The Unit Factor Method and Conversion Problems

Manyassignmentsinthiscoursewillrequireyoutoperformamathematicalcalculation.
Forexample,Dr.Gomezorders0.08gramsofmedicationforapatient.Eachpill
contains0.003gramsofthemedicine.Howmanypillswillthepatientneed?This
problemmayseemdifficultatfirstbutthereisaproblemsolvingmethodcalledtheunit
factormethodthatwillguideyou,stepbystep,tothecorrectanswer.
A) Numbers and units

Anyvalueorquantityinaproblemhastwoparts:Anumberandaunit.Forexample,
0.08 grams
Thenumber

Theunit

Theunittellsyouwhattypeofthingyouaretalkingabout.Thenumbertellsyouhow
muchofthatthingyouaretalkingabout.

B) Making unit conversion factors

Whatisaunitconversionfactor?Aunitconversionfactorisanythingthatrelatesone
quantitytoanotherquantity.Forexample,thephrase60secondsperminuteisaunit
conversionfactorbecauseitrelatessecondstominutes.Peachesare$1.50apoundis
unitconversionfactorthatrelatespoundsofpeachestodollars.Fourlegsperdogisa
unitconversionfactorthatrelateslegstodogs.Unitconversionfactorsareimportant
becausetheyarewhatyouusetosolvemedicationproblems,liketheDr.Gomez
medicationproblemgivenatthestartofthishandout.
Allunitconversionfactorscanbewrittenasafraction,withonequantityontopofthe
fractionandtheotherquantityonthebottomofthefraction.Forexample,theunit
conversionfactor60secondsperminutecanbewrittenas:
60 seconds
1 minute

Noticethatthewordpertellsyouwhatgoesaboveandwhatgoesbelowthefraction
line.Whatevercomesbeforethewordperalwaysgoesabovethefractionlineand
whatevercomesafterthewordperalwaysgoesbelowthefractionline.Youcanthink
ofthewordperasmeaningafractionlineordividedby.Infact,theunit
conversionfactorwrittenaboveisreadaloudbysaying60secondsperminute.

Alsonoticethenumber1wasputbeforetheminuteunit.Eachunitmustalwayshavea
numberinfrontofit.Ifthephrasedoesnttellyouthenumberforaunit,assumethe
numberisone.
Thewordequalsworksthesamewayasthewordper.Forexample,youknowthe
phrase12inchesequalsonefoot.Fromthisyoucanmakeaconversionfactor:
12 inches
1 foot
Justlikethewordper,thewordequalsmeansyoushoulddrawafractionline.What
comesbeforethewordequalsalwaysgoesabovethefractionlineandwhatcomesafter
thewordequalsalwaysgoesbelowthefractionline.
Oftentheunitconversionfactoryouneedtosolveaproblemisnotgiventoyoudirectly
intheproblem.Sowheredoesitcomefrom?Fromyou!Youcanmakeaunitconversion
factorfromanyphraseyouknowthatcontainsthewordperorthewordequals.You
canevenmakeunitconversionfactorsoutofphrasesthatdontcontainthewordsper
orequals.Anyphrasethatrelatesonequantitytoanotherisaunitconversionfactor.
Someexamplesaregivenbelow:
1.90 dollars
1 gallon

Gasolinecosts$1.90agallon.
(1.90dollarspergallon)
Nickelsweigh4.5gramseach.
(4.5gramspernickel)

4.5 grams
1 nickel

Everydaythecateats3cupsofcatfood.
(3cupscatfoodperday)

3 cups cat food

1 day

Whenyoulookatawrittenunitconversionfactor,whatevervalueisontopofthe
fractionlineiscalledthenumerator.Whatevervalueisbelowthefractionlineiscalled
thedenominator.Inthepreviousexample,3 cups cat foodisthenumeratorand1 day
isthedenominator.
Thelastthingyouneedtoknowaboutunitconversionfactorsisthatyouarealwaysfree
toflipthemupsidedownwheneveryouneedto.Thisiscalledinvertingthem.
12 inches
1 foot

can become

1 foot
12 inches

Sounitconversionfactorsalwayscomeinpairs.Eachmemberofthepairismadeby
invertingthenumeratoranddenominatoroftheother.
Exercise1:Foreachunitbelow,writeapairofunitconversionfactorsthatrelateitto
someotherunit.Thefirstoneisdoneforyouasanexample

a)Days

7 days
1 week

and

1 week
7 days

b)Pennies

c)Minutes

d)Feet

C) The unit factor conversion method of problem solving

Asanexampleofhowtousetheunitconversionfactormethodtosolveaproblem,we
willusethefollowingproblem:Anexperimentisdonetoseethehealtheffectoflarge
amountsofaspirinonrats.Eachratgets22gramsofaspirin.If60ratsareusedinthe
experiment,howmanygramsofaspirinwillbeused?
Step1:WritetheanswerunitReadtheproblemandfindwhatunitstheanswermust
have.Theanswerunitsareusuallytheunitsafterthewordshowmanyorhowmuch.
Inourexample,theproblemaskshowmanygramsofaspirinsogramsofaspirinare
theanswerunit.Write=___________gramsaspirinontherightsideofthepaper:
= __________grams aspirin
Step2:FindaunitconversionfactorthatinvolvestheanswerunitReadtheproblem
andfindasentencethatrelatestheanswerunittosomethingelse.Inourexample,one
sentencereadsEachratgets22gramsofaspirin.Thissentencerelatestheanswerunit
(gramsofaspirin)tosomethingelse(rats).
Step3:Writeaunitconversionfactorbasedonthesentence.Theunitconversion
factormusthavetheanswerunitsonthetop.Rememberthatsometimestheproblem
wontstatetheunitconversionfactorifitissomethingthatmostpeoplealreadyknow
(suchas60minutestoanhour).

