Calculator
What the Length Converter does
Length Converter: 1 m = 3.280839895 ft, so multiply a metre value by 3.280839895 to get foot, or divide to go back. Example: 1 m = 3.280839895 ft.
This converter reads Value, From and To and produces Result, How it was calculated and Reverse conversion. Values update as you type, so comparing options is a matter of editing one field.
Typical users are students converting units for homework. Unit mistakes are quietly expensive. They have wrecked spacecraft and ruined recipes alike.
Because it is all local, the tool is as fast as your device and as private as your own notes.
Each field is explained further down, along with the method and a worked example that uses the default values.
What do the Length Converter fields mean?
The Length Converter uses 3 inputs. Sensible defaults are loaded up front, which means you can change one number at a time instead of filling the whole form first.
| Field | What to enter | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Value | required | 1 |
| From | choose from Nanometre (nm), Micrometre (µm), Angstrom (Å), Millimetre (mm), Centimetre (cm) or Metre (m) | Metre (m) |
| To | choose from Nanometre (nm), Micrometre (µm), Angstrom (Å), Millimetre (mm), Centimetre (cm) or Metre (m) | Foot (ft) |
How does the Length Converter work?
Both units are converted through length's base unit (m), so any of the 19 units in the dropdowns can be paired in either direction without loss of accuracy.
Every factor here is the defined one, not a textbook approximation. That matters more than it sounds: rounding a factor early is the usual reason two converters disagree in the fourth decimal place.
Worked example
These are the values the Length Converter loads by default, and the result it produces from them. These are the exact values loaded when the page opens, and the answer they produce.
| Value | 1 |
|---|---|
| From | Metre (m) |
| To | Foot (ft) |
| Result | 3.280839895 ft |
|---|---|
| How it was calculated | 1 m = 3.280839895 ft, so 1 × 3.280839895 = 3.280839895 ft |
| Reverse conversion | 0.3048 m (if you meant 1 ft) |
Metric vs. imperial length
Nearly every country on Earth uses the metre as its everyday length unit. The United States, Liberia and Myanmar are the well-known holdouts that still run on feet, inches and miles for daily life. Both systems are exact and internally consistent; the friction is entirely at the boundary between them.
Worth knowing
- Since 1959, every common imperial length unit has been defined as an exact fraction of the metre by international agreement. The inch is exactly 25.4 mm, the foot exactly 0.3048 m, the yard exactly 0.9144 m. None of them are approximate any more.
- Before 1959, the US and UK used slightly different definitions of the foot and yard (differing by a few parts per million), which is why the US still keeps a separate, very slightly larger "US survey foot" for some land-survey records.
- Aviation reports altitude in feet worldwide (even in metric countries) and distance in nautical miles, while road distances almost everywhere outside the US, UK and Myanmar are in kilometres. The same trip can legitimately be described in three different units depending on who is measuring it.
Definitions: BIPM SI Brochure · NIST reference on units
Read next: Unit Conversion Mistakes That Have Destroyed Real Things
How to use it
- Set Value.
- Pick a value for From: the options are Nanometre (nm), Micrometre (µm), Angstrom (Å), Millimetre (mm), Centimetre (cm) or Metre (m).
- Pick a value for To: the options are Nanometre (nm), Micrometre (µm), Angstrom (Å), Millimetre (mm), Centimetre (cm) or Metre (m).
- Results update continuously rather than on submit.
- Check Result, How it was calculated and Reverse conversion on the right.
- Print gives a tidy version without the navigation, which is handy for attaching to a file.
What this tool does not do
- Factors use the internationally agreed definitions; some industries round them differently.
- Repeated conversions compound rounding, so convert once from the original value where you can.
- Precision beyond what the inputs justify is not meaningful, however many digits appear.
- The result inherits any error in the inputs without flagging it.
Frequently asked questions
Only Value, From and To. Nothing starts empty, so you can change one value at a time and watch how the result responds.
With the values loaded when the page opens, result comes out as 3.280839895 ft. Overwrite any of the starting values and the result follows.
Not at all: the whole thing runs offline once the page has loaded, which tells you nothing is being sent.
No payment and no login. Advertising covers the running costs.
It is accurate to the method shown. Rounding only affects what is displayed, never what is computed.