Converting to British Metrics

As with many technological advances that preceded it, it is axiomatic that the Internet has furthered the effect of the world getting smaller.  Mastery of different systems of commerce and communication has become all the more important as we evolve at light speed.  The fact that hundreds of Excel users in the United Kingdom access this blog each month is a minor testament to our interconnectivity. 

With the many websites devoted to exchanges, it is a rather simple matter to Convert from One System of Measure to Another.  If you are working in Excel, however, there is no need to access any outside tools for this purpose. The built-in CONVERT function can handle most of our needs in this regard, and is one of those obscure little tools in Excel that you may find to be very convenient.

 

The CONVERT function can translate a Wide Variety of measurements that include Time, distance, Temperature, Weight, and much more.

Using the appropriate abbreviations for the Units, the Syntax of the CONVERT function is as follows:

CONVERT(Number, From Unit, To Unit) where:

1. Number is the Amount in From Units to convert
2. From Unit are the units Being Converted
3. To Unit are the Units in the Result

Some Commonly Used Abbreviations are shown in the table below.  For a Full List of all the measures that can be converted, please see the CONVERT function Help topic.

Meter	“M”
Inch	“in”
Foot	“ft”
Yard	“yd”
Degree Celsius	“C”
Degree Fahrenheit	“F”
U.S. Pint	“us_pt”
U.K. Pint	“uk_pt”
Gallon	“gal”
Imperial Gallon	“uk_gal”
Liter	“L”

The CONVERT function.  Another one of the Little-Known Gems in Excel that can make your life just a bit easier.  Give it a try some time…