Convert decimeters to centimeters

Both units come from the meter and the only thing that separates them is the SI prefix. The prefix deci- stands for one tenth and the prefix centi- for one hundredth[1]. A decimeter is therefore one tenth of a meter and a centimeter is one hundredth of it.

That single fact fixes the whole relationship. A decimeter holds ten centimeters and one hundred millimeters, and it measures 3.937 inches[2]. In the metric ladder it sits between the centimeter and the meter, one step of ten in either direction.

The decimeter also feeds a derived unit that everybody uses. A cube one decimeter along each edge holds one liter, because the SI defines the liter as the cubic decimeter[3]. A square one decimeter along each side is a square decimeter, which is one hundred square centimeters.

British and American spelling part company here: the international spelling is decimetre and the American one decimeter[2]. Both describe the same length, and both appear on product sheets written for a worldwide market.

A decimeter has 10 centimeters. Two decimeters give 20 centimeters and five decimeters give 50 centimeters.

Every conversion in this direction comes down to multiplying the number of decimeters by ten. Half a decimeter is 5 centimeters. A quarter of a decimeter gives 2.5 centimeters. Ten decimeters make 100 centimeters, which is exactly one meter.

For whole decimeters you add a single zero to the figure, so those values you can quote from memory. Seven decimeters is 70 centimeters. Twelve decimeters gives 120 centimeters. With a decimal value the point itself moves one place to the right, so 1.5 dm becomes 15 cm and 0.48 dm becomes 4.8 cm.

The same arithmetic carries values of any size. A length of 53.6 dm is 536 cm. One hundred and thirty-five decimeters gives 1,350 cm.

The converter works in both directions and shows the result while you are still typing, so none of these numbers has to be remembered.

The conversion rests on one fixed relationship: one decimeter is 10 centimeters. To turn decimeters into centimeters you multiply their number by ten.

The full formula: centimeters = decimeters × 10. The other way round: decimeters = centimeters ÷ 10.

Three examples of different size follow from that formula. Three decimeters multiplied by ten give 30 centimeters. Eight decimeters is 80 centimeters. Twenty decimeters gives 200 centimeters, which is exactly two meters.

On paper the multiplication is a single move. The digits stay as they are and the decimal point shifts one place to the right. From 2.5 decimeters you get 25 centimeters, and from 0.3 decimeters you get 3 centimeters. Any gap left by the shift is filled with a zero.

Going the other way the operation is reversed: you divide by ten and the point travels one place to the left. That is exactly what the centimeters to decimeters converter does. If your figure is written in millimeters, the millimeters to centimeters converter handles it, and for the step up to meters there is the centimeters to meters converter.