standard unit of distance in the metric system
metre
title: Unit of length text: Unit of length A unit of length refers to any discrete, pre-established length or distance having a constant magnitude which is used as a reference or convention to express linear dimension. The most common units in modern use are U.S. customary units in the United States and metric units elsewhere. British Imperial units are still used for some purposes in the United Kingdom and some other countries. The metric system is sub-divided into SI and non-SI units. The base unit in the International System of Units (SI) is the metre, defined as "the length of the path travelled by light title: Metric system text: Metric system The metric system is an internationally recognised decimalised system of measurement. It is in widespread use, and where it is adopted, it is the only or most common system of weights and measures (see metrication). It is now known as the International System of Units (SI). It is used to measure everyday things such as the mass of a sack of flour, the height of a person, the speed of a car, and the volume of fuel in its tank. It is also used in science, industry and trade. In its modern form, it consists of a set title: Unit of length text: of which everyone knows the approximate width. Common examples are: Horse racing and other equestrian activities keep alive: Unit of length A unit of length refers to any discrete, pre-established length or distance having a constant magnitude which is used as a reference or convention to express linear dimension. The most common units in modern use are U.S. customary units in the United States and metric units elsewhere. British Imperial units are still used for some purposes in the United Kingdom and some other countries. The metric system is sub-divided into SI and non-SI units. The base unit in the title: System of measurement text: secondary units (multiples and submultiples) are derived from the basic units by multiplying by powers of ten, i.e. by simply moving the decimal point. Thus the basic metric unit of length is the metre; a distance of 1 m is 1,000 millimetres, or 0.001 kilometres. Metrication is complete or nearly complete in almost all countries. US customary units are heavily used in the United States and to some degree in Liberia. Traditional Burmese units of measurement are used in Burma. U.S. units are used in limited contexts in Canada due to the large volume of trade; there is also considerable title: Metre text: Metre The metre (British spelling and BIPM spelling) or meter (American spelling) (from the French unit "mètre", from the Greek noun μέτρον, "measure") is the base unit of length in some metric systems, including the International System of Units (SI). The SI unit symbol is m. The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in second. The metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole – as a result the Earth's circumference is approximately 40,000 km today. In 1799, it was