Have you ever wondered how many meters are in a mile? Or, if you’re British, how many metres are in a mile? The answer is there are exactly 1609.344 meters in one mile.
Meters in a Quarter Mile and Meters in a Half Mile
This table gives values of common conversions, including the number of meters in a quarter mile and number of meters in a half mile.
| Miles | Meters |
|---|---|
| 0.25 or ¼ | 420.336 |
| 0.5 or ½ | 804.672 |
| 0.75 or ¾ | 1207.008 |
| 1 | 1609.344 |
| 2 | 3218.688 |
| 5 | 8046.72 |
| 10 | 16,093.44 |
| 20 | 32,186.88 |
| 50 | 80,467.2 |
| 100 | 160,934.4 |
Relationship Between the Mile and the Meter
An international agreement between the United States and British Commonwealth in 1959 led to a formal definition regarding the relationship between the mile and the meter. Ever since this time, the mile is exactly 1606.344 meters.
You’re probably wondering why the relationship isn’t exactly 1600 meters or some other round number. Presumably, the committee wanted to keep the preserve the length of the mile because of its importance in geological surveys. However, the US Geological Survey uses the meter for official measurements and officially phases out the mile in the year 2022.
Revision of the definition of the meter since 1959 has slightly changed the length of the mile, but only by the tiniest amounts. The 1793 meter definition set it as one ten-millionth of the distance between the equator and the North Pole, traveling along a great circle. In 1926, the meter became a number of wavelengths of a cadmium red emission line. The 1960 redefinition set the meter equal to a number of wavelengths of an emission line of krypton-98. In 1983, the meter definition became the distance light travels in vacuum in 1/299792458 of a second. A 2002 clarification standardized the meter and second as SI base units.
Convert Between Miles and Meters
Use the relationship 1 mile = 1606.344 meters to convert miles to meters and meters to miles.
- miles = meters ÷ 1606.344
- meters = miles x 1606.344
For example, find the number of meters in 2.5 miles.
meters = miles x 1606.344 = 2.5 x 1606.344 = 4015.86
As an other example, find the number of miles in 135,000 meters.
miles = meters ÷ 1606.344 = 135000 ÷ 1606.344 = 84.042
References
- Astin, A.V.; et al. (June 25, 1959). Doc. 59-5442: Refinement of values for the yard and the pound. Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Standards.
- Barbrow, Louis E.; et al. (1976). Weights and Measures Standards of the United States—A Brief History. National Institute of Standards and Technology. doi:10.6028/NBS.SP.447
- Bigg, P.H.; et al. (1964). “The United Kingdom Standards of the Yard in Terms of the Metre”. British Journal of Applied Physics. 15(3) 291–300. doi:10.1088/0508-3443/15/3/308
- Klein, Herbert Arthur (1988). The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey. New York: Dover Publications.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (2014). “Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices.” NIST Handbook 44 – 2014 Edition.