1 decimetre

A clickable mosaic of objects
at scales within direct human experience, from the micrometric (10⁻⁶ m, top left) to the multi-kilometric (10⁵ m, bottom right).

An adult human foot is about 28 centimetres long.

To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10 centimetres and 100 centimetres (10⁻¹ metre and 1 metre).

Distances shorter than 10 centimetres

Conversions

10 centimetres (abbreviated to 10 cm) is equal to

• 1 decimetre (dm), a term not in common use
• 100 millimetres
• 3.9 inches
• A side of a square of area 0.01 m^{2[note 1]}
• The edge of a cube with a volume of 6997100000000000000♠1×10^{−3[note 1]} (one litre)

Wavelengths

• 10 cm = 1.0 dm^{[note 1]} – wavelength of the highest UHF radio frequency, 3 GHz
• 12 cm = 1.2 dm – wavelength of the 2.45 GHz ISM radio band
• 21 cm = 2.1 dm – wavelength of the 1.4 GHz hydrogen emission line, a hyperfine transition of the hydrogen atom
• 100 cm = 10 dm – wavelength of the lowest UHF radio frequency, 300 MHz

Human-defined scales and structures

• 10.16 cm = 1.016 dm — 1 hand used in measuring height of horses (4 inches)
• 12 cm = 1.2 dm — diameter of a Compact Disc (CD) (= 120 mm)
• 15 cm = 1.5 dm — length of a Bic pen with cap on
• 22 cm = 2.2 dm — diameter of a typical soccer ball
• 30.48 cm = 3.048 dm — 1 foot
• 30 cm = 3 dm — typical school-use ruler length (= 300 mm)
• 60 cm = 6 dm — standard depth (front to back) of a domestic kitchen worktop in Europe (= 600 mm)
• 90 cm = 9 dm — average length of a rapier, a fencing sword^[1]
• 91.44 cm = 9.144 dm — one yard

Nature

• 10 cm = 1 dm — diameter of the human cervix upon entering the second stage of labour
• 15 cm = 1.5 dm — approximate size of largest beetle species
• 29 cm = 2.9 dm — length of average human foot
• 29.98 cm = distance light travels in one nanosecond
• 31 cm = 3.1 dm — wingspan of largest butterfly species Ornithoptera alexandrae
• 50 to 65 cm — a pizote's tail
• 66 cm — length of the longest pine cones (produced by the Sugar Pine^[2])

Distances 1 metre or longer

See also

• Orders of magnitude (area)

Notes

References