Span to Hectometer Conversion Calculator: Free Online Tool
Convert spans to hectometers with our free online length converter.
Span to Hectometer Calculator
How to Use the Calculator:
- Enter the value you want to convert in the 'From' field (Span).
- The converted value in Hectometer will appear automatically in the 'To' field.
- Use the dropdown menus to select different units within the Length category.
- Click the swap button (⇌) to reverse the conversion direction.
How to Convert Span to Hectometer
Converting Span to Hectometer involves multiplying the value by a specific conversion factor, as shown in the formula below.
Formula:
1 Span = 0.002286 hectometersExample Calculation:
Convert 10 spans: 10 × 0.002286 = 0.02286 hectometers
Disclaimer: For Reference Only
These conversion results are provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, we make no guarantees regarding the precision of these results, especially for conversions involving extremely large or small numbers which may be subject to the inherent limitations of standard computer floating-point arithmetic.
Not for professional use. Results should be verified before use in any critical application. View our Terms of Service for more information.
What is a Span and a Hectometer?
The Span is an ancient unit of length based on the distance across an outstretched human hand, measured from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger (or sometimes the index finger). As an anthropomorphic unit, its length was inherently variable, depending on the size of an individual's hand.
Historically, it was often defined in relation to other body-based units:
- Typically considered half a cubit.
- Often equated to 3 palms (where a palm is the width of the hand across the base of the fingers).
- Sometimes defined as 12 digits (fingerbreadths).
A common, though unofficial, modern estimate for a span is around 9 inches or approximately 22.86 centimeters (cm).
The hectometer (symbol: hm) is a unit of length in the metric system. It is defined as exactly one hundred (100) meters, which is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, 1 kilometer equals 10 hectometers.
Note: The Span is part of the imperial/US customary system, primarily used in the US, UK, and Canada for everyday measurements. The Hectometer belongs to the metric (SI) system.
History of the Span and Hectometer
The span is one of the oldest informal units of measurement, used by numerous ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Israelites, Greeks, and Romans, due to the convenience of using the human hand.
- Ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia: The span was used alongside the cubit and digit. The relationship (often 1 span = 1/2 cubit) was fundamental in their systems.
- Biblical References: The span is mentioned in the Bible (e.g., Exodus 28:16 describing the High Priest's breastplate, Goliath's height in some interpretations).
- Ancient Greece & Rome: Used as a practical subdivision of the cubit.
- Medieval Europe: Continued in informal use and sometimes appeared in texts defining lengths. In England, it was often standardized (unofficially) as 9 inches.
Like other anthropomorphic units, the span fell out of official use with the development and adoption of more standardized systems like the Imperial (inches, feet) and Metric (meters) systems, which provided necessary precision for trade, science, and industry.
The hectometer originates from the French Revolution era, alongside the development of the metric system in the 1790s. The system aimed for rational, decimal-based units derived from the meter. The prefix "hecto-" (derived from Greek "hekaton" meaning hundred) signifies a factor of one hundred (10²). While the meter and kilometer became the more common standards for many applications, the hectometer was defined as part of the systematic decimal structure of the metric system.
Common Uses for spans and hectometers
Explore the typical applications for both Span (imperial/US) and Hectometer (metric) to understand their common contexts.
Common Uses for spans
The span is now obsolete for precise or official measurements but is still encountered or used in specific contexts:
- Informal Estimation: Used for quick, rough measurements of moderate lengths where precision is not critical (e.g., gardening, crafts, estimating object sizes).
- Historical Texts: Found in ancient and medieval documents, requiring understanding for interpretation.
- Anthropology & Archaeology: Relevant when studying historical measurement systems or interpreting dimensions from ancient sites.
- Figurative Language: Can be used metaphorically to denote a small distance or extent ("life span").
- Understanding Historical Units: Key to grasping the relationship between units like the digit, palm, and cubit in ancient systems.
Common Uses for hectometers
The hectometer is not frequently used in everyday language or general measurements compared to meters or kilometers. However, it finds niche applications in specific fields:
- Agriculture and Forestry: Sometimes used for measuring land parcel dimensions or distances in large fields or forests where measurements are typically in the hundreds of meters.
- Surveying: Can be used in land surveying, particularly in contexts where metric units are standard but kilometers are too large and meters too small for convenient expression of certain distances.
