Basic Mathematics for College Students

8 Convert from one metric unit of capacity to another.

5.4 Metric Units of Measurement 465

EXAMPLE (^8) Soft Drinks How many milliliters are in three 2-liter
bottles of cola?
StrategyWe will multiply the number of bottles of cola by the number of liters
of cola in each bottle.
WHYWe need to know the total number of liters of cola before we can convert
that number to milliliters.
Solution
Since there are three bottles, and each contains 2 liters of cola, there are
6 L 6.0 L
of cola in the bottles. To construct a conversion chart, we list the metric units of
capacity from largest (kiloliters) to smallest (milliliters), working from left to right.
Then we locate the original units of liters and move to the conversion units of
milliliters, as shown below.
largest unit smallest unit
3 places to the right
We see that the decimal point in 6.0 should be moved 3 places to the right to
convert from liters to milliliters.
Move 3 places to the right.
Thus, there are 6,000 milliliters in three2-liter bottles of cola.
We can use the unit conversion factor method to confirm this result. To convert
to milliliters, we must chose a unit conversion factor such that liters drop out and
the units of milliliters remain. Since there are 1,000 milliliters per 1 liter, we
multiply 6 liters by the unit conversion factor.
Simplify.
Multiply 6 by 1,000 by moving the understood decimal
 6,000 mL point in 6 three places to the right.
 6 #1,000 mL
Remove the common units of liters in the numerator
6 L (^) and denominator. The units of mL remain.

6 L

1



1,000 mL

1 L

1,000 mL

1 L

6 liters6 000. milliliters 6,000 milliliters



kL hL daL L dL cL mL

3 2 L

Self Check 8

SOFT DRINKSHow many milliliters

are in a case oftwelve2-liter

bottles of cola?

Now TryProblems 51 and 97

Define a cubic centimeter.

Another metric unit of capacity is the cubic centimeter,which is represented by the
notation cm^3 or, more simply, cc. One milliliter and one cubic centimeter represent the
same capacity.

The units of cubic centimeters are used
frequently in medicine. For example, when a
nurse administers an injection containing 5 cc of
medication, the dosage can also be expressed
using milliliters.

5 cc5 mL

1 mL1 cm^3 1 cc

9