► MATHS - convert between miles and kilometres

Let's Revise
In the UK, miles are often used to measure distance. However, most places in the world use kilometres.

Miles are imperial measures while kilometres are metric.

When abroad, you may find the need to convert kilometres into miles so that you can understand how far you are travelling in a measurement that you are used to.

When converting between miles and kilometres and vice versa, you need to remember these useful conversions:

The symbol that looks like a wiggly equals sign ≈ means approximately.

When you are converting, you have to remember to multiply both sides by the same number. Knowing your times tables will come in handy with these conversions.

Now let's take a look at some examples:

Example 1: Convert km to miles

What is 32km in miles?

• Step 1: Look at the conversion table again. 5 miles ≈ 8km will be the easiest one to use since 32 is a larger number.

• Step 2: Look at the relationship between 8km and 32km. Think about what you multiply by 8 to make 32. You multiply by 4.

• Step 3: Both lengths have to be multiplied by the same number. If you have multiplied 8km by 4 to make 32km, you have to multiply 5 miles by 4 as well to find out the conversion.

5 miles x 4 = 20 miles

So 32 kilometres is approximately 20 miles.

Example 2: Convert miles to kilometres

What is 30 miles in kilometres?

• Step 1: Look at the conversion table again. 5 miles ≈ 8km will be the easiest one to use since 30 is a larger number.

• Step 2: Look at the relationship between 5 miles and 30 miles - you multiply 5 by 6 to make 30.

• Step 3: Multiply both lengths by the same number to find out the conversion.

8km x 6 = 48km

So 30 miles is approximately 48 kilometres.

Let's Practice

First, click the link below and do Lesson 1 and Lesson 2