# Centimetre > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Centimetre > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Centimetre.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimetre > Source revision: 1356186267 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Unit of length}} {{broader|metre}} {{Use British English |date=February 2023}} {{Infobox unit | name = centimetre | image = frameless | caption = A carpenter's [ruler](/source/ruler) with centimetre divisions | symbol = cm | standard = [SI](/source/SI) | quantity = [length](/source/length) | units1 = [millimetres](/source/millimetres) | inunits1 = 10 [mm](/source/millimetre) | units2 = [imperial](/source/Imperial_unit) & [US](/source/United_States_customary_units) system | inunits2 = ~{{convert|1|cm|in|4|disp=out|lk=out}} }} {{Wiktionary|centimetre}} [[file:EM Spectrum Properties edit.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Different lengths as in respect to the [electromagnetic spectrum](/source/electromagnetic_spectrum), measured by the metre and its derived scales. The [microwave](/source/microwave) is in-between 1 metre to 1 millimetre.]] A '''centimetre''' (International spelling) or '''centimeter''' ([American English](/source/American_English)), with SI symbol '''cm''', is a [unit](/source/Units_of_measurement) of [length](/source/length) in the [International System of Units](/source/International_System_of_Units) (SI) equal to one hundredth of a [metre](/source/metre), ''centi-'' being the [SI prefix](/source/SI_prefix) for a factor of {{sfrac|100}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.bipm.org/en/publications/si-brochure/chapter3.html |title=Decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units |publisher=Bureau International des Poids et Mesures |year=2014 |access-date=5 July 2015}} Equivalently, there are 100 centimetres in 1 metre. The centimetre is the base unit of length in the now [deprecated](/source/deprecated) [centimetre–gram–second](/source/Centimetre%E2%80%93gram%E2%80%93second_system_of_units) (CGS) system of units. Though for many physical quantities, [SI prefix](/source/SI_prefix)es for factors of 103—like ''milli-'' and ''kilo-''—are often preferred by technicians, the centimetre remains a practical unit of length for many everyday measurements; for instance, [human height](/source/human_height) is commonly measured in centimetres.{{cite web|title=Using the BMI-for-Age Growth Charts |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/growthcharts/training/modules/module1/text/page6bmetric.htm |website=cdc.gov |publisher=[Centers for Disease Control](/source/Centers_for_Disease_Control) |access-date=5 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130012800/http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/growthcharts/training/modules/module1/text/page6bmetric.htm |archive-date=30 January 2014 |df=dmy }}{{cite book|author=Price, Beth|title=MathsWorld Year 8 VELS Edition|date=2009|publisher=[MacMillan](/source/Macmillan_Publishers)|location=Australia|page=626|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2veDRPjMggC|display-authors=etal|isbn=978-0-7329-9251-4}} A centimetre is approximately the width of the fingernail of an average adult person. ==Equivalence to other units of length== {| |- |rowspan=4 valign=top|{{calculator|id=cm|type=number|size=4|default=1}} centimetre |= {{calculator|id=mm|type=plain|default=10|formula=cm*10|NaN-text=0}} [millimetre](/source/millimetre)s |- |= {{calculator|id=m|type=plain|default=0.01|formula=cm/100|NaN-text=0}} metres |- |= {{calculator|id=in|type=plain|default=0.3937|formula=cm/2.54|NaN-text=0|decimals=4}} [inch](/source/inch)es (There are ''exactly'' 2.54 centimetres in one inch.) |} One [millilitre](/source/litre) is defined as one cubic centimetre, under the [SI](/source/SI) system of units. ==Other uses== In addition to its use in the measurement of [length](/source/length), the centimetre is used: * sometimes, to report the level of rainfall as measured by a [rain gauge](/source/rain_gauge){{Cite web|url=https://www.weathershack.com/static/ed-rain-measurement.html|title=Rain Measurement|website=www.weathershack.com}} * in the [CGS system](/source/Centimetre_gram_second_system_of_units), the centimetre is used to measure [capacitance](/source/capacitance), where 1 cm of capacitance = {{val|1.113|e=-12}} [farad](/source/farad)s{{Cite web|url=https://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Capacitance.html|title=Capacitance -- from Eric Weisstein's World of Physics|first=Eric W.|last=Weisstein|website=scienceworld.wolfram.com}} * in maps, centimetres are used to make conversions from map scale to real world scale (kilometres) * to represent second moment of areas (cm4) * as the inverse of the [Kayser](/source/kayser_(unit)), a CGS unit, and thus a non-SI metric unit of [wavenumber](/source/wavenumber): 1 kayser = 1 wave per centimetre; or, more generally, (wavenumber in kaysers) = 1/([wavelength](/source/wavelength) in centimetres). The SI unit of wavenumber is the inverse metre, m−1. ==Unicode symbols== For the purposes of compatibility with [Chinese](/source/Chinese_language), [Japanese](/source/Japanese_language) and [Korea](/source/Korea)n ([CJK](/source/CJK)) characters, [Unicode](/source/Unicode) has symbols for:[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U3300.pdf CJK Compatibility excerpt] from The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0. * centimetre – {{unichar|339D|SQUARE CM}} * square centimetre – {{unichar|33A0|SQUARE CM SQUARED}} * cubic centimetre – {{unichar|33A4|SQUARE CM CUBED}} These characters are each equal in size to one Chinese character and are typically used only with East Asian, fixed-width [CJK](/source/CJK) fonts. ==See also== *[Conversion of units](/source/Conversion_of_units) *[Orders of magnitude (length)](/source/Orders_of_magnitude_(length)) *[Reciprocal length](/source/Reciprocal_length) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [https://stylespree.com/pages/cm-to-inch-converter CM to Inch Converter] {{SI units of length}} {{CGS units}} {{Authority control}} Category:Metre -02 Category:Centimetre–gram–second system of units Category:SI units Category:100 (number) Category:Units of length --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Centimetre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimetre) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimetre?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.