Step by step
The question
Question: change 2.5 m² to square centimeters.
1 Change the length
This square is 1 meter on each side.
Its area is 1 square meter.
1 meter is 100 centimeters.
So each side is 100 centimeters long.
2 Change the area
So the square holds 100 rows of 100 small squares, each 1 square centimeter.
We draw only a few of them.
So 1 square meter is 100 centimeters times 100 centimeters.
100 times 100 is 10,000.
So 1 m² = 10,000 cm².
Not 100: the 100 comes in twice.
3 Multiply
Each square meter is 10,000 square centimeters.
We have 2.5 of them, so we multiply: big unit to small unit.
Careful!
Times 100 only changes a length.
A square has two sides to change: times 100, and times 100 again.
Times 10,000: the point moves 4 places to the right.
So 2.5 m² = 25,000 cm².
4 Check
Let's check: go back the other way.
Divide by 10,000.
We get 2.5 square meters again.
So it is right!
Let's look back.
First: change the length.
Then: change the area.
Then: multiply.
Last: check.