How to Convert Centimeters to Meters

••• Davizro/iStock/GettyImages

For physics and many math classes, students often need to use the metric system to solve certain problems. The metric system uses multiple or submultiple powers of 10 to relate different units of measurement. Since the meter is the standard unit of length in this system, students will need to know what prefixes such as “centi,” “milli” or “kilo” mean to convert between different units of measurements. If you know the appropriate conversion factor, you can convert quickly from centimeters to meters.

    Know that the prefix “centi” in centimeter means 1/100 or .01 meters. Therefore, the conversion factor is 1 centimeter = .01 meters. You can also find the conversion factor by knowing that 100 centimeters = 1 meter and divide both sides of this equation by 100 to get the same conversion factor of 1 centimeter = .01 meters.

    Practice converting centimeters to meters with the following problem: Change 550 centimeters to meters.

    Use the conversion factor 1 centimeter = .01 meters from Step 2 and multiple 550 by .01 meters. You find that this equals 5.5 meters. Therefore, 550 centimeters is equal to 5.5 meters.

    Change from meters to centimeters by using the conversion 100 centimeters = 1 meter from Step 1 to check your answer in Step 3. By multiplying 5.5 by 100, you get 550 centimeters.

    Convert quickly from centimeters to meters by using an online conversion calculator (see Resources).

    Tips

    • To perform these simple calculations for different length measurements in the metric system, it may be useful to memorize the meaning of some of these prefixes. For some commonly used prefixes, see the Resources.

Related Articles

How to Convert Specific Conductivity to Salinity
How to Measure Meters in Feet
How to Convert Inches to the Metric System
How to Convert Candle Power to Lumens
How to Calculate Hectares
How to Calculate the Square Meters in a Triangle
How to Convert Inches to Mm
How to Change MSF to Linear Feet
How to Find the Volume of a Sphere in Terms of Pi
How to Convert G/Sec to CFM
How to Convert Grams Per Meter Squared to Pounds Per...
How to Calculate the Diameter of a Circle From a Linear...
How to Convert Micrograms to Micromoles
How to Convert SCFM to M3/H
CCF to MCF Conversion
How to Calculate a Square Yard
How to Convert Tenths to Hundredths
How to Find Mass in Weight
How to Convert Specific Gravity in Weight
How to Convert Nautical Knots to Miles

Dont Go!

We Have More Great Sciencing Articles!