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Length/Distance | Convert from centimeter to smoot |
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Common Length Conversions Metric Length Conversions Unit Definition (centimeter) The centimeter (or centimetre) was the basic unit of distance in the former CGS (centimeter, gram, second) version of the metric system, equal to 0.01 meter. The engineering standard uses every third power of ten, such as 10e3, 10e9, 10e12, etc., and for small numbers 10e-3, 10e-6, etc. The only exception is the centimeter. "Cent" means a hundredth, or 10e-2, but the centimeter is still commonly used because it is such a convenient unit for measuring length. Unit Definition (smoot) A smoot is a unit of distance (or "length", as physical scientists say) used for measuring the Harvard Bridge. It is named after an MIT fraternity pledge at Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), who in October, 1958 was rolled head over heels by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the bridge. The smoot is equal to his height (five feet and seven inches -- 1.70 m), and the bridge's length was measured to be "364.4 smoots plus one ear".
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