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Length; system unit code (other) symbol or abbrev. notes conversion factor/m combinations SI: gigametre: Gm Gm US spelling: gigameter: 1.0 Gm (620,000 mi) megametre: Mm Mm US spelling: megameter: 1.0 Mm (620 mi) kilometre: km km US spelling: kilometer: 1.0 km (0.62 mi) km mi; hectometre: hm hm US spelling: hectometer: 1.0 hm (330 ft) decametre ...
A decametre (International spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and by most English speaking countries, [1] [2] United States spelling dekameter or decameter [3] [4]), symbol dam ("da" for the SI prefix deca-, [1] "m" for the SI unit metre), is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI) equal to ten metres.
Before the establishment of the decimal metric system in France during the French Revolution in the late 18th century, [4] many units of length were based on parts of the human body. [5] [6] The Nippur cubit was one of the oldest known units of length. The oldest known metal standard for length corresponds to this Sumerian unit and dates from ...
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 1 kilometer and 10 kilometers (10 3 and 10 4 meters). Conversions 1 kilometer (unit symbol km) is equal to:
Length ; system unit unit-code symbol or abbrev. notes sample default conversion combination output units SI: megametre: Mm Mm US spelling: megameter: 1.0 Mm (620 mi) kilometre: km km US spelling: kilometer: 1.0 km (0.62 mi) km mi; metre: m m US spelling: meter: 1.0 m (3 ft 3 in) m ft; m ftin; centimetre: cm cm US spelling: centimeter: 1.0 cm ...
kilometre (km) or kilometer is a metric unit used, outside the US, to measure the length of a journey; the international statute mile (mi) is used in the US; 1 mi = 1.609344 km; nautical mile is rarely used to derive units of transportation quantity.
Using the length of the rod and the length of the shadow as the legs of a triangle, he calculated the angle of the sun's rays. [10] This angle was about 7°, or 1/50th the circumference of a circle ; assuming the Earth to be perfectly spherical, he concluded that its circumference was 50 times the known distance from Alexandria to Syene (5,000 ...
A significant characteristic of the metric system is its use of decimal multiples – powers of 10. For example, a length that is significantly longer or shorter than 1 metre can be represented in units that are a power of 10 or 1000 metres. This differs from many older systems in which the ratio of different units varied.