Centimeters to Fathoms (cm to ftm)

1 centimeter equals 0.005468066492 fathoms (rounded).

1 centimeter = 0.005468066492 fathoms

How to convert centimeters to fathoms

To convert centimeters to fathoms, multiply the number of centimeters by 0.005468066492. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply fathoms by 182.88.

fathoms = centimeters × 0.005468066492

Example: 10 centimeters = 0.05468066492 fathoms.

About these units

Centimeter (cm)

Metric (SI)Current unit

One hundredth of a meter. Used for body measurements, clothing and everyday objects.

Scientists, rather than shopkeepers, gave the centimeter its place. In 1832 Carl Friedrich Gauss proposed a system of absolute units built on length, mass and time, choosing the millimeter, milligram and second. In 1873 a committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, whose members included James Clerk Maxwell and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), recommended the centimeter, gram and second instead. That CGS system dominated physics for decades, until the metre-kilogram-second system replaced it in the mid-twentieth century and led to SI.

CGS units proved awkward for rooms and buildings, which run to hundreds of centimeters, but the centimeter itself never went away. It is still the everyday unit for height, clothing and small objects, and it appears in map scales and rainfall reports. An adult fingernail is roughly one centimeter wide, and a milliliter is defined as exactly one cubic centimeter. An inch is exactly 2.54 centimeters. The CGS system itself survives mainly in theoretical physics and astrophysics, where Gaussian units are still common.

1 centimeter = 0.01 meters (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Centimetre-gram-second system of units; Wikipedia: Centimetre; NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8: conversion factors

Fathom (ftm)

NauticalTraditional unit (still used in some regions)

6 feet (1.8288 m), traditionally the span of a man's outstretched arms. Still used for water depth on nautical charts in some countries.

Old English fæðm meant a pair of outstretched arms, and the word gave English its fathom. That is the origin of the measure: the span between the fingertips of a man with his arms spread wide, roughly the height of a person. Because bodies differ, the fathom was not fixed for centuries. Merchant ships are recorded as using about five and a half feet, and fishing boats five or seven, until the length was settled at six feet in the nineteenth century.

Sailors counted in fathoms because a hand sounding line carried marks at fathom intervals, so the depth could be read off when the weight touched bottom. Water shallower than 100 fathoms was said to be in soundings. Anchor chain and fishing line were also sold and counted in fathoms. The figure used here is exactly six feet, or 1.8288 m, which makes two yards one fathom. Most charts today show metres, though some national charts still print fathoms.

1 fathom = 1.8288 meters (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Fathom; NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8 (length conversion factors)

Related conversions

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