Step by step
The question
Question: change 80,000 cm² to square meters.
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 Divide
10,000 square centimeters make 1 square meter.
So we divide by 10,000: small unit to big unit.
Careful!
Dividing by 100 only changes a length.
For square units it is 100 times 100: 10,000.
Divided by 10,000: the point moves 4 places to the left.
So 80,000 cm² = 8 m².
4 Check
Let's check: go back the other way.
Times 10,000.
We get 80,000 square centimeters again.
So it is right!
Let's look back.
First: change the length.
Then: change the area.
Then: divide.
Last: check.