Bela is 5 feet 3 inches tall. Convert her height to meters.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To convert Bela’s height of 5 feet 3 inches into meters, let’s go through a few steps, starting with converting her height to inches, then to centimeters, and finally to meters.
- Convert feet and inches to inches only:
- 1 foot is equal to 12 inches, so:
- 5 feet = (5 \times 12 = 60) inches.
- Adding 3 inches, her height in inches is (60 + 3 = 63) inches.
- Convert inches to centimeters:
- 1 inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters, so:
- (63 \text{ inches} \times 2.54 = 160.02) centimeters.
- Convert centimeters to meters:
- Since there are 100 centimeters in a meter:
- (160.02 \, \text{cm} \div 100 = 1.6002) meters.
So, Bela’s height is approximately 1.6 meters.
Explanation of the Conversion Process:
Converting height between different measurement units requires understanding the basic conversion factors. Here, we started by converting from feet and inches to inches alone, then used a standard conversion to get centimeters, and finally transformed centimeters to meters.
- Feet to Inches Conversion: Feet and inches are commonly used in the United States, where one foot equals 12 inches. This makes it easy to convert a height in feet and inches to total inches by multiplying the feet part by 12 and adding any remaining inches.
- Inches to Centimeters Conversion: In most scientific contexts, the metric system is preferred, where the centimeter is a fundamental unit of length. Since 1 inch equals 2.54 centimeters, we multiplied Bela’s total inches by 2.54. This step is crucial because the metric system allows for easier calculations and more universal understanding across different countries and disciplines.
- Centimeters to Meters Conversion: Converting centimeters to meters completes the process. The metric system is based on powers of ten, so dividing centimeters by 100 gives us meters. This provides an accurate and standardized answer, making Bela’s height easy to interpret globally.
In summary, Bela’s height converts to 1.6 meters using straightforward conversions between customary and metric units.