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How Would You Change a Measurement in Centimeters to Kilometers?

Centimeters and kilometers are two units that measure distance in the metric system. Centimeters are abbreviated "cm" while kilometers are abbreviated "km." The metric prefix "kilo-" represents 1,000 while the metric prefix "centi-" represents 1/100 or 0.01. Therefore, each kilometer equals 100,000 centimeters. You can change a measurement in centimeters to kilometers using simple division and multiplication.

Instructions

- 1
  Divide the number of centimeters by 100,000 to convert to kilometers. For example, if you have 500,000 cm, divide 500,000 by 100,000 to get 5 km.
- 2
  Multiply the number of centimeters by 0.00001 to convert to kilometers. Continuing with this example, multiplying 500,000 by 0.00001 to convert to 5 km.
- 3
  Check your answer using an online centimeters-to-kilometers converter (see Resources). Enter the number of centimeters and press "Go!"

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