Imperial and metric units of measurement

Imperial units of measurement are the units that were in common usage in this country up until about
thirty years ago. Even after the introduction of the metric system, Imperial units have continued to be in
everyday use in varying degrees.
Metric units of measurement are the units originally used in mainland Europe, adopted in this country
when we joined the European Economic Community (as it was then called) in the early 1970s. It is based
upon a decimal system where each unit is divided into blocks of 10 smaller units.
You can scroll down to read all the help in this section or click on one of the links below to go straight to
a specific area. It is useful to know how to convert within each of the systems of measurement, and also to
be able to convert between the two. This section gives the conversion rates for some of the common
Imperial and metric measures for:
 Length
 Area
 Mass/Weight
 Volume/Capacity
Length
Imperial units of measurement. 1 foot (ft or ‘) = 12 inches (in or ")
1 yard (yd) = 3 feet
1 mile = 1,760 yards
1 int nautical
= 2,025.4 yards
mile
Metric units of measurement. 1 centimetre
= 10 millimetres (mm)
(cm)
1 metre (m) = 100 centimetres
1 kilometre (km) = 1,000 metres
Converting from Imperial to 1 in = 25.4 mm
metric measurements. 1 in = 2.54 cm
1 ft = 0.3048 m
1 yd = 0.9144 m
1 mile = 1.6093 km
Converting from metric to 1 mm = 0.0394 in
Imperial measurements. 1 cm = 0.3937 in
1m = 3.2808 ft
1m = 1.0936 yd
1 km = 0.6214 miles
Area
Imperial units of measurement. 1 sq foot (ft2) = 144 sq inches (in2)
1 sq yard (yd2) = 9 sq feet
1 acre = 4,840 sq yards
1 sq mile = 640 acres
Metric units of measurement. 1 sq cm (cm2) = 100 sq mm (mm2)
1 sq metre (m2) = 10,000 sq cm
1 sq km (km2) = 100 hectares
Converting from Imperial to 1 in2 = 6.4516 cm2
metric measurements. 1 ft2 = 0.0929 m2
1 yd2 = 0.8361 m2
1 acre = 4046.9 m2
1 mile2 = 2.590 km2
Converting from metric to 1 cm2 = 0.1550 in2
Imperial measurements. 1 m2 = 10.7643 ft2
1 m2 = 1.1960 yd2
1 m2 = 0.0002 acres (not used)
1 km2 = 0.3861 mile2
Mass/Weight
Imperial units of measurement. 1 ounce (oz) = 437.5 grains
1 pound (lb) = 16 ounces
1 stone = 14 pounds
1 hundredweight
= 112 pounds
(cwt)
1 ton = 20 hundredweight
Metric units of measurement. 1,000 milligrams
1 gram (g) =
(mg)
1 metric carat = 0.2 grams
1 kilogram (kg) = 1,000 grams
1 tonne (t) = 1,000 kilograms
Converting from Imperial to 1 grain = 64.9351 mg
metric measurements. 1 oz = 28.35 g
0.3240 metric
1 grain =
carats
1 lb = 0.4536 kg
1 stone = 6.3503 kg
1 cwt = 50.802 kg
1 ton = 1.016 t
Converting from metric to 1 mg = 0.0154 grain
Imperial measurements. 1g = 0.0353 oz
1 metric carat = 3.0865 grains
1 kg = 2.2046 lb
1 kg = 0.1575 stone
1 kg = 0.0197 cwt
 1t = 0.9842 ton

Volume/Capacity
Imperial units of measurement. 1,728 cu inches
1 cu foot (ft3) =
(in3)
1 cu yard (yd3) = 27 cu feet (ft3)
20 fluid ounces (fl
1 pint (pt) =
oz)
1 gallon (gal) = 8 pints
Metric units of measurement. 1 cu decimetre
= 1,000 cu cm (cm3)
(dm3)
1 cu metre (m3) = 1,000 cu decimetre
1 litre (l) = 1 cu decimetre
1 hectolitre (hl) = 100 l
Converting from Imperial to 1 in3 = 16.387 cm3
metric measurements. 1 ft3 = 28.3286 dm3
1 ft3 = 0.0283 m3
1yd3 = 0.7646 m3
1fl oz = 28.413 ml
1 pint = 0.5683 l
1 gallon = 4.546 l
1 gallon = 0.0455 hl
(NB – US pints and gallons are not the same as those used in the
UK)
Converting from metric to 1 cm3 = 0.0610 in3
Imperial measurements. 1 dm3 = 0.0353 ft3
1 m3 = 35.3357ft3
1 m3 = 1.3080 yd3
1 ml = 0.0352 fl oz
1l = 1.76 pints (UK)
1l = 0.220 gallons (UK)
21.997 gallons
1 hl =
(UK)