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Base-unit conversions

Unit Conversion Calculator

Convert length, mass, volume, area, temperature, and speed through canonical base units, so every conversion runs through one tested path.

Your numbers

Unit conversion

Convert through a canonical base unit. Temperature uses Kelvin, not a scale factor.

Converted value

0.1 cm1 mm
How we got this
  1. Input1 mm
  2. Output0.1 cm
  3. Categorylength
What we assumed
  • Linear units convert through a canonical base unit. Temperature uses an affine Kelvin path.
  • Inch, foot, mile, and pound use the international yard and pound exact constants.
  • Every pair converts through a canonical base unit, so kilograms to pounds and pounds to kilograms use the same tested factor.
Technical details

Method unit-conversion-v1.0.0Data Manual inputs / fixed rules

Guide

Conversions through canonical base units

CostAnswer editorialIndependent calculator publisher

Length, mass, volume, area, temperature, and speed go through one tested path each. That avoids a mesh of pairwise factors that drift. Temperature is affine (offset), not a simple scale.

Why not 50 separate converters

Inch to cm and mile to km share a length base. A bug in a one-off factor would only show up on that pair. The shared path is the point of the engine.

Questions about this calculator

How do I convert kg to lbs?

Pick mass, kilograms to pounds. The factor is the same one used anywhere else on the site that converts mass.

Terms used here

Canonical base unit
The internal unit every conversion in a dimension passes through.

Practical tips

  • Culinary volume (cups) is not the same as SI volume if you care about density; this page converts units, not ingredients.

Limits and caveats

  • Exact for the factors in the engine. Not a lab calibration certificate.

Results are for information. They are not legal, tax, medical, or financial advice. How the math is maintained · Report a wrong figure.

Engine notes

Rounding, versioning, and omissions that sit beside the guide rather than repeating it.

  • Base units. A value converts into a category base, then out. Length uses meters, mass kilograms, volume cubic meters, area square meters, speed meters per second.
  • Exact SI ties. 1 inch = 2.54 cm exactly, 1 foot = 0.3048 m, 1 mile = 1609.344 m, 1 pound = 0.45359237 kg.
  • Temperature. Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin use affine conversion through kelvin, not a simple scale factor.

Calculation receipt

What each number here is

This answer is arithmetic on what you enter. No outside dataset is involved, so nothing here can go out of date.

Conversion factors between units are definitions, not measurements.

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