Kilometers to Feet Converter
Use this converter to easily convert between Kilometers and Feet (km to feet).
How many Feet equal one Kilometer?
Kilometers and feet are units used to measure length or distance. 1 kilometer is about 3280.84 feet, according to the International System of Units (SI)[1] standard adopted with an international threaty in 1959. A kilometer is part of the metric system while a foot is a part of the imperial system of units. The standard symbol for kilometers is "km", while the standard symbol for feet is "ft"[2].
The kilometer is defined as exactly 1000 meters, while a meter is defined as the distance light travels in 1/299,792,458 seconds in a vacuum (since 1983). It was first defined in 1793 as 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the equator to the North Pole, but just 6 years later it was redefined in terms of a prototype metre bar of metal. In 1960 it was redefined once again, this time in terms of a certain number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86.
Historically, the foot varied in length from country to country and from time to time as there was no central standartization authority. It was usually between 250 mm and 335 mm, but is nowadays fixed at exactly 0.3048 meters. The kilometer is used in almost all countries in the world, while the foot is widely used only in the United States. It is partially used in Canada and the United Kingdom, where road signs must use imperial units, but distances on them are usually given in miles or yards, not feet. Height measurements are often done in feet is well.
How to convert Kilometers to Feet?
Conversion from kilometers to feet is done both for distance, volume and very often for height measures, for example in aviation. There are different approaches to converting kilometers to feet, but a simple one is to calculate how many kilometers is one foot equal to. Since a foot is 0.3048 meters and a meter is 1/1000 of a kilometer, then a foot is 0.0003048 of a kilometer. Then, if you need to convert 1 kilometer to feet, that would be 1/0.0003048 = 3280.839895 feet. 10 kilometers would then be 10 divided by 0.0003048 = 32808 feet (approx.).
Care should be taken when converting units from historical texts. For example, the current international foot is 2ppm shorter than the previous U.S. standard and 1.7ppm longer than the previous British standard.
Warning! Do not follow the advice given in some places to simply multiply the number of kilometers to the number of feet equal to one kilometer, e.g. 10km = 10x3280.84 = 32808.4 feet. Since that number is not a precise decimal number: 3280.8398950131233595800524934383... and so on, you are bound to get errors due to rounding. While the error is negligible for most practical purposes it is still preferred to use the correct conversion formula.
Km to Feet conversion example
Sample task: convert 5 kilometers to feet. Solution:
Formula:
km / 0.0003048 = ft
Calculation:
5 km / 0.0003 = 16,404.199475 ft
End result:
5 km is equal to 16,404.199475 ft
km to ft conversion table
| km | ft |
|---|---|
| 1 km | 3,280.839895 ft |
| 2 km | 6,561.679790 ft |
| 3 km | 9,842.519685 ft |
| 4 km | 13,123.359580 ft |
| 5 km | 16,404.199475 ft |
| 6 km | 19,685.039370 ft |
| 7 km | 22,965.879265 ft |
| 8 km | 26,246.719160 ft |
| 9 km | 29,527.559055 ft |
| 10 km | 32,808.398950 ft |
| 20 km | 65,616.797900 ft |
| 30 km | 98,425.196850 ft |
| 40 km | 131,233.595801 ft |
| 50 km | 164,041.994751 ft |
| 60 km | 196,850.393701 ft |
| 70 km | 229,658.792651 ft |
| 80 km | 262,467.191601 ft |
| 90 km | 295,275.590551 ft |
| 100 km | 328,083.989501 ft |
| 200 km | 656,167.979003 ft |
| 300 km | 984,251.968504 ft |
| 400 km | 1,312,335.958005 ft |
| 500 km | 1,640,419.947507 ft |
| 600 km | 1,968,503.937008 ft |
| 700 km | 2,296,587.926509 ft |
| 800 km | 2,624,671.916011 ft |
| 900 km | 2,952,755.905512 ft |
| 1,000 km | 3,280,839.895013 ft |
References
[1] NIST Special Publication 330 (2008) - "The International System of Units (SI)", edited by Barry N.Taylor and Ambler Thompson
[2] International Organization for Standardization (1993). ISO Standards Handbook: Quantities and units (3rd edition). Geneva: ISO. ISBN 92-67-10185-4.
Cite this converter & page
If you'd like to cite this online converter resource and information as provided on the page, you can use the following citation:
Georgiev G.Z., "Km to Feet Converter", [online] Available at: https://www.gigacalculator.com/converters/convert-km-to-ft-kilometers-to-feet.php URL [Accessed Date: 01 Apr, 2023].