Calculators

Converters

Calculator Use

Convert units of area by entering the value to convert and the from and to units.

How to Convert Units of Area

Conversions are performed by using a conversion factor. By knowing the conversion factor, converting between units can become a simple multiplication problem:

S * C = E

Where S is our starting value, C is our conversion factor, and E is our end converted result.

To simply convert from any unit into m², for example, from 50 ft², just multiply by the value in the right column in the table below.

50 ft² * 0.09290304 [m² / ft²] = 4.645152 m²

To convert from m² back into units in the left column divide by the value in the right column or, multiply by the reciprocal, 1/x.

4.645152 m² / 0.09290304 [m² / ft²] = 50 ft²

To convert among any units in the left column, say from A to B, you can multiply by the factor for A to convert A into m² then divide by the factor for B to convert out of m².  Or, you can find the single factor you need by dividing the A factor by the B factor.

For example, to convert from ft² to mm² you would multiply by 0.09290304 then divide by 0.000001.  Or, multiply by 0.09290304/0.000001 = 92903.04. So, to convert directly from ft² to mm² you multiply by 92903.04.

To understand how to also convert the units follow this example. Say you want to convert from ft² to m². Since you can multiply anything by 1 and still retain the original value, but in different units, set it up so that ft will cancel out leaving you with m.

Since:
1 m = 3.28084 ft, 1 m / 3.28084 ft = 1

We can write the conversion as:
1 ft² = 1 ft² * (1 m / 3.28084 ft) * (1 m / 3.28084 ft) = 0.0929030 m²

And we now have our factor for conversion from ft² to m² since 1 * 0.0929030 = 0.0929030.  Note that there are rounding errors in this value.  The value in the table, 0.09290304, is more accurate.

Knowing that 1 ft² = 0.09290304 m² we can now find the conversion factor for converting back.  Dividing both sides of the equation by 0.09290304 we get about 10.7639104 ft² = 1 m².  So, the conversion factor to multiply by to convert from m² to ft² is about 10.7639104.

References/ Further Reading

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - The NIST Guide for the use of the International System of Units - Appendix B, subsections B.8 Factors for Units Listed Alphabetically and B.9 Factors for units listed by kind of quantity or field of science.

Lide, David R., Daniel (Editor-in-Chief). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 89th Edition New York, NY: CRC Press, p. 1-28, 2008.

Wikipedia contributors. "Conversion of units" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, last visited 26 Jun. 2011.