# Metric System

Metric System is basically a system used for measuring distance, length, volume, weight and temperature. It is based on three basic units with which we can measure almost everything in the world

1. M- meter, used to measure length
2. Kg- kilogram, used to measure mass
3. S- second, used to measure time

The metric system was originated in the year 1799. Over the years, this system has been extended to incorporate many units. Although a number of variants of this system discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the term - metric system is used as another word for SI or the International System of Units.

The SI Units (standard International System of Units) gives proper definitions for meter, kilogram and the second. It also specifies and defines 4 different additional units :

Kelvin- temperature

Ampere – Electric Current

Candela- luminous Intensity

Mole-Material Quantity

Metric Number Prefixes

Whether you want to measure very small or very big things, You can go for metric number prefixes. For example- kilo and milli.

There are some common units that are based on the kilogram, meter and second.

1. Area = Square Meter (Area= length by length) Therefore the basic unit of area is meters by meters = m2 (square meters).
1. Volume=Cubic Meter (Volume=length by length)Therefore, the basic unit of volume = m3 (cubic meters).
1. Liter = one-thousandth of a cubic meter(1 m3 = 1,000 Liters) Therefore,1 Liter = 1/1000 m3
1. Time = Hour (1 hour=60 minutes, 1 minutes=60 seconds) Therefore,1hour= 60×60= 3600 seconds
1. Day = (1 day= 24 hours) Therefore, 1 day= 24x60x60=86400 seconds

Important Things to Remember

You can follow the below-given methods for converting from Metric Units to Metric Units (Length)