Meters and centimeters Which is bigger

Measurements are commonly used in daily life. For example, you need to know what sizes of clothes to buy, how much space you have available for furniture and how far you have to travel to work. Societies require a standardization of units to ensure that measurements are precise and universal. Centimeters and meters – both metric units – measure length.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

Centimeters and meters are both metric units of measurement. The centimeter is 1/100 of a meter or, to put it another way, it takes 100 centimeters to equal one meter.

The Differences in Length

A centimeter is 1/100th of a meter. It would take the length of 100 cm to equal the length of a single meter. A centimeter is equivalent to 0.39 inches. It is also equal to 0.033 feet, 0.011 yards and 0.0000062 miles. A meter is equal to 3.28 feet, 1.09 yards or 0.00062 miles.

Usage for Centimeters and Meters

A centimeter is a much smaller unit of measurement than a meter. When measuring objects, it’s best to use a unit close to the size of the object. This way the measurement offers practical value. Imagine measuring the height of a person in miles or the length of a freeway in inches. These calculations would serve little purpose. More practical uses of measurement would be to measure a person or house in meters and to measure a worm or the blueprints for a house in centimeters.

Entymology of (Centi)meters

The term “centi” is derived from the Latin word “centum,” which means one-hundred. It was first used as “centi” by the French, who introduced the measurement when they created the metric system. When used as centi, it is defined as one-hundredth of a unit. Thus, a meter is 100 cm, or a centimeter is one-hundredth of a meter.

About the Metric System

Centimeters and meters are standards of measurement adopted by the metric system. The metric system uses base 10, incorporates seven units of measurement and is based on precise scientific calculations. This is different than the English system, commonly used in the United States, which uses base 12 and incorporates various units of measurement that are not scientifically based – such as the distance between the nose to thumb of King Henry I.

History of the Meter

Originally, the meter was defined by the French Academy of Sciences as “one ten-millionth of the length of the meridian through Paris from pole to the equator,” according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The calculation, however, was off by 0.02 mm, and it was redefined in 1889 and again in 1960. Finally, in 1983, the meter was defined in a way that is still used today, the distance light travels in a vacuum during 1/299,792,458 of a second. Thus, the meter, and consequently the centimeter, is based on an exact scientific calculation.

Please provide values below to convert meter [m] to centimeter [cm], or vice versa.

Meter

Definition: A meter, or metre (symbol: m), is the base unit of length and distance in the International System of Units (SI). The meter is defined as the distance traveled by light in 1/299 792 458 of a second. This definition was slightly modified in 2019 to reflect changes in the definition of the second.

History/origin: Originally, in 1793, the meter was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. This changed in 1889, when the International prototype metre was established as the length of a prototype meter bar (made of an alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium) measured at the melting point of ice. In 1960, the meter was again redefined, this time in terms of a certain number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. The current definition of the meter is effectively the same as the definition that was adopted in 1983, with slight modifications due to the change in definition of the second.

Current use: Being the SI unit of length, the meter is used worldwide in many applications such as measuring distance, height, length, width, etc. The United States is one notable exception in that it largely uses US customary units such as yards, inches, feet, and miles instead of meters in everyday use.

Centimeter

Definition: A centimeter (symbol: cm) is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), the current form of the metric system. It is defined as 1/100 meters.

History/origin: A centimeter is based on the SI unit meter, and as the prefix "centi" indicates, is equal to one hundredth of a meter. Metric prefixes range from factors of 10-18 to 1018 based on a decimal system, with the base (in this case the meter) having no prefix and having a factor of 1. Learning some of the more commonly used metric prefixes, such as kilo-, mega-, giga-, tera-, centi-, milli-, micro-, and nano-, can be helpful for quickly navigating metric units.

Current use: The centimeter, like the meter, is used in all sorts of applications worldwide (in countries that have undergone metrication) in instances where a smaller denomination of the meter is required. Height is commonly measured in centimeters outside of countries like the United States.

Meter to Centimeter Conversion Table

How to Convert Meter to Centimeter

1 m = 100 cm
1 cm = 0.01 m

Example: convert 15 m to cm:
15 m = 15 × 100 cm = 1500 cm

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