Unit of Distance - SI Unit And CGS Unit, FAQs

Edited By Team Careers360 | Updated on Sep 24, 2024 02:01 PM IST

Unit of Distance in physics:

Distance is the measurement of length between two points and the numerical value of distance calculated in a specific unit and these units are known as unit of distance. For example, when we say the distance between Delhi and Mumbai is 1412Km then Km represents some unit and this is the unit of distance measured between two places. There are many units of distance in physics and used according to the need.

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Unit of Distance in physics:
SI unit of distance:
Definition of 1 Metre:

Unit of Distance - SI Unit And CGS Unit, FAQs

SI unit of distance:

The term SI stands for Standard system of units and there are fundamental units that are defined in SI system and are used by all countries to avoid conflict while doing physical experiments and calculations. The SI unit of distance is known as the meter. The SI unit of distance meter is denoted by the letter ‘m’.

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The smallest unit of length:

The smallest numerical value we can assign for the measurement of length or say distance in any unit can be referred as the Smallest unit of length. In physics, the smallest unit of length is known as millimetre and denoted by ‘mm’. This smallest unit of length is related with the SI unit of distance as 1mm=10^-3m. In the case of the microscopic world the smallest unit of length is defined in the scale of atomic nuclei and the smallest unit of length in the microscopic world is called the Fermi metre denoted by ‘fm’ and its related to the SI unit of distance as 1Fm=10^-15m.

Largest unit of length:

The largest unit representation in which length can be measured is referred to as the largest unit of length. The largest unit of length is known as Kilometres denoted by ‘Km’ and its related to SI unit of distance as 1Km=1000m.

CGS unit of Distance:

The CGS stands for Centimetre Gram second and it’s also a system of units. The CGS unit of distance is known as centimetre and denoted by ‘cm’. it’s related to the SI unit of distance as 1cm=0.01m

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MKS unit of length:

The MKS stands for Metre Kilogram second and it’s also a system of units. The MKS unit of distance is known as metre and denoted by ‘m’. and This unit as mentioned is the SI unit of distance.

Unit of distance in Astronomy:

In astronomical physics, the distance between objects in space is very large, so a large unit is needed to represent such distance and thus distances measured in astronomical physics are referred to as Units of distance in astronomy. The unit of distance in astronomy is called the Light year. One light-year is the distance travelled by the light with the speed of light in free space in one year. The unit of distance in astronomy ‘light year’ is related with SI unit of distance as 1Light year=9.46×10¹⁵m.

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Units of length Smallest to largest:

The various units of length from smallest to largest are mentioned in the table given below in increasing order of units.

Name of the unit	Symbol of the unit	Relationship with SI unit of distance
millimetre	mm	1mm=0.001m
centimetre	cm	1cm=0.01m
metre	m	It’s the SI unit of distance.
Kilometre	Km	1Km=1000m

Apart from these, the smallest unit of length is generally Fermi meter while the largest unit of length is Light year in terms of microscopic and macroscopic measurement of distances.

Definition of 1 Metre:

In an international system of units, one metre is defined as the actual length covered by the light in free space with the speed of light c=3×10⁸ms^-1 in the time interval of 1/299792458 of a second. and this distance is called one metre.

Distance Unit chart:

Some popular units in which distances are measured along with their conversions in the standard unit of distance are given below in the distance unit chart.

Name of the unit	Relation with standard unit
Inches	1in=0.0254m
Yards	1yard=0.9144m
Kilometre	1Km=1000m
Centimetre	1cm=0.01m
Feet	1ft=0.3048m

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NCERT Physics Notes:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Which of the following is not a unit of distance? (A) metre (B) centimetre (C) Year (D) Light year

The metre is the SI unit of distance while the centimetre is the unit of distance in CGS systems and the Light year is the unit of distance in astronomy but the Year is the unit of time. Hence, (C) Year is not a unit of distance.

2. Parsec is the unit of measurement of (A) Mass (B) Time (C) Current (D) Distance

In physics, Parsec is a unit of distance and it is defined as when the radius of our planet earth makes an angle of a second of an arc, then the distance at which this angle subtended by earth is referred as a parsec. Mathematically 1Parsec=3.26Light years. Hence, (D) Distance parsec is a unit of measurement of Distance.

3. Convert 1m to Km

1m=0.001Km

4. Convert 1km to cm

1Km=100000cm