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Length converter
Distance, from nanometres to light years. 20 units, converted from one table of exact factors.
—
1 centimeter in every other length unit
Computed by the same engine that runs the converter above, so these can never drift apart from it.
| From | Equals | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 centimeter | 0.01 | meter (m) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.00001 | kilometer (km) |
| 1 centimeter | 10 | millimeter (mm) |
| 1 centimeter | 10,000 | micrometer (µm) |
| 1 centimeter | 10,000,000 | nanometer (nm) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.0000062137119 | mile (mi) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.010936133 | yard (yd) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.032808399 | foot (ft) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.39370079 | inch (in) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.000005399568 | nautical mile (nmi) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.0054680665 | fathom (fathom) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.000049709695 | furlong (furlong) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.00049709695 | chain (chain) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.0019883878 | rod (rod) |
| 1 centimeter | 0.098425197 | hand (hand) |
| 1 centimeter | 393.70079 | mil (mil) |
| 1 centimeter | 6.6845871 × 10^-14 | astronomical unit (AU) |
| 1 centimeter | 1.0570008 × 10^-18 | light year (ly) |
| 1 centimeter | 3.2407793 × 10^-19 | parsec (pc) |
What each unit actually is
Most converters give you a number and stop. Where a figure is exact by definition we say so, and where it is an average or shifts with conditions we say that too — that is usually the thing you needed to know.
| Unit | Symbol | What it actually is |
|---|---|---|
| meter | m | The SI base unit. Defined since 1983 as the distance light travels in 1/299,792,458 of a second. |
| kilometer | km | 1,000 metres. Exact by definition. |
| centimeter | cm | One hundredth of a metre. Exact. |
| millimeter | mm | One thousandth of a metre. Exact. |
| micrometer | µm | One millionth of a metre, also called a micron. |
| nanometer | nm | One billionth of a metre. |
| mile | mi | Exactly 1,609.344 m since the 1959 international agreement. |
| yard | yd | Exactly 0.9144 m since 1959. |
| foot | ft | Exactly 0.3048 m since 1959. |
| inch | in | Exactly 25.4 mm since 1959. Before that, the US and UK inch differed slightly. |
| nautical mile | nmi | Exactly 1,852 m. One minute of latitude, near enough. |
| fathom | fathom | Six feet. Exact. |
| furlong | furlong | One eighth of a mile. Exact. |
| chain | chain | 66 feet. Exact. |
| rod | rod | 16.5 feet. Exact. |
| hand | hand | Four inches. Exact. Still used for horses. |
| mil | mil | One thousandth of an inch. Exact. |
| astronomical unit | AU | Exactly 149,597,870,700 m by definition since 2012. Roughly the Earth–Sun distance. |
| light year | ly | The distance light travels in a Julian year. Exact, because both parts are defined. |
| parsec | pc | About 3.26 light years. Derived from the AU and one arcsecond. |
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