The meter (or metre) is a unit of length in the metric system. It’s the base unit of length in the International System of Units. Mile is used in the United States to measure length. If you memorize the formula, it will be a piece of cake.

Part 1
Part 1 of 3:

Converting Statute Miles to Meters

  1. 1
    Convert statute (or land) miles to meters. There are 0.000621371192237 miles in 1 meter. There are 1,609.344 meters in one mile.[1]
    • Although there are different definitions of miles (such as a nautical mile), this conversion refers to a “statute mile,” sometimes called a "land mile." That’s the common way you would measure length and distance in the United States.
    • Convert mile to meter by using this formula: mi X 1,609.344= m (miles multiplied by 1,609.344 equals meters).
    • To convert meters to mile, use this formula: m/1,609.344=mi (meters divided by 1,609.344 equals miles).[2]
  2. 2
    Use the correct abbreviations. Since both meters and miles start with the letter “m,” it’s important you know which symbol is which before doing mathematical calculations.
    • The symbol for mile is “mi.” The word “mile” derives from the Latin word for 1,000 since the mile originally was said to be 1,000 paces or 2,000 steps.[3] The letter "m" is the symbol for meter. A mile equals 5,280 feet.
    • The other U.S. Customary Units/Imperial Units of Length are inches, feet, and yards. The Metric system also uses millimeters, centimeters, decimeters, hectometers, and kilometers.
    • Be aware that meter is often written as metre, but the measurement is the same (1 metre equals 1 meter). Meters are a unit for measuring length, as are miles. The plural form is metres.[4]
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Part 2
Part 2 of 3:

Converting Nautical Miles to Meters

  1. 1
    Convert nautical miles to meters. Nautical miles are a unit of length that is used in marine navigation. It’s equal to a minute of arc along a meridian of the earth.
    • One international nautical mile equals 1,852 meters or 1,151 statute miles. The formula for converting U.S. nautical miles into meters is m=USnmi/0.00053996 (meters equals U.S. nautical miles divided by 0.00053996).[5]
    • There are many online calculators available to convert nautical miles to meters.[6]
Part 3
Part 3 of 3:

Using Online Tools

  1. 1
    Use an online calculator to convert miles to meters. One of the easiest ways to change miles to meters is to use an online calculator. There are many such options online.[7]
    • Most of the online calculators ask you to put in the miles and then hit a button that says something like “convert.”[8]
    • You will then be provided the number of meters in the number of miles you inputted.
  2. 2
    Use conversion tables. You can also find miles to meters conversion tables online.
    • For example, such tables will report that 10 miles is equal to 16,093.44 meters and that 21 miles is equal to 33,796.224 meters, and so forth.
    • All you need to do is look for the number of miles you are interested in converting.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    What is the average speed, in miles per hour, when doing the 100 meter dash in 10.1 seconds?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    To do a 100 meter dash in 10.1 seconds, you're running at about 10 m/s. To convert m/s to mph, you have to do two conversions -- meters to miles and seconds to hours. It will help to write your velocity in m/s as 10 m/1 s, or 10 meters in 1 second. Beginning with the conversion of seconds to hours, there are 3600 seconds in an hour. Since you have 1 second here, you can divide 1 by 3600 to get about 0.00028 hours. To change 10 meters to miles, you divide 10 by 1609.344 to get about 0.0062 miles. Now, you have 0.0062 mi/ 0.00028 h. Divide the numbers out to get about 22.143 mph. If you check this using Google's conversion tool, you'll see that the actual number is 22.3694 mph. This is just because of rounding error, as the actual values carry out to many more decimal places.
  • Question
    How many miles in 629 meters?
    Donagan
    Donagan
    Top Answerer
    Either divide meters by 1609.344 or multiply meters by 0.00062. 629 meters divided by 1609.344 equals 0.39 mile (or roughly 3/8 of a mile).
  • Question
    How do I convert 4.3 meters into centimeters?
    Donagan
    Donagan
    Top Answerer
    Each meter contains 100 centimeters. 4.3 meters contain (4.3)(100) = 430 centimeters.
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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 21 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 173,703 times.
26 votes - 51%
Co-authors: 21
Updated: March 29, 2019
Views: 173,703
Categories: Conversion Aids
Article SummaryX

If you need to convert land miles to meters, multiply the total number of miles by 1,609.344, and write the result as meters. If you’re converting nautical miles to meters, divide the total nautical miles by 0.00053996. Keep reading to learn how to convert meters into miles!

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