Square metre

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

The square metre (also spelt 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 (centiare)	m²		100	square metre (centiare)	m²
102	square decametre (are)	dam²		10–2	square decimetre	dm²
104	square hectometre (hectare)	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:

[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)