Despite the fact that we are used to performing most measurements using the metric system, knowledge in alternative methods can sometimes be useful. For example, in the description of most monitors and displays of phones, it is generally accepted practice to indicate their diagonal in inches. If you can convert inches to centimeters, then in the store you will not go around spinning from incomprehensible characteristics.
For people who are accustomed to the metric system, understanding all these feet, yards and inches is a torment, because the principle of 1:10 (10 millimeters in a centimeter, 10 decimeters in a centimeter, etc. .). Judge for yourself: the yard consists of 3 feet almost equal to the usual meter, and the latter contain 12 inches each. All this confuses an unprepared person until the answer to the question about how many centimeters in 1 inch becomes completely clear. After all, it is obvious that, even visualizing this unit of measure, it will not hurt to translate it into the native metric to facilitate the calculation.
If we talk about the standard English inch, then its length is 2.54 cm. Sadly, there is no other (simpler) way to memorize this value. After all, if you don’t have a table or the Internet at hand, then only knowing how many centimeters are in 1 inch will help you make accurate calculations. Rounding an inch to two and a half centimeters is permissible only for calculations where length is not a critical value. Although in this case, translation will be a problem for some people, because not everyone has an oral score with fractional numbers.
Rounding up inches to 2 centimeters will be a gross mistake, because with any significant values the error will be too high. It’s better to try to remember how many centimeters are in 1 inch and use a calculator (as an option - make calculations on paper) to get an acceptable result.
Moreover, in order to begin to understand the imperial distance measurement system, it will be enough to firmly remember how many centimeters are in 1 inch, and the main translation indices. After all, it is much easier to learn one fractional value than several. For example, as mentioned above, there are 12 inches in the foot, which means that the size of the first is easily calculated by the formula: 2.54 * 12 = 30.48 cm.
True, it is worth taking into account the fact that the length of an inch may vary in different countries, especially in old sources and documents. Currently, when mentioning an inch, its English version is most often implied. But in case of doubt, it is better to clarify in order to avoid annoying mistakes.
Widely used inch as a unit of measure at one time found in the Russian Empire. Although the values were given not so much in inches as in its fractions - lines of inches. During the formation of the USSR, an inch was abolished, and a centimeter replaced it. However, the legacy of the tsarist era is reflected in our days, for example, in small arms and artillery. So, the fractional caliber of 76.2 mm is 3 inches - a completely logical number. To understand such subtleties, knowledge about how many centimeters in 1 inch is just useful.