Feet to Meters Calculator

Both foot and meter are used to measure length but they belong to different unit systems. The foot is a unit of the yard-pound system and US customary system which is still widely used in some regions such as USA and UK. On the other hand, the meter is the base unit for length in metric system which is used almost everywhere around the world. This calculator converts lengths between these two units and also displays results in centimeters, inches, yards, kilometers and miles.

How to convert feet to meters:

One foot is exactly equal to 0.3048 meters. So in order to convert feet into meters, simply multiply by this value. This conversion factor is not an approximation but was set by the international yard and pound agreement of 1959 which defined the foot as being precisely 0.3048 meters.

Let's say a wall is 15 feet tall. If you multiply 15 by 0.3048, the result will be 4.572 meters. A container is 20 feet long and that would equate to 6.096 meters in length while a person who is 6 feet tall has a height of 1.8288 meters.

How to convert meters to feet

Converting the other way is just as easy. Since one foot equals 0.3048 meters, then one meter must be equal to 1 divided by 0.3048 feet, or 3.280839895 feet. So to convert from meters to feet, multiply by 3.28084, or divide by 0.3048, which is the same thing.

A rope that is 5 meters long is equal to 16.404 feet when you multiply 5 by 3.28084. A door with a height of 2 meters is 6.562 feet tall. To do this conversion using a calculator, change the input unit to meters and check the result in feet.

Convert feet and inches to meters:

Heights and everyday lengths are often given as whole feet and inches. Since there are 12 inches in a foot, you first convert the inches to a decimal value for feet by dividing by 12, add this to the number of whole feet, then multiply the result by 0.3048.

For example, 5 feet and 10 inches is equal to 5.8333 feet, which is 5 plus 10/12. When multiplied by 0.3048, it becomes 1.778 meters. The calculator allows you to enter a combination of feet and inches, and displays the result as both a decimal number and in feet and inches.

Example:

We will now calculate a conversion step by step.

• To convert 6 feet to meters, multiply 6 by 0.3048 and you will get 1.8288 meters. This is a typical height of a person.

• 5 feet and 10 inches is equal to 5.8333 feet or 1.778 meters.

• To convert 100 feet to meters, multiply 100 by 0.3048, which gives us 30.48 meters.

• So 300 feet is equal to 300 times 0.3048, which equals 91.44 meters.

• To convert in the opposite direction, multiply 2 meters by 3.28084 to get 6.562 feet.

Conversion table: feet to meters

These are useful reference values for whole numbers of feet. Multiply any fractional value by 0.3048.

What is a foot?

The foot is a unit of length in the yard-pound system and U.S. customary system, equal to exactly 0.3048 meters or 12 inches. A yard is three feet long. The name and approximate length of the foot are derived from the human foot. Prior to standardization, the length of a foot varied by region but was approximately between 250 and 335 millimeters.

Today the foot is primarily used in the United States, Canada and Britain to specify human height, room sizes and relatively short distances. It is also used for measuring aircraft altitude and indicating elevation on maps in almost all countries, even those that use metric system.

What is a meter?

The metre is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (the modern metric system). It is currently defined as being equal to the distance travelled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second. This definition ties it to a natural constant rather than to an artefact. When first proposed, the metre was originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the length of the meridian passing through Paris from the North Pole to the Equator.

As a SI unit, the meter is used worldwide to measure distances, heights, widths and depths in science, technology and everyday life. The main exception is the United States, where feet, yards and miles are still mainly used for everyday measurements.

Why exactly a foot is equal to 0.3048 meters.

Before the year 1959, different countries such as the United States and Great Britain used slightly different units of measurement for a foot, based on national reference standards for the yard. The International Yard and Pound Agreement that year defined a yard to be exactly 0.9144 meters, standardizing these measurements. Divided by three, this makes exactly 0.3048 meters for a foot, without rounding. Therefore, converting feet to meters is simple and precise, while the conversion factor from meters to feet, 3.280839895, is an infinite decimal number.

How to use this calculator.

• Enter length in the input field.

• Select the unit with the switcher. By default, Feet is selected when converting from feet to meters. If you want to start with a different unit, select Meters, Inches, Centimeters, Yards, Kilometers or Miles.

• Check the result in meters above, and the value in feet will be shown next to it.

• Scroll the results card to see the results in centimeters, inches, yards and feet and inches. For longer distances you can also view values in kilometers and miles.

Conversion results are for general reference only. For fields such as engineering, law or safety where accuracy is critical, verify values against recognized standards.