Imperial units
In a nutshell
The imperial unit system is another set of units that are not used as much nowadays, but are still seen in specific circumstances.
Imperial units
Here is a table of imperial units:
Measurement
| Units
|
| Length
| Inches, feet, yards, miles
|
| Area
| Square inches, square feet, square miles
|
| Volume
| Cubic inches, cubic feet, gallons, pints
|
| Mass
| Ounces, pounds, stones, tons
|
| Speed
| Miles per hour (mph) |
Note: Tons and tonnes are two different units of measure!
Converting between units
While there is no need to memorise any conversions related to imperial measurements, it is still important to be familiar with them when converting from either one imperial unit to another, or an imperial unit to a metric unit.
Example 1
A bird weighs 3 pounds. Given that 1 pound =16 ounces, how much does the bird weigh in ounces?
The conversion rate is given:
1 pound =16 ounces
Multiply both sides by 3 to find what 3 pounds is equivalent to:
3 pounds =16×3 ounces
3 pounds =48 ounces
The bird weighs 48 ounces.
Example 2
Give an approximate conversion of 30 pints to gallons to 1 decimal place, given that 1 litre ≈1.75 pints, and 1 gallon ≈4.5 litres.
First, convert the 30 pints to litres:
1 litre ≈1.75 pints
1 pint ≈1.751 litres
30 pints ≈(1.751×30) litres
30 pints ≈17.14 litres
Then, convert the 17.14 litres to gallons:
1 gallon ≈4.5 litres
1 litre ≈4.51 gallons
17.14 litres ≈(4.51×17.14) gallons
17.14 litres ≈3.8095.... gallons
30 pints≈3.8 gallons (1.d.p)
