Conversion Factor of Imperial and SI Units

by Civil-Guy on February 3, 2010 in Formulas and Units

Sometimes other people asked me what is the conversion from this unit to this unit, say meters to inches . And then I started to count in my head or think of some clue…ohh, gushhh…I forgot and simply said to check it later on. So, I’m doing myself a favor by complying this basic fundamental conversion factors, which is between Imperial and SI units. That is when I realized the important of this knowledge as it is very useful for many application later on…

It is a good practice to comply everything into forms of table for reference. We oath to think to much inside our mind and will definitely forget it as we thought it is not too important to remember or the units is already given as reference in some cases. Some country still using Imperial units like the United States (i.e. foot) and mostly using the SI units especially for engineering purposes.

Parameters

Imperial to SI

SI to Imperial

Length 0.3048
25.4
m
mm
3.281
0.03937
ft (foot)
in (inch)
Area 0.09290
645.2
m2
mm2
10.76
0.001550
square foot
square inch
Volume 0.02832
4.546
3.785
28.32
16.39
16387
m3
litre
litre
litre
ml
mm3
35.31
0.2200
0.2642
0.03531
0.06102
cubit foot
gallon (UK)
gallon (US)
cubit foot
cubit inch
cubit inch
Mass 1.016
0.4536
453.6
28.35
Mg or tonne
kg
g
g
0.9842
2.205
0.3527
ton
lb (pound)
lb (pound)
oz (ounce)
Density 0.01602 Mg/m3 or g/cm3 62.43 pound/cubic foot
Force 9.964
4.448
kN
N
0.1004
0.2248
ton force
pound force
Pressure 0.04788
6.895
47.88
kN/m2 or kPa
kN/m2
kN/m2 or Pa
20.89
0.1450
0.02089
lb f/sq ft
lb f/sq in
lb f/sq ft

CCS: Table 1

Examples of conversion:
Taking the 1st row, the Length parameter

  • Converting Imperial to SI unit; 1 ft / 3.281 = 0.3048 m
  • Converting SI to Imperial unit; 1 m / 0.3048 = 3.281 ft

How about converting in to m; we knew that 1 ft = 12 in = 0.3048 m
So, 1 in = (1 x 0.3048) / 12 = 0.0254 m

Taking the 2nd row, the Area parameter

  • Converting Imperial to SI unit; 1 sq. ft / 10.76 = 0.09290 m2
  • Converting SI to Imperial unit; 1 m2 / 0.09290 = 10.76 sq. ft

How about converting sq.in to m2; we knew that 1 sq.ft = (12 x 12) sq.in = 0.09290 m2
So, 1 sq.in = (1 x 0.09290) / (12 x 12) = 0.0006451 m2

The conversion units shown in CCS: Table 1 above would be our general guideline or reference whereas we still need to calculate further such as in the conversion examples. With that in mind, I hope this will help (me personally) and may develop your skill in converting units effectively and accurately…

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Author: Civil-Guy | Blog: Civil Craft Structures | Subscribe: RSS or Email

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