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Because in any given measurement, there are more of the smaller units than bigger units. There are less than 2 metres in my height (1.78 m). But in a smaller unit, eg centimetre, there are is 178 of them. That is a staggering 1780000 micrometres tall :) But, then again, that is only 0.00178 kilometres :(
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.
To convert from a larger unit to a smaller unit you would multiply. Ex: 5 km = 5000 m Where 1 km = 1000 m <><><><><> It depends on which factor you are multiplying or dividing by. It can go either way. To convert from ounces to grams, for instance, you can divide by 28.350, or you can multiply by 0.035273.
When converting from a larger unit to a smaller unit there will be more of them, so multiply by the conversion factor; eg km to m: there a 1000m in 1 km, so multiply by 1000 so 2.4 km = 2.4 x 1000 m = 2400 m When converting from a smaller unit to a larger unit there will be less of them so divide by the conversion factor; eg m to km: there are 1000m in 1 km so divide by 1000, so 2400 m = 2400 ÷ 1000 km = 2.4 km