Square metre

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M^2 redirects here. For other uses, see M².

The square metre (also spelled meter, see spelling differences) is the SI derived unit of area, with symbol m². It is defined as the area of a square whose sides measure exactly one metre. The square metre is derived from the SI base unit of the metre, which in turn is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in absolute vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second.

Adding SI prefixes creates multiples and submultiples; however, as the unit is squared, the order of magnitude difference between units doubles from their comparable linear units. For example, a kilometre is one thousand times the length of a metre, but a square kilometre is one million times the area of a square metre.

Contents 1 SI prefixes applied to the square metre 2 Conversions 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] SI prefixes applied to the square metre

The square metre may be used with all SI prefixes used with the metre.

Multiple	Name	Symbol		Multiple	Name	Symbol
100	square metre	m²
102	square decametre	dam²		10–2	square decimetre	dm²
104	square hectometre	hm²		10–4	square centimetre	cm²
106	square kilometre	km²		10–6	square millimetre	mm²
1012	square megametre	Mm²		10–12	square micrometre	µm²
1018	square gigametre	Gm²		10–18	square nanometre	nm²
1024	square terametre	Tm²		10–24	square picometre	pm²
1030	square petametre	Pm²		10–30	square femtometre	fm²
1036	square exametre	Em²		10–36	square attometre	am²
1042	square zettametre	Zm²		10–42	square zeptometre	zm²
1048	square yottametre	Ym²		10–48	square yoctometre	ym²

[edit] Conversions

A square metre is equal to:

• 0.000 001 square kilometre (km²)
• 10,000 square centimetres (cm²)
• 0.000 1 hectares (ha)
• 0.01 ares (a)
• 1 centiare (ca)
• 0.000 247 105 381 acres
• 1.195 990 square yards
• 10.763 911 square feet
• 1,550.003 1 square inches

[edit] See also

• SI
• SI prefix
• 1 E0 m²
• Conversion of units
• Orders of magnitude

[edit] External links

• BIPM (SI maintenance agency) (home page)
• BIPM brochure (SI reference)
• Conversion of square metre in other units

Orders of magnitude (area) SI unit: square metre Conversion of units#Area
1 fm²	1 pm²	1 nm²	1 µm²	1 mm²	1 m²	1 km²	1 Mm²	1 Gm²	1 Tm²
10 fm²	10 pm²	10 nm²	10 µm²	10 mm²	10 m²	10 km²	10 Mm²	10 Gm²	10 Tm²
100 fm²	100 pm²	100 nm²	100 µm²	100 mm²	100 m²	100 km²	100 Mm²	100 Gm²	100 Tm²
1,000 fm²	1,000 pm²	1,000 nm²	1,000 µm²	1,000 mm²	1,000 m²	1,000 km²	1,000 Mm²	1,000 Gm²	1,000 Tm²
10,000 fm²	10,000 pm²	10,000 nm²	10,000 µm²	10,000 mm²	10,000 m²	10,000 km²	10,000 Mm²	10,000 Gm²	10,000 Tm²
100,000 fm²	100,000 pm²	100,000 nm²	100,000 µm²	100,000 mm²	100,000 m²	100,000 km²	100,000 Mm²	100,000 Gm²	100,000 Tm²