In mathematics, length is referred to as the distance between two points or the measure of a distance between two endpoints of an object. In other words, length is the measurement of things from end to end. However, it is important to express the length in an understandable format. For this, we use units. For example, the length of a string is 5 metres, the length of a pencil is 15 cm, and so on. Also, it is possible to convert the length from one unit to another. In this article, you will learn the meaning of length conversion, table, and units of length conversion, along with solved examples.
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The method of converting the measures of length from one unit to another is called length conversion. In the metric system, units for length are kilometres (km), metres (m), centimetres (cm), and so on. The conversion of these units from one unit to another is referred to as the conversion of units for length. Thus, we can convert km to m, m to cm, cm to mm and vice versa.
The chart for length conversion is given below:
Consider metre as the base unit of length and based on this we can define the conversion factors for length. The below table shows the conversion factors of length from metres (m) to other units of length.
| The basic unit of length (metre) | Conversion factor to other metric units | Simple length conversion units |
| 1 m | 1000 millimetres | 1 km = 1000 m |
The above table shows the metric length conversion values. However, we have other units for length in the Imperial units of measurement. These can be written as given below:
| Imperial measurement of length | Conversion factor | Conversions to the basic unit of length, i.e. m |
| 1 inch | 0.083 foot | 0.0254 m |
| 1 foot | 12 inches | 0.3048 m |
| 1 yard | 3 feet | 0.9144 m |
| 1 fathom | 6 feet | 1.829 m |
| 1 rod | 5.50 yards | 5.029 m |
| 1 furlong | 220 yards | 201 m |
| 1 mile | 1760 yards | 1609 m |
| 1 nautical mile | 1.151 miles | 1852 m |
The length conversion calculator helps to convert the measures of length within a fraction of seconds.
Volume to length conversion refers to the conversion of units of volume to the units of length. In some mathematical problems, we may observe that the volume of 3d shaped objects can be expressed in terms of litres (volume units), which often get converted into cm 3 or m 3 (length units) based on the requirement. In this type of problem, we can use the below conversion formulas.
1 litre = 1000 mL = 10 3 mL = 10 −3 m 3
1 millilitre = 10 −3 L = 10 −6 m 3
1 m 3 = 1000 L = 10 6 mL
1 cm 3 = 10 −3 L = 1 mL
1 dm 3 = 10 −3 m 3 = 1 L
Question 1: Convert 200 m to km.
To convert m to km, divide the number by 1000.
Thus, 200 m = (200/1000) km = 0.2 km
Hence, 200 m = 0.2 km
Question 2: Convert 5.8 m to mm.
To convert m to mm, multiply the number by 1000.
So, 5.8 m = 5.8 × 1000 = 5800 mm
Therefore, 5.8 m = 5800 mm
Question 3: Convert 70 decimetres to cm.
To convert dm to cm, multiply by 10.
So, 70 dm = 70 × 10 cm = 700 cm
Therefore, 70 dm = 700 cm.
