Video Transcript
If the capacity of a tin is 42.4
liters, what is its volume in cubic decimeters?
In order to answer this question,
we need to recall some of our conversions. The prefixes deci-, centi-, and
milli- mean one-tenth, one-hundredth, and one-thousandth, respectively. This means that a decimeter is
one-tenth of a meter. A centimeter is one-hundredth of a
meter. And a milliliter is one-thousandth
of a liter. As there are 10 centimeters in one
decimeter, we can calculate the number of cubic centimeters in one cubic decimeter
by cubing both sides. 10 cubed is equal to 1000, so there
are 1000 cubic centimeters in one cubic decimeter.
We know from the prefix milli- that
there are 1000 milliliters in one liter. We now need to recall how we can
convert from units of capacity to units of volume. One milliliter of capacity is equal
to one cubic centimeter of volume. This means that one liter of
capacity must be equal to one cubic decimeter of volume. As the ratio of cubic decimeters to
liters is one to one, then 42.4 liters will be equal to 42.4 cubic decimeters.
