How to Convert Inches to Centimeters - Simple Steps

Illustrated picture. Photo: Mixi's

What is Inch？

Definition: An inch (symbol: in) is a unit of length in the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. An inch was defined to be equivalent to exactly 25.4 millimeters in 1959. There are 12 inches in a foot and 36 inches in a yard.

History/origin: The term "inch" was derived from the Latin unit "uncia" which equated to "one-twelfth" of a Roman foot.

There have been a number of different standards for the inch in the past, with the current definition being based on the international yard. One of the earliest definitions of the inch was based on barleycorns, where an inch was equal to the length of three grains of dry, round barley placed end-to-end. Another version of the inch is also believed to have been derived from the width of a human thumb, where the length was obtained from averaging the width of three thumbs: a small, a medium, and a large one.

Current use: The inch is mostly used in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It is also sometimes used in Japan (as well as other countries) in relation to electronic parts, like the size of display screens.

What is Centimeter?

Definition: A centimeter (symbol: cm) is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), the current form of the metric system. It is defined as 1/100 meters.

History/origin: A centimeter is based on the SI unit meter, and as the prefix "centi" indicates, is equal to one hundredth of a meter. Metric prefixes range from factors of 10-18 to 1018 based on a decimal system, with the base (in this case the meter) having no prefix and having a factor of 1. Learning some of the more commonly used metric prefixes, such as kilo-, mega-, giga-, tera-, centi-, milli-, micro-, and nano-, can be helpful for quickly navigating metric units.

Current use: The centimeter, like the meter, is used in all sorts of applications worldwide (in countries that have undergone metrication) in instances where a smaller denomination of the meter is required. Height is commonly measured in centimeters outside of countries like the United States.

Ways to Convert Inches to Centimeters

Converting ” to cm is straightforward:

As one inch equals 2.54 cm, the formula to convert inches to cm is: [cm] = [in] * 2.54.

This can also be written like [cm] = [″] * 2.54, and in daily use the approximation cm ≈ inches x 2.5 is often precise enough.

One inch = 2.54 cm

One cm ≈ 0.3937 inches

To get the value in cm you have to multiply the amount of inches with 2.54.

For example, to obtain the equivalent of three inches we multiply 3 with 2.54 and get 7.62 centimeters.

Another illustration of converting inches to centimeters with a fraction of 1/2″:

We multiply 0.5 with 2.54, or divide 2.54 by 2 and get 1.27 centimeters.

Here you can learn how to change cm to inches.

The conversion is really that easy.

However, there is even a simpler way to convert inch to cm.

Just use our converter in the next section, or head over to the search form in the sidebar of this page, where you can find all ″ cm conversion we have calculated so far.

How to Convert Centimeters to Inches With Easy Steps There are many tools helping you convert inches to centimeters on the web. However, the formula for the conversion is important for you to remember. ...

Inches to Centimeters Estimation

For on-the-fly mental calculations, round your conversion factor to an easier value. If you don't have a calculator handy, it's still possible to approximate an inches-to-centimeters conversion by using a "rounder" conversion factor to make mental multiplication easier. Instead of using the precise conversion factor of 2.54 centimeters/1 inch, use 2.5 centimeters/1 inch. Note that this will cause your final answer to be slightly inaccurate, so this method is only suitable for situations in which loose estimations are acceptable.

For instance, let's convert 31 inches to centimeters using this quick estimation method:

2.5 × 30 = 75. 2.5 × 1 = 2.5

75 + 2.5 = 77.5 centimeters.

Note that if we had used the precise conversion factor of 2.54 centimeters/1 inch, our answer would have been 78.74 centimeters. These two answers differ by 1.24 centimeters, or about 1.5%.

Convert Inches to Centimeters in Excel & Google Sheets

The CONVERT function is the best method to convert values given in inches to centimeters. We just need to enter both the value and measurement types into the function. We can use the abbreviations of the measurements.

  =CONVERT(B3,"in","cm")

Photo: Mixi-1

The manual approach

The first approach we are going to show you is doing the conversion manually. You can convert inches to cm using a simple math calculation. 1 inch is approximately equal to 2.54 cm. Thus, you need to multiply the centimeter-value by 2.54 to get the same value in inches.

Let's say the cell C2 contains the inch-value. Use a formula like below to find the inch-value.

=C2*2.54

Photo: spreadsheetweb

Inch to Centimeter Conversion Table

In this video, you will find how to easily convert Inches and centimeters and vice versa:

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