The centimeter equals one hundredth of a meter and is the everyday metric unit for body measurements, clothing sizes and furniture. European clothing tags, height on ID documents and household rulers are all marked in cm. An A4 sheet is 21 × 29.7 cm.
Real-world: An average adult is 160–185 cm tall. An A4 sheet is 21 × 29.7 cm. A standard passport photo is 3.5 × 4.5 cm.
Read full centimeter reference →The kilometer equals 1000 meters and is the standard unit for road distances in almost every country except the US and UK. Speed limits in Europe, Asia, Australia and most of Africa are given in km/h. A kilometer is roughly 1250 adult walking steps and takes about 12 minutes on foot.
Real-world: London to Paris by Eurostar is 344 km. A full marathon is 42.195 km. Most European motorway speed limits are 120–130 km/h.
Read full kilometer reference →