Metric

You must use metric measure in your writing.

It's decades since Australia switched to metric. You should use only metric measurements. There are some exceptions such as sailing magazines that still like to write about 36 foot yachts and 22 fathoms down. If you feel readers need to also know the old imperial measure, then put the accurate imperial equivalent in brackets after the metric measurement, like this: The knife is 15cm (6 inches) long.

Conversion tables:

Symbol

When You Know

Multiply By

To Find

Symbol

Length

in

inches

25.4

millimetres

mm

ft

feet

0.305

metres

m

yd

yards

0.914

metres

m

mi

miles

1.61

kilometres

km

Area

in2

square inches

645.2

square millimetres

mm2

ft2

square feet

0.093

square metres

m2

yd2

square yard

0.836

square meters

m2

ac

acres

0.405

hectares

ha

mi2

square miles

2.59

square kilometers

km2

Volume

fl oz

fluid ounces

29.57

millilitres

mL

gal

gallons

3.785

litres

L

ft3

cubic feet

0.028

cubic metres

m3

yd3

cubic yards

0.765

cubic metres

m3

Mass

oz

ounces

28.35

grams

g

lb

pounds

0.454

kilograms

kg

T

short tons (2000 lb)

0.907

megagrams (or "metric ton")

Mg (or "t")

Temperature

oF

Fahrenheit

(F-32) x 5 / 9

or

(F-32) / 1.8

Celsius

oC

Illumination

fc

foot-candles

10.76

lux

lx

fl

foot-Lambrets

3.426

candela/m2

cd/m2

FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS

lbf

poundforce

4.45

newtons

N

lbf/in2

poundforce pre square inch

6.89

kilopascals

kPa