Converting Metres to Kilometres and Kilometres to Metres

- A kilometre is a unit of measurement used to measure long distances such as length of a road.
- Here is an example of a road sign that you might have seen:

Practice Question 1

Assume that this road sign is at a Point A
a) Can you tell the distance from Point A to Nairobi?
b) Can you tell the distance from Point A to Eldoret?
c) Can you tell the distance from Point A to Mombasa?

Answer:

a) Point A to Nairobi: 9 km
b) Point A to Eldoret: 320 km
c) Point A to Mombasa: 496 km

Here is a better demonstration of length:

Practice Question 2

a) What is the distance from Home to School using a direct route?
b) What is distance from the Shop to Home using a direct route?
c) Today, Susan walked from home to school. In the evening, she walked to the shop to buy milk and walked back home. How many kilometres did she cover?

Answer:

a) Home to School: 4 km
b) Shop to Home: 2 km
c) Home to School - 4 km, school to shop - 5 km and shop to home - 2 km
Therefore: 4 km + 5 km + 2 km = 11 km
Susan covered 11 km today.

Practice Question 3

Each day Susan walks 11 km. If Susan goes through the same route for 5 days, what far does she cover?

Answer:

Each day she walks 11 km, for 5 days she will walk:
11 km + 11 km + 11 km + 11 km + 11 km
11 km x 5 days
55 km

Practice Question 4

Martin rides a bicycle to work every day covering a distance of 5 kilometres. How many metres does he ride his bicycle everyday?

Answer:

Distance covered = 5 km
5 km = 5 x 1000 m
5 km = 5000 m
Martin covers 5000 m everyday.

Practice Question 5

Martha ran 4 kilometres and 260 metres today at school during sports day. How many metres did she run?

Answer:

Distance covered = 4 km 260 m
4 km = 4 x 1000 m
4 km = 4000 m
Total distance = 4000 m + 260 m
Martha ran 4260 m.

Practice Question 6

Over the school holidays, Trisha visited her grandparents who lived 2000 m away. How many kilometres did she travel?

Answer:

Distance covered = 2000 m
1000 m = 1km
2000 m ÷ 1000 m
2000 m = 2 km
Trisha covered 2 km.

Practice Question 7

Convert 4600 m into kilometres

Answer:

Distance = 4600 m
4600 m = 4000m + 600 m
4000 m ÷ 1000 m
4000 m = 4 km
4 km 600 m