The meter is the international standard unit of length. One meter measures 100 centimeters and 1,000 millimeters.
The meter is the base length of the International System of Units (SI). It was one of the first distance measures that were not defined in relation to the human body (like the inch or the foot) but in relation to the earth globe.
In 1793 in France the meter was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance between the north pole and the equator (meridian through Paris). After several measurement expeditions the best estimate of this length was defined as the standard meter and cast in platinum. In 1889 it was superseded by the international prototype meter (also cast in platinum).
Until 1960 the meter was defined in relation to the length of a solid object such as the prototype meter. However, this definition had inherent inaccuracies due to the degradation of the material and the inconsistencies between copies of the original. From then on, the meter was measured in relation to the speed of light. Since 1973 one meter is defined as the distance travelled by light in a vacuum within 1/299 792 458 seconds.
| Meters | |
|---|---|
| Marathon | 42,195.0 |
| Race track "Mille Miglia" | 1,609,300.0 |
| Earth radius | 6,378,165.0 |
| Earth circumference | 40,075,192.0 |
| Distance earth ↔ moon | 384,400,000.0 |
| Distance earth ↔ sun | 149,593,780,000.0 |