1. What is a litre?
Think of a litre as the space occupied by a cube of side 10 cm.
2. How can I convert units from one system to another e.g. metres into feet?
There are so many different systems in different countries and cultures that it is impossilbe to remember them all. A useful website is called MegaConvertor.
3. Who started the metric system?
The French introduced the metric system shortly after the French Revolution in the 1790s.
4. How far is a metre?
A metre was initially defined a one ten millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole on a line running through Paris.
5. Which are the most commonly used prefixes?
Kilo − 1000 times the base unit
centi- 1/100th of the basic unit
milli- 1/1000th of the base unit
6. How heavy is a gram?
A gram is not much at all!
A small drop of liquid would weigh just a few grams.
7. What is a tonne?
A tonne is a mass of 1000 kg, which is the weight of a small truck.
8. What is the difference between mass and weight?
For mathematical purposes the mass and the weight are the same.