What is a centimeter?
A centimeter (cm) is one hundredth of a meter and just under four tenths of an inch (0.3937 inches). The prefix comes from the Latin centum, a hundred.
Divide centimeters by 30.48 to get feet, or multiply feet by 30.48 to get centimeters. The factor is exact, as a foot is 30.48cm, and a single centimeter is about 0.0328 feet.
The centimeter was the base unit of length in the CGS (centimeter, gram, second) system that physicists used before SI, which is why older physics talks about dynes and ergs.
What is a Parsec?
A parsec is a unit of length used in astronomy to measure vast distances between celestial objects. The term "parsec" is derived from the words "parallax" and "second," which refer to the method used to calculate this unit. Specifically, a parsec is defined as the distance at which an object would have a parallax angle of one arcsecond when observed from opposite ends of Earth's orbit around the Sun.
To understand the concept of a parsec, it is important to grasp the idea of parallax. Parallax is the apparent shift in the position of an object when viewed from different vantage points. In the case of astronomy, scientists use the Earth's orbit as a baseline to measure the parallax of distant stars. By observing a star from opposite ends of Earth's orbit, astronomers can calculate the angle of parallax and subsequently determine the star's distance.