Functional Skills: Length

Entry Level 3FS Level 1AQACity & GuildsEdexcelHighfield QualificationsNCFEOpen Awards

Functional Skills: Length Revision

Length

Measuring length requires you to use units, this is key when measuring something. For instance, if you told someone the length of a block of wood was \textcolor{red}{14}, this wouldn’t mean anything. You would need to specify the unit, for example ‘the length of this block of wood is \textcolor{red}{14} cm’.

FS Level 1Entry Level 3AQAEdexcelCity & GuildsNCFEOpen AwardsHighfield Qualifications

Units of Length

The length of something is how long it is, from one end to the other.

The common units for length are millimetres (mm), centimetres (cm), metres (m) and kilometres (km).

The conversions between these units are shown on the right:

Switching between these units is fairly straightforward and just requires you to multiply and divide by 10, 100 and 1000.

FS Level 1Entry Level 3AQAEdexcelCity & GuildsNCFEOpen AwardsHighfield Qualifications

Follow Our Socials

Social BG
Facebook

Follow our Facebook for community support

Social BG

Follow our Instagram & TikTok for revision help

Our Facebook page can put you in touch with other students of your course for revision and community support. Alternatively, you can find us on Instagram or TikTok where we're always sharing revision tips for all our courses.

Follow our socials for revision tips and community support

  • facebook
  • instagram
  • tiktok
Entry Level 3EdexcelCity & GuildsNCFEOpen Awards

Comparing Lengths

It is likely you will be required to compare lengths in real life context.

For example, you may be asked to compare the heights of several people or the widths/lengths of material or objects.

Example: A group of children are going to a theme park.

The minimum height for the ride called ‘Thrill Edge’ is 1.30 m.

Which children cannot ride on ‘Thrill Edge’?

 

We need to look for children who are less than 1.30 m.

  1. Luna is only \boldsymbol{1.25} m, so she is too small to go on the ride.
  2. Leo is only \boldsymbol{1.29} m, so he is also too small to go on the ride.

The rest of the children are 1.30 m or taller, so they can all ride.

Entry Level 3EdexcelCity & GuildsNCFEOpen Awards

Note:

Length is sometimes also measured in miles, yards (yd), feet (ft) or inches (in).

Examples of these units being used are:

  • Feet and inches being used to measure someone’s height, e.g. someone’s height might be 5 feet 8 inches.
  • Distances on road signs in the UK are measured in miles.
FS Level 1Entry Level 3AQAEdexcelCity & GuildsNCFEOpen AwardsHighfield Qualifications

Example 1: Converting Units of Length

a) How many centimetres are there in 0.85 km?

[1 mark]

There are 100 centimetres in a metre and 1000 metres in a kilometre. Therefore to calculate the amount of centimetres in 0.85 kilometres, we need to do:

0.85\times100\times1000=85000 cm

 

b) Convert 41000 millimetres into metres.

[1 mark]

There are 10 millimetres in a centimetre and 100 centimetres in a metre. Therefore to convert 41000 millimetres into metres, we need to do:

41000\div10\div100=41 m

FS Level 1Entry Level 3AQAEdexcelCity & GuildsNCFEOpen AwardsHighfield Qualifications

Example 2: Length Calculations

Aiden is building a small brick wall that he wants to be 1.2 metres high.

Each brick is \boldsymbol{6} cm in height, how many bricks high will the wall be?

[2 marks]

We first need to convert the height of the brick wall into centimetres:

1.2 m =120 cm

Then divide the height of the wall by 6:

120\div6=20

So the wall would be \boldsymbol{20} bricks high.

FS Level 1Entry Level 3AQAEdexcelCity & GuildsNCFEOpen AwardsHighfield Qualifications

Example 3: Length Calculations

Questions will sometimes ask you to do calculations with length.

Harper is swimming in a pool that is 25 m in length.

She swims to one end of the pool and back again.

How far in total does she swim?

[1 mark]

One length of the pool is 25 m, so 2 lengths will be:

25\times2=\boldsymbol{50} m

FS Level 1Entry Level 3AQAEdexcelCity & GuildsNCFEOpen AwardsHighfield Qualifications

Functional Skills: Length Example Questions

a) 3.2\times100=320 cm

 

b) 51\div10\div100=0.051 m

 

c) 1091\times10=10910 mm

a) 43500\div10\div100=43.5 m

 

b) 0.009\times10\times100\times1000=9000 mm

 

c) 3126\div100\div1000=0.03126 km

Firstly, change 350 m and 900 m into km:

350 m =0.35 km

900 m =0.9 km

 

So, Harold travels 7.2-0.35-0.9=5.95 km on the bus.

Only rugs 3.5 m or less will fit in her living room.

Rug B is 3.3 m in length so would fit.

Rug D is 3.1 m in length so would also fit.

So only rugs B and D will fit in her living room.

Firstly, convert 500 m into km:

 

500 m =0.5 km

 

Then add up all the distance:

 

5+0.5+10=15.5 km

Additional Resources

PFS

Exam Tips Cheat Sheet

FS Level 2
PFS

Formula Booklet

FS Level 2

Functional Skills: Length Worksheet and Example Questions

Site Logo

Length EL3

Entry Level 3NewOfficial PFS
Site Logo

Length L1

FS Level 1NewOfficial PFS