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Because measurements in a large unit will lead to a very small fractional value.

For example, my height is 0.00178 kilometres or 0.001106 miles. Or, to use an even larger unit, it is 0.00000000000000005769 parsecs.

Much easier to say 1.78 metres or 178 cm, or 5 ft 10 inches.

In the metric system, though, if the measurement is given in scientific notation, it does not make too big a difference. My height is 1.78 metres or 1.78*10-3 kilometres or 1.78*109 nanometres.

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Q: Why do you convert to smaller units?
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Related questions

Do you divide to convert meters?

That depends on what you are converting from. If you are converting from larger units, you multiply. If you are converting from smaller units, you divide.


What is the equation of the convert larger to smaller units?

The answer will depend on the two units. It will entail multiplication by a number that is greater than 1 (or division by a number smaller than 1).


Smaller units to larger units do you divide?

If the question refers to converting from a smaller unit such as inch or centimetre to a larger unit such as foot or metre, the answer is Yes, you divide the number - in these examples by 12 or 100 respectively.


How do you convert bigger unit to smaller unit?

You multiply however many bigger units you have by the number of smaller units per bigger unit. For example: If you wish to convert 3 metres to centimetres then you multiply 3 by 100 (as there are 100 centimetres in a metre) to result in 300cm.


Why it ms sense to multiply when you convert to a smaller unit?

It makes sense to multiply when converting measurements to smaller units because it takes many smaller units to make up a larger unit. So in order to translate larger unit(s) into smaller units, you have to break up the larger unit(s) into many smaller pieces.


How do you convert a given unit to larger unit and its answer?

To convert a given unit to a larger unit, you need to determine the conversion factor between the two units. Divide the given value by the conversion factor to get the answer in the larger unit.


When changing from SI units to smaller units what mathematical operation is used?

Multiplication is used when changing from SI units to smaller units. For example, to convert 35.8kg to grams, you would do the following: (35.8kg) x (1000g/kg) = 35800g (The kilograms cancel, leaving grams.) To convert 0.823m to centimeters, you would do the following: (0.823m) x (100cm/m) = 82.3cm (The meters cancel, leaving centimeters.)


Can you convert fractions into decimals using roman numerals?

Not really, since roman numerals don't have units smaller then one.


What is the conversion factor of the metric system?

Depends, what you want to convert to what. To convert between different metric units, powers of 10 are used. For example, a kilometer is 1000 meters. To convert from metric units to imperial units, you have to ask specific questions for specific units, for example, "how to convert inches to meters", or "how to convert pounds to kilograms".Depends, what you want to convert to what. To convert between different metric units, powers of 10 are used. For example, a kilometer is 1000 meters. To convert from metric units to imperial units, you have to ask specific questions for specific units, for example, "how to convert inches to meters", or "how to convert pounds to kilograms".Depends, what you want to convert to what. To convert between different metric units, powers of 10 are used. For example, a kilometer is 1000 meters. To convert from metric units to imperial units, you have to ask specific questions for specific units, for example, "how to convert inches to meters", or "how to convert pounds to kilograms".Depends, what you want to convert to what. To convert between different metric units, powers of 10 are used. For example, a kilometer is 1000 meters. To convert from metric units to imperial units, you have to ask specific questions for specific units, for example, "how to convert inches to meters", or "how to convert pounds to kilograms".


Which is the smaller mass?

If the units are the same, that will be the one with the smaller number of units.


How many millimeters are in 60 meters?

60 milimeters are = with 0,06 meters (to convert gigger units into smaller units take a 0 on the right for every smaller unit and when you have no more 0s put a 0 on the left of the number that is not 0 and a , after the first 0)


Convert 7400 square meters in to running meters?

It doesn't make sense to convert that. You can only convert units of the same kind, e.g., units of length to units of length; units of area to units of area; units of time to units of time, etc.