The length of the bar for a high jump competition must always be 4.75 m. Express this measurement in millimeters. Explain your thinking. Include an equation with an exponent in your explanation.
Answers
4,750 mm
Equation with an exponent 4.75 x 10^{3}10
3
= 4,750
First, it's important to know that there are 1,000 millimeters in 1 meter. Second, it's important to know that 10^{3}10
3
is the same as 1,000. In order to find out how many millimeters are in 4.75 meters, one must multiply 4.75 by 1,000.
Further Explanation
A meter is a unit of metric measurement. Track and Field events use the metric system because it is a universal unit of measurement. Inches and feet are not units used all over the world. The Olympic Games use the metric system so this is the system that is universally adopted throughout the world for many sporting events, including track and field. Sports that are more commonly attributed to the USA and not an Olympic event often uses the US system. An example is football. The field is measured in yards instead of meters.
The prefix milli- means 1,000. Often it is used to denote a thousandth unit of measurement in the metric system. This is a useful item to know because it can be applied to many different math terms such as millimeters or milliliters.
An exponent is the amount of times a number is multiplied to itself. For example 4^{2}4
2
is the same as 4 x 4 = 16. This is a faster way to write repeated multiplication.
Remember multiplication is a faster way to write repeated addition! Exponents are a faster way to write repeated multiplication.