Convert cm to meters

Symbol

The Centimeter is represented by the symbol “cm.”

Description

Centimeter is a unit of length in the metric system which is also the International System of Units (SI). It was the base unit of length in the now deprecated CGS (centimeter-gram-second) system of units.

Centi is the SI prefix for a factor of 1/100.  A centimeter approximately corresponds to the average adult person's fingernail width. This unit is equal to one-hundredth of a meter, the base of the SI unit of length. So, a centimeter is equal to 1/100 meters. Though measurement units frequently choose SI prefixes for factors of 10^3, such as milli- and kilo-, for many physical values, however, the centimeter remains a practical unit of length for many everyday measurements. 

Centimeters can be changed to other SI units using prefix multipliers based on powers of ten. For example, a millimeter equals 1/10 centimeters. So, a centimeter is equivalent to 10 millimeters.

If you are converting cm to inch, then the calculation is different. One inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters. Therefore, one centimeter is equivalent to 0.393701 inches.

History

The term centimeter was first used in the late 1700s. The centimeter is a part of the metric system. The metric system of measurement is primarily credited to the French. The French government officially adopted this system on April 7, 1795.

Use

The centimeter as mentioned before is unit of length. It is more commonly used for dimensions for which meter measure is unrealistically large. 

Symbol

The meter is represented by the symbol ‘m’.

Description

Meter is the base unit of length in the SI system (International System of Units). The term meter was originally derived from the Greek words "metreo" (verb form) and "metron" (noun form) meaning "measure”.

The length of the path that light takes in the vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds was the official definition of a meter from 1983 to 2019. As of 2019, the meter has been redefined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of a second where a caesium hyperfine transition frequency defines the second.

Hence, the difference between the old and new definitions of meter is the addition of the definition of the second. However, interestingly the definition of the meter fixes the speed of light in a vacuum to the exact value of 299,792,458 m/s. 

Meters can be changed to other SI units using prefix multipliers based on powers of ten. For example, a meter consists of 100 centimeters, and one thousand meters equals a kilometer.

To convert m to in (meter to inches), you will need to multiplu the meter by 39.37 since  a meter equals 39.37 inches. Let's talk about large unites and how meter looks in comparison to them. 1609 meters is equivalent to a statute mile. 

History

The French first used the unit meter in the late 1700s. On March 30, 1791, the French Academy of Sciences specified the length of a meter. 

However, it was officially defined in 1799. In 1983, the meter was defined as it is measured now. But in 2019, the addition of the definition of second was added to it to reducec uncertainity.

The English word 'metre' was first used at the beginning of 1797. It was first measured with an interferometer by Albert A. Michelson in 1893.

Use

Meter is used for length, height, width and thickness measurement of objects in countries that follow SI units. However, in the states it is not used commonly.