22 grams aspirin
1 rat

= __________grams aspirin

Step4:Findavalueintheproblemthathasthesameunitsthatappearonthe
bottomoftheunitconversionfactor.Inourproblem,theunitsthatappearonthebottom
oftheunitconversionfactorarerat,solookforavalueintheproblemthatrelatesto
rats.If60ratsareusedintheexperimentisthevaluestatementrelatingtorats.
60 rats

x 22 grams aspirin
1 rat

= __________grams aspirin

Step5:Checktoseethattheunitscancel.Thismeansthatforeachunitonthebottom
ofafraction,youmustfindthesameunitatthetopofafraction.Unitsthatarenotshown
asfractions(like60 ratsinthisproblem)areconsideredtobeatthetopofafraction.
Youcancheckthattheunitscancelbywritingaslashthrougheachunitthatappearsat
thebottomandatthetopofafraction.Inourexample,theratunitscancel.
60 rats

22 grams aspirin
1 rat

= __________grams aspirin

Ifyouhavedonethisstepcorrectly,theonlyunitthatdoesnotcancelistheanswerunit
(whichisgrams aspirin inthisproblem).
Step6:Carryoutthemultiplication.Thisisthestepwhereyouuseyourcalculator.You
shouldmultiplytogetherallthenumbersontopofthefractionsanddividethatanswerby
allthenumbersonthebottomofthefractions.Thebuttonsyoushouldpressonyour
calculatorforthisproblemare:
6

2 2

Thecorrectanswershouldbe1320.Youmayhavenoticedthatthelastbuttonsyou
pushed(dividingby1)didnotchangeyouranswer.Dividingby1neverchangesa
number.Nevertheless,itsgoodtogetinthehabitofdividingbyalldenominator
numbersbecauseinotherproblemsitmaynotbe1thatyouaredividingby.

Exercise2:Usetheunitfactormethodtosolvethefollowingproblems.Setupeach
problemintheexactsameway(usingallsixsteps)astheexampleproblemonthe
previouspages.Showallyourwork.Ifyougetstuck,askyourinstructorforhelp.
a)Applessellfor43centsapound.Howmuchdo3.2poundsofapplescost?
b)Goldcosts$500perounce.Asolidgoldnuggetis23.5ounces.Howmuchisit
worth?
c)Howmanyfeetaretherein58yards?
d)Thenewhybridcarsget65milespergallon.Howmanymilescanyoudriveon5
gallonsofgas?
e)Howmanynickelsarein126dollars?
f)Howmanydaysarethereintwoandahalfyears?
g)Dr.Gomezorders0.08gramsofmedicationforapatient.Eachpillcontains0.003
gramsofthemedicine.Howmanypillswillthepatientneed?

D) Problems that require more than one unit conversion factor

Theproblemsyouhaveworkedsofarcanbesolvedusingonesingleunitconversion
factor.Someproblemsrequiretwounitconversionfactorstosolve.Hereisanexampleof
oneoftheseproblems:
Howmanysecondsaretherein5hours?
Thereisnocommonphrasethatrelatessecondsperhour,soyoucantsolvetheproblem
withasingleunitconversionfactor.Itwillrequiretwounitconversionfactors.Hereis
howtheproblemissetup:
5 hours

x 60 minutes
1 hour

60 seconds
1 minute

= ____________ seconds

Firstofall,noticethattheproblemissetupintheexactsamewayasasingleunit
conversionfactorproblem:Startingunits(hours)ontheleft,answerunits(seconds)on
theright,andconversionfactorsbetweenthem.
Andasbefore,alltheunits(excepttheanswerunitsseconds)mustcancelout.
Howdoyoupicktherighttwounitconversionfactors?Forthefirstone,pickaunit
conversionfactorthatwillcanceloutthestartingunits.Inotherwords,yourfirstunit
conversionfactormusthavethestartingunitsunderthefractionline.Thesecondunit
conversionfactormusthavetheanswerunitsontop.Onthebottomitmusthavethetop
unitsfromthefirstconversionfactor.
Toputitsimply,eachunitconversionfactormustcanceloutthetopunitstoitsleft.
Exercise3:Usetheunitfactormethodtosolvethefollowingproblems.Showallyour
work,includingtheunitfactorsandthecancelledunits
a)Howmanyinchesaretherein110yards?
b)Howmanyhoursaretherein5andahalfweeks?
c)Sarahcanstudy20pagespernight.Eachpagehasthreehomeworkproblems.If
shestudiesfor3nightshowmanyhomeworkproblemswillshedo?
d)OntheplanetShnoidia,everyoneearns80Quatloosaday.OneZerumba(a
favoritefooditem)costs7Quatloos.HowmanyZerumbascanbepurchasedif
someoneworksfor3days?
e)Dr.Michaelprescribes300mgadayofmedicinetoapatent.Eachpillhas15mg
ofmedicine.Howmanypillswillthepatientneedfor7days?
f)Asolutioncontains5gramsofglucoseper100milliliters.Eachmoleofglucose
weighs180grams.Howmanymolesaretherein200millilitersoftheglucose
solution?