Convert Meters to Inches

Meter

Definition: The meter (symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). It is currently defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second.

History/origin: The meter was originally defined in 1799 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along a meridian. Over time, with advancements in science, the definition has been refined for increased precision. The current definition, based on the speed of light, was adopted in 1983.

Current use: The meter is used worldwide in nearly all fields of science, engineering, and daily life. It is the standard unit of length in most of the world.

Inch

Definition: An inch (symbol: in) is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. An inch was defined to be equivalent to exactly 25.4 millimeters in 1959. There are 12 inches in a foot and 36 inches in a yard.

History/origin: The term "inch" was derived from the Latin unit "uncia" which equated to "one-twelfth" of a Roman foot.

There have been a number of different standards for the inch in the past, with the current definition being based on the international yard. One of the earlier definitions of the inch was based on barleycorns, where an inch was equal to the length of three grains of dry, round barley placed end-to-end. Another version of the inch is also believed to have been derived from the width of a human thumb, where the length was obtained from averaging the width of three thumbs: a small, a medium, and a large one.

Current use: The inch is mostly used in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It is also sometimes used in Japan (as well as other countries) in relation to electronic parts, like the size of display screens.