Centimetre
Encyclopedia
A centimetre is a unit
of length
in the metric system
, equal to one hundredth of a metre
, which is the SI
base unit
of length. Centi is the SI prefix
for a factor of . Hence a centimetre can be written as (engineering notation
) or (scientific E notation) — meaning or respectively. The centimetre is the base unit of length in the now deprecated centimetre-gram-second (CGS) system of units.
Though for many physical quantities, SI prefix
es for factors of 103—like milli- and kilo-—are often preferred by technicians, the centimetre remains a practical unit of length for many everyday measurements. A centimetre is approximately the width of the fingernail of an adult person (between 3/8 in
and 7/16 inch on an English inch ruler).
1 centimetre is equal
to:
1 cubic centimetre is equal to 1 millilitre
, under the current SI
system of units.
, the centimetre is used:
, Japanese
and Korea
n (CJK
) characters, Unicode
has symbols for:
They are mostly used only with East Asian fixed-width CJK
fonts, because they are equal in size to one Chinese character.
Units of measurement
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same physical quantity. Any other value of the physical quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of...
of length
Length
In geometric measurements, length most commonly refers to the longest dimension of an object.In certain contexts, the term "length" is reserved for a certain dimension of an object along which the length is measured. For example it is possible to cut a length of a wire which is shorter than wire...
in the metric system
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
, equal to one hundredth of a metre
Metre
The metre , symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units . Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole , its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology...
, which is the SI
International System of Units
The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...
base unit
SI base unit
The International System of Units defines seven units of measure as a basic set from which all other SI units are derived. These SI base units and their physical quantities are:* metre for length...
of length. Centi is the SI prefix
SI prefix
The International System of Units specifies a set of unit prefixes known as SI prefixes or metric prefixes. An SI prefix is a name that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a decadic multiple or fraction of the unit. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol...
for a factor of . Hence a centimetre can be written as (engineering notation
Engineering notation
Engineering notation is a version of scientific notation in which the powers of ten must be multiples of three...
) or (scientific E notation) — meaning or respectively. The centimetre is the base unit of length in the now deprecated centimetre-gram-second (CGS) system of units.
Though for many physical quantities, SI prefix
SI prefix
The International System of Units specifies a set of unit prefixes known as SI prefixes or metric prefixes. An SI prefix is a name that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a decadic multiple or fraction of the unit. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol...
es for factors of 103—like milli- and kilo-—are often preferred by technicians, the centimetre remains a practical unit of length for many everyday measurements. A centimetre is approximately the width of the fingernail of an adult person (between 3/8 in
Inch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
and 7/16 inch on an English inch ruler).
Equivalence to other units of length
Equal
Equal commonly refers to a state of equality.Equal or equals may also refer to:* Equal , a brand of artificial sweetener* EQUAL Community Initiative, an initiative within the European Social Fund of the European Union...
to:
- 0.01 metre, which can be represented by 1.00 E-2 m1 E-2 mImage:Length one to ten scale.svg|110px|right|Click on the top for smaller lengths and on the bottom for larger lengthspoly 0 0 20 20 0 20 Distances shorter than 1 centimetrepoly 0 200 200 200 220 220 0 220 Distances 10 centimetres or longer...
(1 metre is equal to 100 centimetres) - about 0.393700787401575 inchInchAn inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
(1 inch is equal to 2.54 centimetres)
1 cubic centimetre is equal to 1 millilitre
Litre
pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
, under the current SI
Si
Si, si, or SI may refer to :- Measurement, mathematics and science :* International System of Units , the modern international standard version of the metric system...
system of units.
Uses of centimetre
In addition to its use in the measurement of lengthLength
In geometric measurements, length most commonly refers to the longest dimension of an object.In certain contexts, the term "length" is reserved for a certain dimension of an object along which the length is measured. For example it is possible to cut a length of a wire which is shorter than wire...
, the centimetre is used:
- sometimes, to report the level of rainfall as measured by a rain gaugeRain gaugeA rain gauge is a type of instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a set period of time....
- in the CGS systemCentimetre gram second system of unitsThe centimetre–gram–second system is a metric system of physical units based on centimetre as the unit of length, gram as a unit of mass, and second as a unit of time...
, the centimetre is used to measure capacitanceCapacitanceIn electromagnetism and electronics, capacitance is the ability of a capacitor to store energy in an electric field. Capacitance is also a measure of the amount of electric potential energy stored for a given electric potential. A common form of energy storage device is a parallel-plate capacitor...
, where 1 cm of capacitance = 1.113×10
FaradFaradThe farad is the SI unit of capacitance. The unit is named after the English physicist Michael Faraday.- Definition :A farad is the charge in coulombs which a capacitor will accept for the potential across it to change 1 volt. A coulomb is 1 ampere second... - in maps, centimetres are used to make conversions from map scale to real world scale (kilometres)
- to represent second moment of areas (cm^4)
Unicode symbols
For the purposes of compatibility with ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n (CJK
CJK
CJK is a collective term for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, which is used in the field of software and communications internationalization.The term CJKV means CJK plus Vietnamese, which constitute the main East Asian languages.- Characteristics :...
) characters, Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
has symbols for:
- centimetre (㎝) - code 339D
- square centimetre (㎠) - code 33A0
- cubic centimetre (㎤) - code 33A4
They are mostly used only with East Asian fixed-width CJK
CJK
CJK is a collective term for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, which is used in the field of software and communications internationalization.The term CJKV means CJK plus Vietnamese, which constitute the main East Asian languages.- Characteristics :...
fonts, because they are equal in size to one Chinese character.
See also
- 1 E-2 m1 E-2 mImage:Length one to ten scale.svg|110px|right|Click on the top for smaller lengths and on the bottom for larger lengthspoly 0 0 20 20 0 20 Distances shorter than 1 centimetrepoly 0 200 200 200 220 220 0 220 Distances 10 centimetres or longer...
- Conversion of unitsConversion of unitsConversion of units is the conversion between different units of measurement for the same quantity, typically through multiplicative conversion factors.- Process :...
, for comparison with other units of length - Reciprocal centimetre
- Metric systemMetric systemThe metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
- Orders of magnitude (length)
- SISiSi, si, or SI may refer to :- Measurement, mathematics and science :* International System of Units , the modern international standard version of the metric system...
- SI prefixSI prefixThe International System of Units specifies a set of unit prefixes known as SI prefixes or metric prefixes. An SI prefix is a name that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a decadic multiple or fraction of the unit. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol...