How do I convert Decimeters to Centimeters?
'Deci' means a tenth and 'centi' a hundredth, so a decimeter is 10 centimeters and you multiply by 10.
Move the decimal point one place to the right – 5 decimeters is 50 centimeters and 15 decimeters is 150 centimeters.
What is a decimeter?
A decimeter (dm) is one tenth of a meter, or 10 centimeters. The 'deci' is the SI prefix for 10^-1.
The decimeter is rarely used by itself, since people go from centimeters straight to meters. You mostly meet it as the cubic decimeter, which is exactly one liter.
A decimeter is about 3.937 inches, so just under four. Divide inches by 3.937 – or multiply by 0.254 – to go the other way.
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.