Convert feet to cm
Please provide values below to convert foot [ft] to centimeter [cm], or vice versa.
Foot
Definition: A foot (plural: feet, symbol: ft) is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. One foot is defined as exactly 0.3048 meters. There are 12 inches in one foot and 3 feet in one yard.
History/origin: The foot as a unit of measurement has a long history that dates back to ancient civilizations. The term "foot" originated from the anatomical foot of the human body. The original standard was the length of a human foot, but this varied across different regions and periods.
Throughout history, the foot's standard length has evolved. In ancient Rome, a foot was 11.65 inches by modern standards. The current definition of the foot dates back to the 1959 international agreement where it was standardized to be exactly 0.3048 meters.
Current use: The foot is primarily used in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and partially in other Commonwealth nations for many everyday measurements. It is commonly used in architecture, construction, and real estate to measure building heights, room dimensions, and human height. Despite the worldwide adoption of the metric system, the foot remains prevalent in aviation, where altitude is often expressed in feet.
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.