Page 433 - Basic College Mathematics with Early Integers

Objectives 5.6 CAPACITY: U.S. AND METRIC SYSTEMS OF MEASUREMENT

Define U.S. Units of Capacity
and Convert from One Unit to
Another. Objective Defining and Converting U.S.
System Units of Capacity
Perform Arithmetic Operations
on U.S. Units of Capacity. Units of capacity are generally used to measure liquids. The number of gallons of
gasoline needed to fill a gas tank in a car, the number of cups of water needed in a
Define Metric Units of Capacity bread recipe, and the number of quarts of milk sold each day at a supermarket are
and Convert from One Unit to all examples of using units of capacity. The following summary shows equivalencies
Another. between units of capacity:

Perform Arithmetic Operations
on Metric Units of Capacity.
U.S. Units of Capacity
8 fluid ounces (fl oz) = 1 cup (c)
2 cups = 1 pint (pt)
2 pints = 1 quart (qt)
4 quarts = 1 gallon (gal)

Just as with units of length and weight, we can form unit fractions to convert
between different units of capacity. For instance,
2 c 1 pt 2 pt 1 qt
= = 1 and = = 1
1 pt 2 c 1 qt 2 pt

PRACTICE 1 Example 1 Convert 9 quarts to gallons.
Convert 43 pints to quarts. 1 gal
Solution: We multiply by the unit fraction .
4 qt
9 qt
9 qt = # 1
1
9 qt 1 gal
= #
1 4 qt
9 gal
=
4
1
= 2 gal
4
1
Thus, 9 quarts is the same as 2 gallons, as shown in the diagram:
4

+ + 9 quarts
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2~ gal

1 gallon 1 gallon ~ gallon
Work Practice 1
Answer
1
1. 21 qt
2
410