What is a conversion factor?

1 Answer
Feb 15, 2018

A conversion factor is a factor that is used to change between units, and therefore gives the relationship between two units.

Explanation:

For example, a common conversion factor would be

1 \ "km" = 1000 \ "m"

or

1 \ "minute" = 60 \ "seconds"

So, when we want to convert between two certain units, we can find their conversion factor (like 1,12,60,...) and then we will find their relationship.

Here is a detailed picture that shows most conversion factors:

http://indexxit.com/conversion-prefixes/amusing-best-measurement-images-teaching-ideas-math-conversion-prefixes-chart-adfcbcdaeaccabb-factor-metric-chart/