Hi Dee,
and anyone else who has a problem with converting between micrograms, milligrams and grams. This may be of help to you, (sorry about the poor formatting)! :-(.

Here are the definitions and a table of metric conversions.
1 microgram = 1ug (or 1mcg in the US) = 1 millionth of a gram
1 milligram = 1mg = 1 thousandth of a gram

Hence
Micrograms ____________ Milligrams ________ Grams _________ Kilograms
ug or mcg _____________ mg _____________ g _____________ kg
1 ________________ = __ 0.001 ______ = __ 0.000001
10 _______________ = __ 0.01 _______ = __ 0.00001
100 ______________ = __ 0.1 ________ = __ 0.0001
1,000 ____________ = __ 1 __________ = __ 0.001
10,000 ___________ = __ 10 _________ = __ 0.01
100,000 __________ = __ 100 ________ = __ 0.1
1,000,000 ________ = ___ 1,000 ______ = __ 1
1,000,000,000 _____ = __ 1,000,000 ___ = __ 1,000 ____ = __ 1

See:- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/milligram

milligram (mg) - one thousandth (1/1,000) gram or grams divided by 1000
metric weight unit, weight unit - a decimal unit of weight based on the gram

microgram (mcg or ug) - one millionth (1/1,000,000) gram

or:-
http://ncsdca.home.att.net/SCIENCE/measure.htm

This page also shows the different definitions for Billion and Trillion between UK and USA. Why is life made unnecessarily complicated? :-(

I hope it helps.

Dreamer

Awesome!

Thank you. I have a hard time figuring out the metric system because when I was in school it wasn't taught to us, it was only mentioned that it existed in out countries.

I have an extremely difficult time understanding doses that are on the right of the decimal. It just confuses me so badly that I simply can not do it. I'm not very good with math to begin with. :(

Thanks!


_______________________________________
Dee aka Morticia

http://transhouston.com/members/blog/morticia
My stash: http://tgchix.dyndns.org/girlystuff2.html
or
http://tgchix.twilightparadox.com/girlystuff2.html
_______________________________________

Dee,
This is all about the size of units. The metric units are in steps of 10 with the KEY ones that we are talking about in steps of 1000 .

All you need to do is divide by 1000 to go from small to large across the table I posted.
Or you can do the opposite and multiply by 1000 to from large to small across the table.


In electronics we have the same relationships but be carefully of the difference between:-
Mega means 1 Million (very Big) & Micro means 1 divided by 1 million (Very small)
Kilo means 1 thousand (Big) and Milli means 1 divided by 1 thousand (small)

typically:-
Resistors:- 1,000 (Kilo Ohm) = 1 (Mega Ohm) - dividing by 1000 (Smaller to Bigger)

Inductors:- 1 (Milli Henry) = 1000 (micro Henries) - multiplying by 1000 (Bigger to smaller)

Frequency:- 1 (Mega Hertz) = 1000 (Kilo Hertz) - multiplying by 1000 (Faster to slower)

Metres:- 1000 Metres = 1 Kilometre - dividing by 1000 (Smaller to bigger)

And in medicine we have,
Grams:- 1000 (Micro grams) = 1 (Milli gram) - divide by 1000 (smaller to bigger)

Can you follow the pattern?


Dreamer