Understanding unit conversion is essential for scientists, engineers, and students as they frequently encounter the need to convert measurements from one system to another. In physics, the International System of Units (SI) is the standard, but the Centimeter-Gram-Second (CGS) system is still in use for some applications.
For example, when converting density from SI to CGS units, we must convert each unit of mass and volume separately. Mass conversion involves changing kilograms (kg) to grams (g), using the fact that 1 kg equals 1000 g. Volume conversion requires changing cubic meters (m³) to cubic centimeters (cm³), which involves cubing the conversion from meters to centimeters (1 m = 100 cm).
- 1 kg = 1000 g
- 1 m³ = (100 cm)³ = 1,000,000 cm³