Table of Contents
- INTRODUCTION
- PURPOSE OF CONVERT FUNCTION IN EXCEL
- PREREQUISITES TO LEARN CONVERT FUNCTION
- SYNTAX: CONVERT FUNCTION
- CONVERT FUNCTION-REFERENCE TABLE
- EXAMPLE:CONVERT FUNCTION IN EXCEL
INTRODUCTION
In any of the application or reports, we are preparing, a situation might arise when we need to change UNIT IN ONE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM TO ANOTHER MEASUREMENT SYSTEM. e.g. gram into ounce, centimeter into feet etc.
So we got a function to do all this for us known as CONVERT FUNCTION.
CONVERT FUNCTION is found under the ENGINEERING FORMULAS section under FORMULAS TAB.
This function gives us a wide variety of options.
In this article we’ll see the different styles of usage of CONVERT FUNCTION and find out the different options available with this function.
After that we’ll look at a fully described example to grasp the functionality of this function properly.
PURPOSE OF CONVERT FUNCTION IN EXCEL
CONVERT FUNCTION converts the values in one measurement system to other.
For example, we have different kinds of measurement system such as MKS , fps etc. MKS is meter, kilogram , second whereas fps is foot, pound , second.
So many times we come across a situation when we need to convert these values from one system to another.
The main reason for this is the presence of different popular usages of these measurement among different societies.
e.g. In many countries, if you ask somebody’s weight, he or she’ll answer in pounds, whereas in some countries, they’ll answer in KG.
We can do these conversion manually too, but we don’t need to do it when we have such a good function with us to make our task easier.
PREREQUISITES TO LEARN CONVERT FUNCTION
THERE ARE A FEW PREREQUISITES WHICH WILL ENABLE YOU TO UNDERSTAND THIS FUNCTION IN A BETTER WAY.
- Basic understanding of how to use a formula or function.
- Basic understanding of rows and columns in Excel.
- A bit understanding of the measurement systems will help in this, because at least we need to know about the conversion, from this to that. But even if you don’t know, you can always refer here.
- Of course, Excel software.
Helpful links for the prerequisites mentioned above
What Excel does? How to use formula in Excel?
SYNTAX: CONVERT FUNCTION
The Syntax or the way a function is phrased for the CONVERT FUNCTION is
=CONVERT(NUMBER, OLD_UNIT, NEW_UNIT)
NUMBER is the number which needs the unit conversion
OLD_UNIT the present unit which is to be converted [ SYMBOLS ARE TABULATED BELOW ]
NEW_UNIT the new unit which appears after conversion [SYMBOLS ARE TABULATED BELOW ]
CONVERT FUNCTION-REFERENCE TABLE
FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS THE LIST OF OLD UNITS AND NEW UNIT CONVERSION AND THEIR SYMBOLS TO BE USED.
Weight and Mass
| Weight and mass | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Gram | “g” |
| Slug | “sg” |
| Pound mass (avoirdupois) | “lbm” |
| U (atomic mass unit) | “u” |
| Ounce mass (avoirdupois) | “ozm” |
| Grain | “grain” |
| U.S. (short) hundredweight | “cwt” or “shweight” |
| Imperial hundredweight | “uk_cwt” or “lcwt” (“hweight”) |
| Stone | “stone” |
| Ton | “ton” |
| Imperial ton | “uk_ton” or “LTON” (“brton”) |
Distance
| Distance | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Meter | “m” |
| Statute mile | “mi” |
| Nautical mile | “Nmi” |
| Inch | “in” |
| Foot | “ft” |
| Yard | “yd” |
| Angstrom | “ang” |
| Ell | “ell” |
| Light-year | “ly” |
| Parsec | “parsec” or “pc” |
| Pica (1/72 inch) | “Picapt” or “Pica” |
| Pica (1/6 inch) | “pica” |
| U.S survey mile (statute mile) | “survey_mi” |
Time
| Time | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Year | “yr” |
| Day | “day” or “d” |
| Hour | “hr” |
| Minute | “mn” or “min” |
| Second | “sec” or “s” |
Pressure
| Pressure | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Pascal | “Pa” (or “p”) |
| Atmosphere | “atm” (or “at”) |
| mm of Mercury | “mmHg” |
| PSI | “psi” |
| Torr | “Torr” |
Force
| Force | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Newton | “N” |
| Dyne | “dyn” (or “dy”) |
| Pound force | “lbf” |
| Pond | “pond” |
Energy
| Energy | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Joule | “J” |
| Erg | “e” |
| Thermodynamic calorie | “c” |
| IT calorie | “cal” |
| Electron volt | “eV” (or “ev”) |
| Horsepower-hour | “HPh” (or “hh”) |
| Watt-hour | “Wh” (or “wh”) |
| Foot-pound | “flb” |
| BTU | “BTU” (or “btu”) |
Power
| Power | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Horsepower | “HP” (or “h”) |
