How to Convert Feet to Meters
Legend ascribes many origins to the measure known as the "foot." The "standard" foot most people in the United States know today is 12 inches in length. This standard was strictly defined in the United States on July 1, 1959, when the U.S. Survey Foot was adopted by the U.S. National Bureau of Standards as precisely 1200/3937 of a meter.
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Instructions
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How to Convert Feet to Meters
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1
Divide 1,200 by 3,937. The result, 0.3048, is that portion of a meter equal to one U.S. Survey Foot as defined by the National Institute of Standards (formerly the National Bureau of Standards).
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2
Divide 3,937 by 1,200. This formula is the reciprocal of the formula used by the National Institute of Standards to determine the length of a U.S. Survey Foot and yields the result 3.28, which is the number of feet in a meter.
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3
Note that the result, 0.3048006, is the decimal portion of a meter that meets the definition of a U.S. Survey Foot. The meter as defined by the U.S. Survey Foot is 39.37 inches.
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4
Convert feet to meters by multiplying the number of feet by 0.3048006, the decimal portion of a meter equal to one Survey Foot. For example, to express 4 feet as meters, multiply 4 x 0.3048006.
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5
Record the result, 1.2192024, as the number of meters in 4 feet.
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1
Tips & Warnings
A number of simple freeware computer programs are available to complete the conversion from feet to meters.
