TABE Level D Math: Measurement

Measurement problems are about length, weight, temperature, time, and money. Two measurement systems for length, weight, and temperature are used in the United States. One is the metric system. The other is called the customary system.

For TABE D problems you will use one system or the other. You will not have to know how to convert between these two systems.

Temperature is measured in degrees Fahrenheit in the customary system or degrees Celsius in the metric system. There is one set of units for time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years). In the United States, money is measured in dollars and cents.
Before describing the types of measurement problems on the TABE D, let’s briefly review the relationships between the units within each system.

Units of Time
The second is the smallest time unit. After this,
60 seconds make 1 minute
60 minutes make 1 hour
24 hours make 1 day
7 days make 1 week
4 weeks make 1 month (actually, a fraction more than 4)
52 weeks make 1 year
12 months make 1 year
10 years make 1 decade
10 decades (100 years) make 1 century

Units of Money
The penny is the smallest money unit. After this,
5 pennies make 1 nickel
2 nickels make a dime
5 nickels make a quarter
10 dimes (20 nickels) make a dollar
There are 50-cent pieces, but these are going out of circulation.

Units of Length

Units of Liquid Volume

Units of Weight

Units of Temperature

Units of length are used to measure length, area, and volume.

Examples are used to illustrate the various types of measurement problems.

Example A. The fish tank shown below is 3 feet long, 1 foot wide, and 2 feet deep. How much water can the tank hold (cu ft = cubic feet)?

A. 5 cu ft B. 6 cu ft C. 8 cu ft D. 12 cu ft

To find the volume, multiply the length times the width times the height: .

The correct answer is 6 cu ft. (b)

Example B. Samantha wants to fence in her flower garden shown in the figure below. How much fencing will she need?

A. 23 ft B. 45 ft C. 49 ft D. 69 ft

The amount of fencing needed is the perimeter of the flower garden. Add up lengths that surround the flower garden.

You will have to figure out two of them. The top piece is 10 feet (). The left side is 16 feet (same as the right side).

The total perimeter of the garden is 49 feet (). The correct answer is c.

Example C. A box of grass seed will cover 1500 square feet? How many boxes are needed to seed a rectangular lawn that is 60 feet by 100 feet? A. 10 boxes B. 6 boxes C. 4 boxes D. 2 boxes

You need to find the area of the lawn and divide that by 1500. To find the area of the rectangular lawn, multiply the length and width. This gives you 6000 sq ft. Because each box covers 1500 square feet, you will need 6000 ÷ 1500 or 4 boxes. The correct answer is c.
Example D. A roofing crew started work at 7:45 a.m. and worked for hours. They took a half-hour lunch break and worked for 4 more hours.
What time did they stop working? A. 3:15 p.m. B. 3:45 p.m. C. 4:15 p.m. D. 4:45 p.m.
Add the morning hours, lunch, and afternoon hours: The total time was 8 hours. Quitting time was 3:45 p.m. (b).

Example E. A cashier needs to make 47 cents in change. What is the smallest possible number of coins that can be used to make exactly 47 cents? A. 5 B. 6 C. 7 D. 8
You need a quarter, two dimes, a nickel, and two pennies to make 47 cents. The correct answer is 6 coins (b).

Example F. How many 9-inch-by-9-inch tiles are needed to cover a floor that is 8 feet by 10 feet? A. 100 B. 128 C. 137 D. 143
You need to calculate the area of the floor in square inches. Then divide the answer by 81 (9 × 9). Because 12 inches make 1 foot, you have to multiply 8 by 12 and 9 by 12. The room’s size is 96 inches by 120 inches. Multiply 96 by 120 to get an area of 11,520 square inches. Because …, you will need at least 143 tiles to cover the floor. The correct answer is d.

Example G. George is reading a map that has a scale of 1 centimeter equals 5 kilometers. The map distance to his destination is 8 centimeters. How far away is his destination? A. 40 km B. 4 km C. 10 km D. 20 km
Each centimeter on the map represents 5 kilometers. A map distance of 8 centimeters represents 8 × 5 = 40 kilometers. The correct answer is a.

Measurement Practice

1. A box measures 5 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot high. How much space in inside the box? A. 11 cu ft B. 7 cu ft C. 10 cu ft D. 21 cu ft

2. Don picks 1/3 an acre of blueberries on his farm from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
At this rate, what time would he finish the entire acre if he takes an hour for lunch? A. 1:00 p.m. B. 2:00 p.m. C. 3:00 p.m. D. 4:00 p.m.

3. When Jack woke up this morning, the temperature outside was 6°F below zero. By the time he got to work, it was 13°F above zero. How many degrees F did the temperature rise? A. 7°F B. 16°F C. 19°F D. 21°F

4. Fran saves spare change. She has 64 nickels. How much is this in dollars and cents? A. $3.04 B. $3.20 C. $3.25 D. $2.70

5. What is the length of BD?

A. B. C. D.

6. A patient in a hospital must receive 20 milliliters of glucose each hour. How many liters of glucose will the patient receive in 12 hours? A. 240 liters B. 24 liters C. 2.4 liters D. .24 liters

The Conti family is planning to clean their swimming pool. The diagram below shows the measurements of the pool. Study the diagram. Then do problems 7 through 9.


7. What is the length of the pool in yards? A. 30 B. 20 C. 15 D. 12

8. If the pool on average is 4 feet deep, how many cubic feet of water will it hold? A. 1200 B. 3600 C. 4800 D. 6000

9. The garden hose fills the pool at a rate of 240 cubic feet per hour. At this rate, how many hours will it take to fill the pool? A. 2 hours B. 10 hours C. 20 hours D. 40 hours

10. It started to rain at 7:15 a.m. and didn’t end until 2:45 p.m. How long did it rain? A. 6 hours, 30 minutes B. 6 hours, 45 minutes C. 7 hours, 30 minutes D. 7 hours, 45 minutes

Answers: Measurement Practice

1. c

2. c

3. c

4. b

5. a

6. d

7. b

8. c

9. c

10. c