- Meteorology: While not a length unit, the related unit hectopascal (hPa), using the same prefix, is the standard international unit for atmospheric pressure.
- Radio Astronomy: Certain radio wavelengths might be expressed in hectometers.
- Education: Useful in teaching the metric system to illustrate the powers of 10 and the relationship between different metric length units (1 km = 10 hm = 100 dam = 1000 m).
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions About Span (span)
How long is a span?
There is no single, universally fixed length for a span because it's based on human hand size. However:
- A common historical and modern estimate is 9 inches (in).
- This is approximately 22.86 centimeters (cm) or 0.2286 meters (m).
- Historically, it was often defined as half a cubit, which varied (e.g., a common cubit of ~18 inches would yield a 9-inch span).
What is the relationship between a span and a cubit?
In many historical systems, a span was considered half (1/2) of a cubit. Since cubits themselves varied (e.g., common cubit vs. royal cubit), the exact length of the span derived this way also varied.
What is the relationship between a span and a palm or digit?
Common relationships, though varying by system, were:
- 1 span ≈ 3 palms (where a palm is the width of the hand).
- 1 span ≈ 12 digits (where a digit is the width of a finger).
Is the span an SI unit?
No, the span is not an SI unit. It is an ancient, non-standardized, anthropomorphic unit. The SI base unit for length is the meter (m).
Is the span still used today?
The span is not used for any official, scientific, or commercial measurements. Its use is limited to informal estimations, historical context, and figurative language. People might still use their own hand span for a quick size check.
Where does the name 'span' come from?
The word "span" comes from Old English spann, related to the verb spannan, meaning "to stretch, extend, or connect". This directly reflects the action of stretching the hand to measure the unit.
About Hectometer (hm)
How many hectometers are in a kilometer?
There are exactly 10 hectometers in 1 kilometer.
How many meters are in a hectometer?
There are exactly 100 meters in 1 hectometer.
How many decameters are in a hectometer?
There are exactly 10 decameters (dam) in 1 hectometer.
How do you convert hectometers to miles?
To convert hectometers to miles, multiply the number of hectometers by approximately 0.0621371. For example, 5 hm is about 5 * 0.0621371 = 0.3106855 miles.
Is the hectometer commonly used?
No, the hectometer is one of the less commonly used metric units in everyday practice. Meters and kilometers are generally preferred for most practical distance measurements.
Why isn't the hectometer used more often?
For many everyday distances (room sizes, building heights), meters provide a convenient scale. For longer distances (travel, road signs), kilometers are more practical. The hectometer often represents an intermediate scale (100 meters, roughly the length of a football field) that doesn't align as frequently with common measurement needs as meters or kilometers do.
Conversion Table: Span to Hectometer
| Span (span) | Hectometer (hm) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.002 |
| 5 | 0.011 |
| 10 | 0.023 |
| 25 | 0.057 |
| 50 | 0.114 |
| 100 | 0.229 |
| 500 | 1.143 |
| 1,000 | 2.286 |
All Length Conversions
Other Units from Length
- Meter (m)
- Kilometer (km)
- Decimeter (dm)
- Centimeter (cm)
- Millimeter (mm)
- Inch (in)
- Foot (ft)
- Yard (yd)
- Mile (mi)
- Nautical Mile (NM)
- Micrometer (μm)
- Nanometer (nm)
- Light Year (ly)
- Astronomical Unit (AU)
- Parsec (pc)
- Angstrom (Å)
- Point (Typography) (pt)
- Mil/Thou (mil)
- Fathom (fath)
- Furlong (fur)
- Link (Gunter's) (li)
- Pace (pace)
- Digit (digit)
- Cable Length (cb)
- Ell (ell)
- Finger (finger)
- Roman Mile (m.p.)
- Stadion (stadion)
- Chi (Chinese) (chi)
- Shaku (Japanese) (shaku)
- Li (Chinese) (li)
- Toise (toise)
- Bolt (bolt)
- Rope (rope)
- Smoot (smoot)
- Sajene (sajene)
- Ken (ken)
- Wa (wa)
- Vara (vara)
- Aln (aln)
- Cubit (Royal/Egyptian) (cubit)
- Versta (versta)
- Arpent (arpent)
- Ri (Japanese) (ri)
- Klafter (klafter)
- Yojana (yojana)
- Skein (skein)