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Units Conversion Factors and Symbols (SI and Metric) Part 1

April 25, 2022Chemical pathologyLab Tests

Units Conversion Factors (SI and Metric)

History:

  1. There are two types of unit systems used in the world. These are:
    1. Metric system.
    2. SI system
  2. WHO recommends SI units (systeme international d’unities).

There are 7 SI base units, as follows:

SI unit Symbol Used for
Kilogram Kg Weight
Metre m Length
Seconds s Time
mole mol It is the amount of the substance
Kalvin k Temperature
Ampere A Electricity
Candela cd Luminous intensity

Metric and SI unit Conversion Factors are:

To convert from Into Multiplication factor
Centimeter Inches 0.39
Inches Centimeter 2.54
Meter Yards 1.09
Yards Meter 0.91
Gallons Liters 3.78
Liter Gallons 0.26
Gallon Liter 3.78
Gram Ounce 0.035
Ounce Gram 28.4
Kilogram Pound 2.2
Pound Kilogram 0.45
Centigrade ( C ) Fahrenheit (F) F = (C x 1.8) + 32
Fahrenheit Centigrade C = ( F — 32 ) x 0.556
%weight/volume (weight=w and volume=v) Molar solution (M) M = %w/v x 10/gram mol.weighyt
%weight/volume Normal solution (N) N = % w/v x 10 /equivalent weight
mg/dL meq/L meq/L = mg/dL x 10 / equivalent weight

Symbols used with SI units:

Factor (value) Prefix The symbol in the SI system Divided by 
10-1 deci- d  (10-1) 10
10-2 centi- c  (10-2) 100
10-3 milli- m (10-3) 1000
10-6 micro- µ  (10-6) 1 000, 000
10-9 nano- n  (10-9) 1 000, 000, 000
10-12 pico- p  (10-12) 1 000,000,000,000
10-15 femto- f  (10-15) 1 000, 000, 000 ,000, 000
10-18 atto- a (10-18) 1 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000
Multiply by
101 Deka da  (101) 10
102 hecto- h  (102) 100
103 Kilo- k  (103) 1000
106 mega- M  (106) 1000,000
109 giga- G  (109) 1000, 000, 000
1012 tera- T  (1012) 1 000, 000, 000, 000

Unit Conversion factors from the old units to SI units with examples:

Chemical substances Old units SI units Factor from the old unit to the SI unit (multiplication factor)
Albumin g/dL g/L 10
Protein g/dL g/L 10
Bilirubin mg/dL µmol/L 17.1
Calcium mg/dL mmol/L 0.25
Magnesium mg/dL mmol/L 0.411
Iron µg/dL µmol/L 0.179
Phosphate (inorganic) mg/dL mmol/L 0.323
Creatinine mg/dL mmol/L 0.088
Urea nitrogen mg/dL mmol/L 0.167
Uric acid mg/dL mmol/L 0.06
Glucose mg/dL mmol/L 0.056
Cholesterol mg/dL mmol/L 0.026
Fibrinogen g/dL g/L 10

Please see in part 2

Possible References Used
Go Back to Chemical pathology

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