One meter is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI) and is exactly defined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second. Numerically, it is equal to 100 centimeters or 1000 millimeters. In customary units, one meter is approximately 3.28 feet, 39.37 inches, or 1.09 yards.
Definitions and Conversions
- 1 meter = 100 centimeters (cm)
- 1 meter = 1000 millimeters (mm)
- 1 meter ≈ 3.28 feet (ft)
- 1 meter ≈ 39.37 inches (in)
- 1 meter ≈ 1.09 yards (yd)
Additional Context
- The meter was originally defined in 1791 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along the Earth's meridian.
- The current precise definition, adopted in 1983 and slightly refined in 2019, uses the speed of light as the reference standard.
- As a practical comparison, an average five-year-old child is about 1 meter tall, and an adult usually takes a step about 1 meter long.
Thus, 1 meter can be understood both as a scientifically exact physical measurement based on the speed of light and as a familiar length slightly longer than a yard or a bit more than 3 feet.
