Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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.
For example, 5 km is treated as 5000 m, which allows all quantities based on the same unit to be factored together even if they have different prefixes. A prefix symbol attached to a unit symbol is included when the unit is raised to a power. For example, 1 km 2 denotes 1 km × 1 km = 10 6 m 2, not 10 3 m 2.
To help compare orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 100 and 1,000 kilometers (10 5 and 10 6 meters). Conversions A distance of 100 kilometers is equal to about 62 miles (or 62.13711922 miles).
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.
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
It was only in 1867 that the term "kilometer " became the only official unit of measure in the Netherlands to represent 1000 metres. [ 8 ] Two German textbooks dated 1842 [ 9 ] [ 10 ] and 1848 [ 11 ] respectively give a snapshot of the use of the kilometre across Europe: the kilometre was in use in the Netherlands and in Italy, and the ...
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 ...