Hectometre

Kheops-Pyramid

Hectometre (or hectometer in American English) is a unit of length or distance in the Metric system, equal to one hundred metres. The term is derived from the Greek hecto, meaning 'hundred', and metron, meaning 'measure'. It is commonly abbreviated as "hm".

Usage

The hectometre is not widely used in everyday measurements. Instead, it finds its application in fields such as geography, topography, and civil engineering, where it is used to describe the sizes of plots of land, distances in geographical maps, and large-scale construction projects. In most other contexts, measurements are given in metres, kilometres, or in non-metric units depending on the country.

Conversion

• 1 hectometre = 100 metres
• 1 hectometre = 0.1 kilometre
• 1 hectometre = approximately 328.084 feet
• 1 hectometre = approximately 109.361 yards

To convert hectometres to other units of length, the value in hectometres is multiplied by the conversion factor. For example, to convert 5 hectometres to metres, 5 hm * 100 = 500 metres.

Comparison

The hectometre is larger than many units of length used in daily life, such as the metre or yard, but smaller than units used to measure vast distances, such as the kilometre or mile. Its use is therefore somewhat niche, bridging a gap between the scale of individual buildings or structures and the scale of geographical features or regions.

Related Units

The hectometre is part of the metric system, which includes a range of units based on powers of ten. Other related units include:

• Millimetre (mm) - One-thousandth of a metre
• Centimetre (cm) - One-hundredth of a metre
• Decimetre (dm) - One-tenth of a metre
• Metre (m) - The base unit of length in the metric system
• Kilometre (km) - One thousand metres

See Also

• Metric system
• Unit of length
• International System of Units