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October 28, 2017
The Problem with the Conversions
It's tough going from dollars, gallons, and miles to pesos, liters, and kilometers. Here's the conversions I'll be using in Mexico:
1 US Dollar = 19 pesos
1 US Gallon = 3.8 liters
1 mile = 1.6 km
But the entire premise is wrong. That's what makes it so hard. You think you will convert from miles to km by multiplying by 1.6. But you won't. That will never happen. What you'll be doing instead is converting from km to miles, which is obviously totally different. Especially if you're trying to do it in your head riding through a cactus desert.
1 peso = 5 cents ($0.05 USD)
1 km = .6 miles
1 liter = .25 gallons
Currency:
1 peso = 5 cents ($0.05 USD)
1 US Dollar = 19 pesos
So, to convert from pesos to USD, the shortcut is just to divide the number of Pesos by 20 to get USD. So, when the police man robs you of $2,000 pesos, he's really only just stolen $100 USD from you, which is much better than the criminal police in infamous speed-trap of Morrison, Colorado.
Distance:
1 km = .6 miles
1 mile = 1.6 km
So, to convert from km to miles, basically, you just drop a digit, and multiply by 6. So, if Manuel says the next Pemex station is 300 km, that means it's 180 miles to the next gas station. (300/10 = 30. 30 x 6 = 180).
Volume:
1 liter = .26 gallons
1 gallon = 3.8 liters
So, to convert from liters to gallons, basically you divide by 4 (3.8 is more accurate, but 4 is easier to do in your head). So, if the Pemex station says you just bought 16 liters, it means you purchased 4 gallons of gas (4.2 to be more exact).
Posted by Rob Kiser on October 28, 2017 at 9:04 PM
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