Feet to Meters Converter
One international foot equals exactly 0.3048 meters. This is a definitional fact, fixed by the 1959 international yard and pound agreement, so any feet value converts to meters without approximation.
Formula
meters = feet × 0.3048
Reverse conversion:
feet = meters × 3.280839895013123
Formula variables
- feet — length in international feet (ft).
- meters — equivalent length in meters (m).
- 0.3048 — the exact number of meters in one international foot, defined by the 1959 international yard and pound agreement.
Worked Examples
Example 1: 1 foot to meters
- Start: 1 ft.
- Multiply: 1 × 0.3048 = 0.3048.
- Result: 1 foot = 0.3048 meters exactly.
Example 2: 6 feet to meters
- Start: 6 ft.
- Multiply: 6 × 0.3048 = 1.8288.
- Result: 6 feet = 1.8288 meters. A common US height measurement (6'0") is about 1.83 m.
Example 3: 100 feet to meters
- Start: 100 ft.
- Multiply: 100 × 0.3048 = 30.48.
- Result: 100 feet = 30.48 meters. This is the length of a 30-meter sprint plus a bit.
Common Conversion Table
| Feet (ft) | Meters (m) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.304800 |
| 3 | 0.914400 |
| 5 | 1.524000 |
| 5.5 | 1.676400 |
| 6 | 1.828800 |
| 10 | 3.048000 |
| 20 | 6.096000 |
| 50 | 15.240000 |
| 100 | 30.480000 |
| 1000 | 304.800000 |
Real-World Uses
- Height conversion: Converting a height given in feet and inches (like 5'10") to meters for medical charts, sports rosters, or international documents.
- Building and construction: Plans and materials are sometimes specified in feet (US) and sometimes in meters (international), so conversions are common on multi-country projects.
- Aviation: Altitudes are typically quoted in feet worldwide, but runway lengths and aircraft dimensions may be given in meters.
- Sports: Field dimensions in American football (in yards/feet) are frequently converted to meters for international broadcast and documentation.
Unit Definitions
Foot (ft)
The international foot is defined as exactly 0.3048 meters. Before 1959, the United States and the United Kingdom used slightly different foot definitions, but the 1959 international yard and pound agreement standardized them. A foot contains exactly 12 inches and one third of a yard.
Meter (m)
The SI base unit of length. Since 1983, defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. All modern length units ultimately trace back to this definition.
Accuracy and Rounding
Because 1 ft = 0.3048 m is exact, any feet value that can be expressed as a finite decimal produces an exact meter value in decimal form. Display precision scales with input magnitude; typical conversions show 5–8 significant figures.
Related Converters
- Meters to Feet — the reverse conversion
- Inches to Centimeters
- Centimeters to Inches
- All Length Converters
Frequently Asked Questions
How many meters is a foot?
One international foot equals exactly 0.3048 meters. This definition was fixed by the 1959 international yard and pound agreement.
How do you convert feet to meters?
Multiply the number of feet by 0.3048. For example, 10 feet × 0.3048 = 3.048 meters.
How many meters is 6 feet?
6 feet equals 1.8288 meters exactly. This is a common height measurement in the US, equal to about 1.83 m.
Is 1 meter equal to 3 feet?
Not exactly. 1 meter equals approximately 3.280839895 feet, so slightly more than 3 feet. This is a common approximation but should not be used where precision matters.
Why is the foot definition exact?
The foot is not a natural constant; its definition is a convention. In 1959, six English-speaking countries agreed to define the international yard (and therefore the foot) as an exact fraction of the meter, making the conversion factor exact.