| Pferdestärke | “PS” |
| Watt | “W” (or “w”) |
Magnetism
| Magnetism | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Tesla | “T” |
| Gauss | “ga” |
Temperature
| Temperature | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Degree Celsius | “C” (or “cel”) |
| Degree Fahrenheit | “F” (or “fah”) |
| Kelvin | “K” (or “kel”) |
| Degrees Rankine | “Rank” |
| Degrees Réaumur | “Reau” |
Volume
| Volume (or liquid measure) | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Teaspoon | “tsp” |
| Modern teaspoon | “tspm” |
| Tablespoon | “tbs” |
| Fluid ounce | “oz” |
| Cup | “cup” |
| U.S. pint | “pt” (or “us_pt”) |
| U.K. pint | “uk_pt” |
| Quart | “qt” |
| Imperial quart (U.K.) | “uk_qt” |
| Gallon | “gal” |
| Imperial gallon (U.K.) | “uk_gal” |
| Liter | “l” or “L” (“lt”) |
| Cubic angstrom | “ang3” or “ang^3” |
| U.S. oil barrel | “barrel” |
| U.S. bushel | “bushel” |
| Cubic feet | “ft3” or “ft^3” |
| Cubic inch | “in3” or “in^3” |
| Cubic light-year | “ly3” or “ly^3” |
| Cubic meter | “m3” or “m^3” |
| Cubic Mile | “mi3” or “mi^3” |
| Cubic yard | “yd3” or “yd^3” |
| Cubic nautical mile | “Nmi3” or “Nmi^3” |
| Cubic Pica | “Picapt3”, “Picapt^3”, “Pica3” or “Pica^3” |
| Gross Registered Ton | “GRT” (“regton”) |
| Measurement ton (freight ton) | “MTON” |
Area
| Area | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| International acre | “uk_acre” |
| U.S. survey/statute acre | “us_acre” |
| Square angstrom | “ang2″ or “ang^2” |
| Are | “ar” |
| Square feet | “ft2” or “ft^2” |
| Hectare | “ha” |
| Square inches | “in2” or “in^2” |
| Square light-year | “ly2” or “ly^2” |
| Square meters | “m2” or “m^2” |
| Morgen | “Morgen” |
| Square miles | “mi2” or “mi^2” |
| Square nautical miles | “Nmi2” or “Nmi^2” |
| Square Pica | “Picapt2”, “Pica2”, “Pica^2” or “Picapt^2” |
| Square yards | “yd2” or “yd^2” |
Information
| Information | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Bit | “bit” |
| Byte | “byte” |
Speed
| Speed | From_unit or to_unit |
|---|---|
| Admiralty knot | “admkn” |
| Knot | “kn” |
| Meters per hour | “m/h” or “m/hr” |
| Meters per second | “m/s” or “m/sec” |
| Miles per hour | “mph” |
The following abbreviated unit prefixes can be prepended to any metric from_unit or to_unit.
| Prefix | Multiplier | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| yotta | 1E+24 | “Y” |
| zetta | 1E+21 | “Z” |
| exa | 1E+18 | “E” |
| peta | 1E+15 | “P” |
| tera | 1E+12 | “T” |
| giga | 1E+09 | “G” |
| mega | 1E+06 | “M” |
| kilo | 1E+03 | “k” |
| hecto | 1E+02 | “h” |
| dekao | 1E+01 | “da” or “e” |
| deci | 1E-01 | “d” |
| centi | 1E-02 | “c” |
| milli | 1E-03 | “m” |
| micro | 1E-06 | “u” |
| nano | 1E-09 | “n” |
| pico | 1E-12 | “p” |
| femto | 1E-15 | “f” |
| atto | 1E-18 | “a” |
| zepto | 1E-21 | “z” |
| yocto | 1E-24 | “y” |
| Binary Prefix | Prefix Value | Abbreviation | Derived from |
|---|---|---|---|
| yobi | 2^80 = 1 208 925 819 614 629 174 706 176 | “Yi” | yotta |
| zebi | 2^70 = 1 180 591 620 717 411 303 424 | “Zi” | zetta |
| exbi | 2^60 = 1 152 921 504 606 846 976 | “Ei” | exa |
| pebi | 2^50 = 1 125 899 906 842 624 | “Pi” | peta |
| tebi | 2^40 = 1 099 511 627 776 | “Ti” | tera |
| gibi | 2^30 = 1 073 741 824 | “Gi” | giga |
| mebi | 2^20 = 1 048 576 | “Mi” | mega |
| kibi | 2^10 = 1024 | “ki” | kilo |
NOTE: The table referred taken with thanks from support.office.com
EXAMPLE:CONVERT FUNCTION IN EXCEL
DATA SAMPLE
Let us take a few examples to try our newly learnt function.Here is the data which will be converted to the new unit system using the CONVERT FUNCTION.We’ll try a few main conversions although the system is same for all . The comprehensive list is given above in the table.
| NUMBER | OLD UNIT | NEW UNIT |
| 1 | TON | GRAM |
| 1 | MILE | METER |
| 1 | gram | POUND |
| 1 | YEAR | DAYS |
| 1 | HP | WATT |
| 1 | CELCIUS | FAHRENHEIT |
| 1 | GALLON | LITER |
STEPS TO USE CONVERT FUNCTION
When we need to convert one unit to another, such as kilogram to pound or foot to meter etc.we can use the convert function .
We have given different examples to use convert function above.The number is given and the from unit and to unit are given.
We use the following generalized formula
=convert(number to be converted, “old measurement system”,”new measurement system”)
The output will be as per the new measurement system.NOTE: The codes for the old and new system are case sensitive which means
meter is m and not M .And all the codes should be put in an “”.