How To Convert Feet To Meters Calculator
Feet and metres are tied together by a fixed, exact number, so the whole task is one multiplication. Every difficulty that remains comes from how the original measurement was written down.
Height in meters
1.8796
- Same height in centimeters
- 187.96
- Total inches behind the conversion
- 74
- Same length in yards
- 2.0556
Values update as you type. This calculator covers the single scenario its formula assumes — see Common Mistakes for what it leaves out.
The formula this calculator uses
m = ft x 0.3048
- ft
- Length in feet, or feet plus inches written as feet
- 0.3048
- Exact number of metres in one foot
- in
- Extra inches, worth 0.0254 m each
- m
- Length in metres
How to check the result by hand
- 1
Read the measurement and decide whether inches are involved
A value such as 9 ft is a single number; a value such as 6'2" is two. Decide first, because the presence of inches changes the route: fold them in as a total inch count, or as a genuine fraction of a foot, but never read them as a decimal tacked onto the end of the feet.
- 2
Fold feet and inches into one number
Six foot two becomes 6 x 12 + 2 = 74 inches. Doing this before anything else means one multiplication and one constant, instead of two separate conversions and an addition in which an error can quietly hide.
- 3
Multiply by the exact factor
Working in inches, 74 x 0.0254 = 1.8796 m. Working in feet, 6.1666667 x 0.3048 = 1.8796 m. The two routes must agree, and checking that they do is itself a useful test of the arithmetic.
- 4
Reverse the calculation to confirm it
Divide the result by 0.3048: 1.8796 / 0.3048 = 6.1666667 ft, and the fractional 0.1666667 of a foot is 2 inches once multiplied by twelve. If the round trip does not land back on the original measurement, redo the step where the units changed.
- 5
Round once, to match the measurement
A height of 1.8796 m is reported as 1.88 m, and a ceiling of 9 ft at 2.7432 m is reported as 2.74 m. Rounding earlier, or quoting four decimals for a measurement taken to the nearest inch, claims an accuracy that was never present.
For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Convert Feet To Meters page.