Convert feet to meters
Please provide values below to convert foot [ft] to meter [m], or vice versa.
Foot
Definition: A foot (symbol: ft) is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. Since 1959, the foot has been 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 its origins in human body parts, specifically the human foot. It has varied in exact length across different cultures and time periods. The Romans used the foot in their measurement system, with one Roman foot equal to approximately 29.6 cm. The English foot was defined differently through various periods, until it was standardized internationally in 1959.
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 property sizes. In aviation, altitude is often expressed in feet, and in many sports, field dimensions are given in feet.
Meter
Definition: A meter (symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
History/origin: The meter was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along a meridian passing through Paris. In 1889, it was redefined in terms of a prototype meter bar. In 1960, it was redefined in terms of a specific number of wavelengths of a specific emission line of krypton-86. The current definition was adopted in 1983.
Current use: The meter is the fundamental unit of length in the metric system, used worldwide for general measurements. It is commonly used in architecture, construction, science, engineering, and everyday measurements in most countries around the world, with the exceptions of the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia, which primarily use the imperial system.