Despite the fact that we are used to making most measurements using the metric system, knowledge of alternative methods can sometimes come in handy. For example, in the description of most monitors and phone displays, it is common practice to indicate their diagonal in inches. If you can convert inches to centimeters, then in the store you will not be dizzy from incomprehensible characteristics.
For people who are accustomed to the metric system, understanding all these feet, yards and inches is a real torment, because the principle of 1:10 so well learned from childhood does not fit them (10 millimeters in a centimeter, 10 in a meter decimeters, etc.). Judge for yourself: almost equal to the usual meter, a yard consists of 3 feet, and the latter contain 12 inches each. All this confuses an unprepared person until the answer to the question of how many centimeters is in 1 inch becomes completely clear. After all, it is obvious that, even visualizingthis unit of measurement, it does not hurt to convert it to its native metric for ease of calculation.
If we talk about the standard English inch, then its length is 2.54 cm. Sadly, there is no other (simpler) method 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 accurately calculate. Rounding an inch to two and a half centimeters is acceptable only for calculations where length is not a critical value. Although in this case, the translation will be a problem for some people, because not everyone is good at mental counting with fractional numbers.
It would be a gross mistake to round inches to 2 centimeters, because with any significant values, the error will be too high. It is better to try to remember how many centimeters are in 1 inch and use a calculator (as an option - carry out calculations on paper) to get an acceptable result.
Moreover, in order to begin to understand the imperial system of measuring distances, 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 a foot, which means that the value of the first is easily calculated using the formula: 2.5412=30.48 cm.
True, it is worth taking into account the fact that the length of an inch may differ in different countries,especially in old sources and documents. At present, when mentioning an inch, its English version is most often meant. But when in doubt, it is better to clarify in order to avoid annoying mistakes.
The inch as a unit of measurement was once widely used in the Russian Empire. Although the values \u200b\u200bare given not so much in inches, but in its fractions - the lines of an inch. During the formation of the USSR, the inch was abolished, and it was replaced by a centimeter. However, the legacy of the tsarist era is reflected in our days, for example, in small arms and artillery. So, a fractional caliber of 76.2 mm is 3 inches - quite a logical number. To understand such subtleties, knowing how many centimeters are in 1 inch is just useful.
