Concept 7 of 7
Measurement Word Problems: Multi-Step
Today's big idea
Read the problem → identify the unit → convert if needed → compute → re-state with units.
Lose the unit halfway and the arithmetic cannot save the answer.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
Most measurement questions hide three small jobs inside one story. Miss the unit the answer wants and clever arithmetic cannot save you.
💡 Here's the trick
Look at the flow above. Four steps handle every measurement story: identify, convert, solve, restate. Doing them in that order keeps you inside one unit the whole way.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Read the four boxes in the flow above.
- 2.Note the unit the answer must use.
- 3.Convert, solve, then restate in that unit.
✍️ Try it
A crate holds 24 tins of 400 g. What is its mass in kg? Then: how many 300 mL cups fill a 6 L jug?
The tins come to 24 × 400 = 9,600 g, which restates as 9.6 kg. The jug holds 6,000 mL, and 6,000 ÷ 300 gives 20 cups.
⚠️ Watch out
You might be thinking the last number you work out is the answer. Often that is not true. A total of 9,600 g still has to be restated in kg before you tick a box.
🌟 Why this matters
Planning a journey, filling a car and cooking for a crowd each need several measuring steps in a row. One flow keeps you from losing a unit halfway.
Exam tip: Underline the unit the question asks for before you write a single number.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“A jug holds 2 L. Nine 150 mL cups are poured out. How many mL are left?”
- 1
Pick a unit & convert
Use mL. Jug = 2,000 mL. 🧠
- 2
Total poured out
9 × 150 = 1,350 mL.
- 3
Subtract
2,000 − 1,350 = 650 mL
- 4
Answer ✓
650 mL left
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Identify the target unit → convert everything to it → solve → state the answer with units.
STORY · ROUND 1 OF 3
A ribbon is 5 m long. Tara cuts four pieces of 1 m 15 cm each. How much ribbon is LEFT?
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
A shelf is 2 m long. How many books 8 cm thick stand on it?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!