One centimeter, five ways
A centimeter is a hundredth of a meter. Each target unit uses its own fixed factor — multiply for the smaller units, divide for the larger ones.
in = cm ÷ 2.54 · ft = cm ÷ 30.48 · mm = cm × 10 · m = cm ÷ 100
Reference: 1 cm in every unit
| Centimeters | Inches | Feet | Millimeters | Meters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cm | 0.39 in | 0.03 ft | 10 mm | 0.01 m |
| 5 cm | 1.97 in | 0.16 ft | 50 mm | 0.05 m |
| 10 cm | 3.94 in | 0.33 ft | 100 mm | 0.1 m |
| 30 cm | 11.81 in | 0.98 ft | 300 mm | 0.3 m |
| 50 cm | 19.69 in | 1.64 ft | 500 mm | 0.5 m |
| 100 cm | 39.37 in | 3.28 ft | 1,000 mm | 1 m |
| 180 cm | 70.87 in | 5.91 ft | 1,800 mm | 1.8 m |
The clean crossings: 2.54 cm is exactly 1 inch and 30.48 cm is exactly 1 foot — 30 cm is just short of a foot, not equal to it.
The parts people get wrong
- Feet are not just inches. Convert cm to inches first, then divide by 12. Reporting 70.87 inches as "70 feet" is the usual mix-up.
- Foot is 30.48 cm, not 30. The 30 cm approximation is fine for a rough measure but drifts on longer lengths.
- cm to mm is times 10, not equal. One centimeter is ten millimeters, so mixing them up shifts the answer by a factor of ten.
Common questions
How many inches is 1 cm?
1 centimeter is 0.3937 inches, since an inch is exactly 2.54 cm. Ten centimeters is 3.94 inches.
How do I convert 180 cm to feet and inches?
Divide 180 by 2.54 to get 70.87 inches, then divide by 12: that is 5 feet with 10.87 inches left over, so 180 cm is about 5 ft 11 in.
How many millimeters are in a centimeter?
Exactly 10. So to go from cm to mm you multiply by 10, and from cm to meters you divide by 100.
