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Conversion
Measurement Converter Help | | | | | | |
Introduction: The Measurement
Converter is a sophisticated measurement conversion calculator that
recognizes any combination of over 800 conversion factors, prefixes,
constants, abbreviations, and synonyms. Enter the measurement that you
would like to convert from into the Convert From box, enter the measurement
that you would like to convert to into the Convert To box (or leave it
blank), then press the Convert It! button.
- Natural Language: Measurements can be
entered as English phrases or in a form similar to algebraic
expressions. For example, to convert from 10 cubic feet, enter
the 10
cubic feet in the Convert From box.
- Depth of Coverage: The Converter knows all
of the important metric, SI, English, Avoirdupois, Troy, and ancient
conversion factors. For example, converting 10
cups to liters returns 2.37.
- Combination of Units: The Converter
understands any combination of the known units and/or prefixes. For
example, converting 45
ft*lbs/second^2 to Newtons returns 6.22. Measurements like
"acre-foot" can be entered by separating the units with an
asterisk, as in acre*foot
or acre*feet.
Measurements like "gallons per minute" can be entered as gallons
per minute or by separating the units with a slash, as in gallons/minute.
- Exponents (Square, Cubic, etc.): Powers
can be entered using a caret ("^"). For example,
square feet can be entered as feet^2
or ft^2, and cubic
feet can be entered as feet^3
or ft^3.
Square feet can also be entered directly as square
feet and cubic feet can also be entered directly as cubic
feet.
- Abbreviations and Synonyms: The Converter
knows the abbreviations, full names, and common synonyms for the
conversion factors. For example, "kilometers per hour" can
be entered as kph, km/hr,
kmeters/hour,
kilometers/hour,
kilometers
per hour, etc.
- Remaining Units: The Converter returns the
remaining units if the dimensions of the units do not match. For
example, converting 12
Joules to Newtons returns "12 meters". Remaining
units are returned in the standard SI units for the physical
measurement. For example, results representing energy such as
"kilowatt hours" are displayed in joules (the SI unit of
energy).
- Fractional Numbers: The Converter
understand numbers expressed in either decimal form or as fractions.
For example, .2
gallons can be entered as 1/5
gallon. You cannot enter fractions like "1 2/3
gallons" yet; we're working on it!
- Currency/Exchange Rates: Use world
currencies/current exchange rates within the measurement conversion
calculator. See this
page for more information.
- Results Box: All input expressions and
results are shown along with the primary physical measurement that
they represent. For example, any measurements of the form
"length per time" (e.g. miles
per hour) are described as "speed".
- Plural/Singular Forms: The Converter
searches for unit definitions using the non-plural form of those
names which may be plural. For example, a search for
"Newtons" would first look for "Newtons" then
look for "Newton" when that is not found.
- Case-sensitivity: The Converter first
tries to match each unit name using exact capitalization, then it
tries to find a match using a case-insensitive search. For example,
a search for "newton" would first look for
"newton" then look for a unit whose capitalized name is
"NEWTON" if "newton" were not found.
- Overloaded Names: The Converter contains
some definitions whose abbreviations are the same. In such cases,
the abbreviations are capitalized differently. For example, it
recognizes "m" to mean either "meter" when used
alone, or to mean "milli" when immediately followed by a
unit (as in "ml" which means "milliliters"), and
it recognizes "M" to mean "mega" in all cases.
When in doubt about how to enter a measurement, try spelling out the
names of the measurements you are trying to convert, or use
abbreviations but review the results to make sure that the Converter
interpreted your abbreviations correctly.
- Multiple Prefixes Not Recognized: The
Converter recognizes any combination of known prefixes and/or units.
It will recognize "kilometers" as a combination of the
prefix "kilo" and the measurement "meters". It
does not recognize more than one prefix so, for example, it
would not recognize "kilokilometers" as another way to
represent "megameters".
- Order of Evaluation: Within measurement
expressions, division (as represented by the slash "/")
has a lower precedence than multiplication (as represented by the
asterisk "*"), unlike the rules of algebra where these
operators have equal precedence. So, the measurement
expression m^2/V*s
would be interpreted by the Converter as (m^2)/(V*s) and not as
((m^2)/V)*s.
- Frequently Asked Questions: Additional
help and documentation is available in the Measurement Converter Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ).
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