In the metric system, land area is expressed in hectares. A hectare (ha) is 100 meters by 100 meters. In the United States, land area is most commonly expressed in acres. There are 2.47 acres in 1 ha. The conversion from hectares is relatively easy to do without a calculator; rounding to two significant figures gives us 2.5 acres in 1 ha. If a nature preserve is 100 ha, what is it size in acres?

100 ha × 2.5 acres = 250 acres

Your Turn A particular forest is 10,000 acres. Determine its size in hectares.