Dimensions Guide

To standardize the system of measurement around the world, most of the countries around the world adopted the International System of Units, abbreviated SI from its French name le Système International d’unités. But since not all countries agreed on using the SI, which was based on the metric system first used in France, there are still a few countries using their own system of measurement. In the United States, the American system is still in use, and being a country of great influence around the world, this makes for a confusing amalgamation of measurement systems.

One of the more common confusions that arise from this lack of compatibility between the systems is the conversion from inches to centimeters, two of the most basic measurements in the two systems. Within the American system, it is easy to remember that for every foot, there are 12 inches. Conversely, it is even easier to remember that there are 100 centimeters in every meter, owing to the system’s decimal system. But converting inches to centimeters (or vice-versa for that matter) is a big problem for one who doesn’t know exactly the how many centimeters equal one inch since the two systems they are from are completely different worlds.

The most important thing to know of course when learning to convert inches to centimeters is that an inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters. Now, that is enough knowledge for those who know their math, but for those who are not that adept in arithmetic, or just want to do it the easy way, here are is a detailed instruction for converting inches to centimeters and vice-versa.

Since every inch equals 2.54 centimeters, one will just have to multiply the number of inches that one has with 2.54 to get the corresponding equivalent in centimeters. For instance, 3 inches is equal to 7.62 centimeters since 3 x 2.54 = 7.62 and 10 inches is 25.4 centimeters since 10 x 2.54 is 25.4. When converting from centimeters to inches, all the one have to do is take the number of inches and divide it by 2.54, which is just basically the previous operation done backwards. Thus, 7.62 centimeters is 3 inches since 7.62/2.54 = 3 while 25.4 centimeters is 10 inches since 25.4/2.54 = 10.

Converting from inches to centimeters may be impossible when one does not know the equivalence between the two measurements but it is simple and easy when one already knows the magic value between the two and becomes familiar with the simple steps of converting inches to centimeters.