Nanometers (nm) and centimeters (cm) are both units of length in the metric system, commonly used in scientific measurements. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter (10-9 m), while a centimeter is one-hundredth of a meter (10-2 m). Understanding how to convert between these units is essential in fields like physics, chemistry, and engineering.
To convert nanometers to centimeters, you can use the conversion factor that 1 nm equals 1 × 10-7 cm. This is because:
1 nm = 1 × 10-9 m
1 cm = 1 × 10-2 m
Therefore:
1 nm = (1 × 10-9 m) / (1 × 10-2 m/cm) = 1 × 10-7 cm
The conversion formula is:
Centimeters = Nanometers × 1 × 10-7
Example: To convert 500,000 nm to cm:
500,000 nm × 1 × 10-7 = 0.05 cm
Understanding this conversion helps in accurately interpreting measurements at the nanoscale and applying them in macroscopic contexts.