ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Metre–tonne–second system of units

Okay kiddo, so the metre-tonne-second system of units is a way that people use to measure things like length (how long something is), weight (how heavy something is), and time (how long things take).

It gets its name from three important things that are used to define these measurements. The first is the metre, which is a unit of measurement for length. It's about as long as a grown-up's footsteps, and we use it to measure things like how long your toy car is.

The second thing is the tonne, which is a unit of measurement for weight. It's kind of like how some things are heavier than others. We use the tonne to measure really heavy things, like a big truck or a plane.

The third thing is the second, which is a unit of measurement for time. It's how we measure things like how long it takes to run around the playground, or how long a cartoon lasts on TV.

So, when we use the metre-tonne-second system, we combine these three units of measurement together to measure things. For example, if we want to measure how fast a car is going, we might say it's going 60 meters per second (how far it travels in a second) or if we want to measure how much dirt a dump truck is holding, we might say it's holding 10 tonnes of dirt (how heavy it is).

Overall, the metre-tonne-second system helps us measure things in a way that makes sense and helps us understand the world around us.