The factor
m = ft × 0.3048. A foot is 12 inches of 2.54 cm each, so 30.48 cm exactly. Dividing the feet by 3.3 is a rough check: 100 ft gives 30.3 against the exact 30.48 m.
Worked examples
Every figure here is exact, with nothing rounded:
| Feet | Metres |
|---|---|
| 1 ft | 0.3048 m |
| 3 ft | 0.9144 m |
| 5 ft | 1.524 m |
| 6 ft | 1.8288 m |
| 8 ft | 2.4384 m |
| 10 ft | 3.048 m |
| 100 ft | 30.48 m |
| 1,000 ft | 304.8 m |
| 30,000 ft | 9,144 m |
An airliner cruising at 30,000 ft is 9,144 m up, a little over 9 km.
Questions
How do I convert feet and inches to metres?
Divide the inches by 12 and add them to the feet: 5 ft 10 in is 5.833 ft, which is 1.78 m. For a closer figure, turn it all into inches (70) and use Inches to cm: 177.8 cm.
Is it meters or metres?
The same unit. Meter is the US spelling and metre the British one; the converter lists it as metres.