miles, not yards or feet.
The tables below show some of the different conversion ratios for distance and weight.
| Distance | ||
|---|---|---|
| Inches (in) | 12 in | 1ft |
| Feet (ft) | 3ft | 1yd |
| Yards (yd) | 1760yd | 1mi |
| Miles (mi) | 1mi | 5280ft |
| Weights | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ounces (oz) | 16oz | 1lb |
| Pounds (lbs) | 2000lb | 1t |
| Tons (t) | 1t | 32,000oz |
To convert between two units, use the tables above to create a ratio. For example, if we have a weight in pounds (lbs) and we want to convert to ounces (oz) we can use the chart above to tell us that 1lb is 16oz.
For every 1lb you have, you have 16 oz. So, if we have something that weighs 3lbs, to find its weight in oz, we multiply by 16.
3lbs = 48 oz
To make it easier, you can write the ratio above the conversion. This will help guide you. For example:
1 lb = 16 oz 7 lbs = ? (oz)
This will help remind us that the number of ounces will be 16 times larger.
7 lbs = 112 oz.
To convert the other way, we can follow the same steps. Let's say we want to convert from feet to yards. First, write the equation from the chart:
3 ft = 1 yd
Then add in the number of feet we want to convert immediately underneath:
3ft = 1 yd 15 ft = ? yd
In the top equation we are dividing by 3, so we need to follow the same pattern for the bottom equation too:
3 ft = 1 yd 15 ft = 5 yd.
As long as we follow the same ratio as outlined in the table, we can convert in one step.