welcome to math with mr. J in this video we're going to convert metric units of length and we're specifically going to be working with millimeters centimeters meters and kilometers now our base unit of length for the metric system is a meter so everything's going to be based off a meter and we're going to use prefixes to create other units of length and those prefixes will tell us what those units of length mean in comparison to that meter okay so for example millimetre milli the prefix milli means one one thousandth of a meter so it takes a thousand millimeters to equal one meter centimeter the prefix centi means 1/100 of a meter so it takes a hundred centimeters to equal one meter and lastly we have kilometer and the prefix kilo means 1000 so it takes a thousand meters to equal a kilometer and all those notes are right here up top and we can reference those as we go through the convergence now as a point of reference here so we know a little bit about what these units of length mean and represent a millimeter is about the thickness of a paper clip so it's a very small unit of length not how long that paper clip is but how thick it is a centimeter is about how wide the average pinky is or how wide a staple is and on most rulers centimeters will be marked on the metric portion of that ruler and then a meter is a little over a yard so a meter stick a little longer than a yard and then kilometer is a little over a half mile so kilometers are used to measure long distances so let's get into some conversions here and number one we have three meters equals how many centimeters well 1 meter is a hundred centimeters so we have 3 100 100 100 and whenever we go 2 meters to centimeters we multiply by a hundred so 3 meters equals 300 centimeters next we have 10 meters equals how many centimeters so again meters to centimeters multiplied by a hundred each one of those meters is a hundred centimeters and we have ten of them so let's multiply and we get 10 times 100 equals a thousand centimeters number 3 9 kilometers equal Z meters well in one kilometer there's one thousand meters and we have nine of them though so a thousand a thousand a thousand nine times or nine times a thousand so when we go kilometer to meter we multiply by a thousand and for this one specifically we get nine thousand number four 400 centimeters equals how many meters well each meter there's a hundred centimeters so we need to take that 400 and split it into groups of 100 each one of those groups of 100 equals a meter so we need to do 400 divide it into groups of a hundred or meters there and we end up with 4 so centimeter two meter divided by a hundred number five millimeters to centimeters so there are 10 millimeters in three centimeter so we need to divide by ten or split into groups of ten each one of those tens is a centimeter so 50 divided by 10 gives us five centimeters so millimeters to centimeters divided by ten number six eight thousand millimeters equals how many meters well there's a thousand millimeters in every meter so we need to split that 8,000 into groups of a thousand each one of those thousands is one meter so millimeters to meters divided by a thousand and we get eight meters all right so there's there you have it there are some basic conversions within metric units of length specifically millimeters centimeters meters and kilometers thanks so much for watching until next time please you