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This article was reviewed by Grace Imson, MA. Grace Imson is a math teacher with over 40 years of teaching experience. Grace is currently a math instructor at the City College of San Francisco and was previously in the Math Department at Saint Louis University. She has taught math at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels. She has an MA in Education, specializing in Administration and Supervision from Saint Louis University.
This article has been viewed 231,943 times.
The foot is a type of imperial unit with a length equal to exactly 12 inches.
Steps
Write the number of feet. Converting feet to inches is quite simple. First, write out the number of feet you're dealing with. Label this number "feet" or "ft."[1]- It's helpful to follow along with a real-world example to see how feet are converted to inches. Let's say that you want to know how long the wall of your room is in inches. If the wall is eight feet long, start by writing this measurement down, like this:
- 8 feet
Multiply the number of feet by 12. Next, multiply your number of feet by 12. Since there are 12 inches in every foot, this will give you your original foot measurement in inches.[2]- In the example problem, you would continue by writing a "× 12" after the foot measurement, then multiplying to find the answer, like this:
- 8 feet × 12 = 96
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Label your answer in inches. Don't forget to give your answer the label "inches" or "in." to specify that it is in inches. If you don't, your answer may be confusing to someone who reads it (and, if you're doing this for schoolwork, you may lose points.)[3]- In the example problem, label your answer like this:
- 8 feet × 12 = 96 inches
To get inches back to feet, divide by twelve. If you ever want to get your inch measurement back into feet, just do the reverse of the multiplication you did to get it in inches: in other words, divide it by 12. Don't forget to re-label your answer in feet.[4]- To convert your answer in the example problem back into feet, divide it by 12 like this:
- 96 inches ÷ 12 = 8 feet
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Write the number of feet. Measurements aren't always given in just feet. Sometimes, especially for certain types of measurements like heights, measurements are given in feet and inches (like, for example, "100 feet, six inches.) In this case, start by writing just the number of feet — leave the inches out for now.- As another example problem, let's say that you are five feet, three inches tall and that you want to figure out exactly how tall you are in just inches. Start by writing just the number of feet, like this:
- 5 feet
Multiply the number of feet by 12. This part is exactly the same as when dealing with just feet. Simply multiply by 12 and label your answer in inches.[5]- In the example problem, multiply like this:
- 5 feet × 12 = 60 inches
Add the remaining inches. Now, add the leftover inches from the beginning to the answer you just got. This gives you your final answer in inches. Don't forget the label.[6]- In the example problem, finish finding your height in inches like this:
- 5 feet × 12 = 60 inches + 3 inches = 63 inches
Divide by 12 and use the remainder to get back to feet and inches. If you want to get back to the same type of feet-and-inches measurement as we had before, there is a little more work to do this time. To do this, divide by 12, then find the remainder. The answer for dividing by 12 is the number of feet and the remainder is the number of inches (for example, 4 R5 would be four feet, five inches.)[7]- A remainder is just the number "left over" when two numbers don't divide evenly. For example, four goes into 12 exactly three times, but five doesn't fit into twelve perfectly — it goes in twice to make 10, then it only fits in partly the third time. 5 × 2 = 10, which is two less than twelve, so we say that we have a remainder of two (or R2). In other words, five goes into twelve twice, then we need to add an "extra" two to get to twelve.
- In the example problem, get back into feet and inches like this:
- 63 inches / 12 = 5 R3 → 5 feet 3 inches
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Calculator, Practice Problems, and Answers
Community Q&A
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- QuestionHow do I subtract feet and inches?
DonaganTop AnswererThe easiest way is to convert expressions of feet and inches to expressions of inches, then subtract. The answer may be left in inches or re-converted to feet and inches if desired. - QuestionHow do I convert feet to yards?DonaganTop AnswererDivide feet by 3.
- QuestionHow do I convert from cm to inches?DonaganTop Answerer1 cm = 0.39 inch, so multiply centimeters by 0.39 to find equivalent inches.
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Tips
- If you're dealing with yards as well as feet, note that there are three feet in a yard. This means that if you want to get from yards to inches, you can multiply your number of yards by 3 to get feet, then multiply by 12 to get inches.Thanks
- To get from inches back into feet, you can also multiply by 0.08333.Thanks
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References
- ↑ http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000058.htm
- ↑ https://www.aaamath.com/mul_ftin.htm
- ↑ http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000058.htm
- ↑ http://www.aaamath.com/div_ftin.htm
- ↑ http://www.aaamath.com/div_ftin.htm
- ↑ https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=19173§ion=5.1
- ↑ https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=19173§ion=5.1
About This Article
Math Teacher
This article was reviewed by Grace Imson, MA. Grace Imson is a math teacher with over 40 years of teaching experience. Grace is currently a math instructor at the City College of San Francisco and was previously in the Math Department at Saint Louis University. She has taught math at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels. She has an MA in Education, specializing in Administration and Supervision from Saint Louis University. This article has been viewed 231,943 times.
Co-authors: 12
Updated: April 14, 2023
Views: 231,943
Categories: Conversion Aids
Article SummaryX
To convert feet to inches, multiply the number of feet by 12, since there are 12 inches in a foot. If you have a measurement in feet and inches, add the number of inches to the answer after multiplying the number of feet by 12. For example, if you need to convert 5 feet 3 inches into inches, multiply 5 by 12 to get 60. Then, add the 3 extra inches to get the final answer of 63 inches.
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