The Importance of Measurement

What is the Importance of Understanding Measurements?

Learning about various measurements is often overlooked because it is seen as useless or easy to find on the internet. However, having an accurate sense of measurement can be very helpful in many aspects of life. Activities we do every day would also be easier and more efficient if measurements were taken more seriously.

At a general level, measurements fall into the categories of weight, area, volume, length, and even temperature.

Here are some examples of using measurements in daily life:

1. Cooking properly: Knowing about the weight and volume of a substance when cooking can help determine how much heat and time is required to cook it. For example, you can cook a chicken at 700 degrees, but it would never come out well enough to eat. So, having a sense of measurement in these fields can save you time and money in the process of making food.

2. Shopping for the correct clothes: You may think that knowledge in measurements cannot apply to the process of finding your style of dress. However, if you weigh about 300 pounds or so, buying a stylish extra-small t-shirt will do you no good. Looking for the right fit according to your weight, height and other measurements can really help you in finding your style.

3. Playing sports well: Measurements may not be such a profound technique taught in sports, however, having the correct sense of length, width, and even time can really help you in the fast decision-making required in sports. For example, when playing soccer or football, you must know how many yards or feet you are from the goal, how long it would take to run there, and how far you need to throw or kick the ball.

4. Transportation: Having the right sense of how much gas, time, and how much luggage may weigh can have a large impact on efficiently traveling.

Now that we know some important reasons why measurements should be taken seriously, let’s learn some basic information about measurements:

Metric Vs. Standard:

Metric: Most countries use the Metric System, which uses measuring units such as meters and grams, and adds prefixes like “kilo”, “milli” and “centi” to specify measurements.

Standard/Imperial: The United States uses the older Imperial system, where measurements are taken in feet, inches, and pounds.

Basic Length Measurements (Standard):

1 foot = 12 inches

1 yard = 3 feet

1 yard = 36 inches

1 mile = 1760 yards

Basic Length Measurements (Metric):

1 centimeter = 10 millimeters

1 decimeter = 10 centimeters

1 meter = 100 centimeters

1 meter = 10 decimeters

1 kilometer = 1000 meters

Written by Lakshmi Potturu

Edited by Salma Amrou