Length/Distance Unit Converter
This online tool provides a convenient and efficient way to convert length measurements from one unit to another from metric, imperial, and nautical systems. This can be helpful for various applications, including construction, engineering, science, navigation, and everyday measurements.
Converter of Length Units
In the physical sciences and engineering, when one speaks of "units of length", the word "length" is synonymous with "distance". Several units are used to measure length, and historically they may have been derived from the lengths of human body parts, the distance traveled in several paces, the distance between landmarks or places on the Earth, or arbitrarily on the length of some fixed object.
In the International System of Units (SI)or Metric system, the basic unit of length is the meter and is now defined in terms of the speed of light. The millimeter, centimeter, and kilometer, derived from the meter, are also commonly used units.
Decimeter - is one-tenth of a meter and is less commonly used, but still useful for certain applications where a meter is too large a unit.
Dekameter - is ten meters long and is not frequently used in everyday measurements but may be used in some scientific or industrial contexts.
Hectometer - equals one hundred meters and is also not commonly used, but can be useful for measuring longer distances.
Angstromis a unit of length used in physics and chemistry to measure atomic and molecular distances.
British & American Units of Length:
In U.S. customary units, English or Imperial system of units, commonly used units of length are the inch, foot, yard, and mile.
The rod, also known as a perch or pole, is a unit of length used in land measurement and is equal to 5.0292 meters or 16.5 feet.
Chain is equal to 66 feet or 20.1168 meters and is used in land surveying.
Furlongequals one-eighth of a mile or 201.168 meters, it is used in horse racing.
Hand is used in horse racing to measure the height of horses and is equal to four inches or 10.16 centimeters.
Mil is a unit of measuring length, used in Norway and Sweden, and is equal to 10 kilometers or approximately 6.2137 miles.
Nautical (Sea) Units of Distance:
Cable length traditionally represents the length of a ship's anchor chain or a submarine's towed cable. The standard cable length equals one-tenth of a nautical mile, which is approximately 185.2 meters (or 607 feet). Therefore, one cable length is about 18.52 meters or 60.7 feet.
Fathom equals six feet or 1.8288 meters, is used in maritime contexts to measure the water depth.
Nautical Mile is a unit of length used in navigation and maritime contexts and is equal to one minute of latitude or approximately 1.852 kilometers.
League is an old unit of length used historically for measuring distances over land or sea and is equal to three miles or approximately 4.828 kilometers.