Basic Units

Appears in
Professional Baking
Professional Baking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2008

  • About
In the metric system, there is one basic unit for each type of measurement:
  • The gram is the basic unit of weight.
  • The liter is the basic unit of volume.
  • The meter is the basic unit of length.
  • The degree Celsius is the basic unit of temperature.
Larger or smaller units are made simply by multiplying or dividing by 10, 100, 1000, and so on. These divisions are expressed by prefixes. The ones you need to know are:
  • kilo- = 1000
  • deci- = or 0.1
  • centi- = or 0.01
  • milli- = or 0.001

Once you know these basic units, you do not need complicated tables such as the first table. The table below summarizes the metric units you need to know in the bakeshop.