Departments
Community Services
Consumer Protection
The Metric System
The metric system is easy to learn. For use in your everyday
life, you will only need to learn about ten new units. You will also have
to get used to some new temperatures. But there are some metric units you
are already familiar with - those for time and electricity are the same
as the ones you use now.
The principle units of the metric system are the meter, which is the unit
of length; the gram, which is the unit of weight; and the liter, which
is the unity of capacity.
Other units in the metric system are the decimal subdivisions and multiples
of the basic units, named by combining the proper prefix with the name
of the basic unit to form self-defining terms. The prefixes commonly used
are "milli-" meaning the one-thousandth part; "centi-" meaning the one-hundredth
part; and "kilo-" meaning one thousand times. For example: milliliter means
one one-thousandth of a liter; centimeter means one one-hundredth of a
meter; and kilogram means one thousand grams.
This feature makes the metric system a "decimal" system like our monetary
and numerations systems - and thus a much easier system to learn and use.
You can even make comparisons with our monetary system that will help you
to remember the various metric prefixes. There are ten mills in a cent,
and ten millimeters in a centimeter. There are 100 cents in a dollar, and
100 centimeters in a meter.
Helpful Information
Department of Consumer Protection /
Weights
and Measures
Michael D. Bannon
Director
50 North Main Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone: 215-348-7442
Fax: 215-348-4570
Canny Consumer Hotline 1-800-942-2669