Convert ft to yd feet ↔ yards Free Online Secure
Type a value in feet and read it in yards at once. The factor is exact by definition, the arithmetic happens in your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
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Common values — Convert ft to yd (feet ↔ yards)
| ft | yd |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.333333333333 |
| 2 | 0.666666666667 |
| 3 | 1 |
| 5 | 1.66666666667 |
| 10 | 3.33333333333 |
| 20 | 6.66666666667 |
| 50 | 16.6666666667 |
| 100 | 33.3333333333 |
Where these units come from
The metre was first defined in 1793 as a ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole — a definition nobody could check without surveying a quarter of the planet. It has been redefined four times since, each time to something steadier: a platinum bar, then a prototype kept in Paris, then a wavelength of krypton light, and since 1983 the distance light travels in vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The inch stopped being a separate thing in 1959, when six countries agreed to define it as exactly 25.4 mm. That agreement is why every conversion on this page between a metric and an imperial length is exact rather than measured: both sides now descend from the same definition.
Where you meet them
Millimetres are the working unit of engineering drawings and of anything made in a workshop; centimetres belong to tailoring, furniture and school rulers; metres to rooms, fabric and running tracks. Feet and inches survive in aviation altitudes worldwide, in American and British construction, and in the diagonal of every screen you have ever bought. Nautical miles are not a quaint survival — one is a minute of latitude, which is why ships and aircraft still navigate in them.
Questions people ask
Why are aircraft altitudes given in feet?
Because international aviation standardised on feet decades ago and has never had a reason to change. Flight levels are altitudes in hundreds of feet, so level 350 is 35,000 feet. A foot is exactly 0.3048 metres, so converting is exact; a few countries, such as China and Russia, have used metres instead, which is why pilots must know both.
Where is the yard still used?
In American football and golf, in British road signs for short distances, and in the cloth trade, where fabric is often sold by the yard. A yard is exactly 0.9144 metres, which is three feet, and it is only a little shorter than a metre: 100 yards is 91.44 metres.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
Three feet make a yard: the easiest way to convert ft to yd
Few conversions are as friendly as this one. A yard is exactly three feet, so a length given in feet becomes a length in yards by splitting it into threes. Yet people still look up the “convert ft to yd” calculation step: a fabric shop sells by the yard while the curtain rail is measured in feet, a landscaper quotes turf by the square yard and the lawn plan by the foot, a football coach marks a pitch in yards and a builder describes the same pitch in feet. Whenever two sources disagree on the unit, you need to convert ft to yd. This page does it as you type.
The relationship is exact and simple, so the page spends more effort on the places where the conversion causes trouble: mixed feet and inches, area and volume versions of the same unit, and the way yards are used in sport. In the sections below you will find the rule, worked examples, a short profile of both units, a comparison, a tour of real situations and a list of the mistakes people make most often.
How to convert ft to yd: divide by three
The rule
One yard equals three feet exactly. To convert ft to yd, divide the number of feet by 3. So 3 ft is 1 yd, 6 ft is 2 yd, 15 ft is 5 yd and 100 ft is 33.33 yd. A single foot is one third of a yard, 0.3333 yd. Going the other way, multiply the yards by 3.
Examples
A fence panel of 6 ft is 2 yd. A room 12 ft wide is 4 yd. A garden path of 45 ft is 15 yd. A fishing line of 200 ft is 66.67 yd. When the number of feet does not divide neatly by three, keep two decimals or use a fraction: 10 ft is 3 1/3 yd.
Mixed numbers
Feet and inches need one extra step. For 7 ft 6 in, change the inches to a fraction of a foot, 7.5 ft, then divide by 3 to get 2.5 yd. Or count the inches directly: 90 in divided by 36 is 2.5 yd, the same answer by a different route.
A quick check
If the answer in yards is not about one third of the feet, you have probably multiplied. Because the factor in every “convert ft to yd” calculation is so simple, a wrong result is easy to spot.
The foot
Twelve inches
The foot is 12 inches or exactly 0.3048 metres. It is used in the United States for building, height and room sizes, and worldwide for aircraft altitude. The unit began as the length of a human foot and was fixed in 1959 by international agreement.
Everyday use
When you say a man is six feet tall, or that a ceiling is eight feet high, you are using the foot. Tape measures usually mark feet in bold every twelve inches.
The yard
Three feet or thirty-six inches
The yard is exactly 0.9144 metres, the same as 3 feet or 36 inches. According to tradition, it was the distance from the nose of King Henry I of England to the thumb of his outstretched arm, though the story is probably invented. What is certain is that the yard was standardised by a bronze bar kept in London, and its modern value was fixed in 1959.
Where it lives today
Yards are used on American football fields, in golf distances, for fabric and carpet, and on British road signs for short distances. Soil and gravel are sold by the cubic yard in North America.
Foot and yard compared
The yard is three times the foot, which makes it a convenient step size on a field and a convenient width for cloth. A foot is better for human height and furniture, a yard for pieces of material and for short outdoor distances.
Because the ratio is a whole number, there is no reason to round when you move between the two, and a mental shortcut is always available. The only caution is area and volume: a square yard is nine square feet and a cubic yard is twenty-seven cubic feet, so the factor for those is not three.
Where the conversion appears
American football
A field is 100 yd between the goal lines, which is 300 ft. A first down needs 10 yd, 30 ft. A field goal from the 30 yard line is a 47 yard kick including the end zone and goal post depth. Broadcasts talk yards, while stadium builders think in feet.
Fabric and sewing
Fabric is sold by the yard in the United States. A curtain 8 ft long needs 2.67 yd of cloth, so buy 3 yd and keep the remainder for hems. Remember that a pattern giving fabric in feet means a different count than the cloth in the shop.
Carpet and flooring
Carpet is sold by the square yard, but rooms are measured in feet. A room 12 by 15 ft is 180 square feet, which is 20 square yards. Dividing the area by nine, not three, is the step that matters.
Golf
Courses show distances to the green in yards. A hole of 450 yd is 1,350 ft. A tee shot of 250 yd travels 750 ft. When a rangefinder reads feet, you convert ft to yd by dividing by three.
Concrete, soil and gravel
Cubic yards
Bulk materials are sold by the cubic yard: 1 cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, or 0.7646 cubic metres. A slab 10 ft by 12 ft by 4 in thick is 10 times 12 times one third, equal to 40 cubic feet, so 1.48 cubic yards. Order 1.5, or better 2 if you want a margin. The step from feet to yards must be done before you divide by 27, so the “convert ft to yd” calculation for each dimension comes first.
Trucks and loads
A concrete truck carries 8 to 10 cubic yards. A pickup holds about 2. If you need 6 cubic yards of mulch, plan on three pickup loads or one small delivery.
Fractions of a yard
Quarters and eighths
Shops cut fabric by the eighth of a yard: 4.5 in, 9 in, 13.5 in, 18 in. In feet, an eighth is 0.375 ft, a quarter is 0.75, a half 1.5 and three quarters 2.25. Learning these helps you read a pattern at once.
Decimals versus fractions
A recipe for a quilt may call for 2 1/4 yd. In feet that is 6.75, or 6 ft 9 in. Keep the fraction notation when talking to the shop and decimals when typing into a calculator.
Estimating by sight
Pacing a yard
A normal adult step is close to a yard when walking briskly, so you can pace 10 steps for roughly 30 ft. Use this to guess the size of a lawn or a parking lot before you measure it properly.
Hands and arms
An arm span is about one yard for most children and about two for tall adults. It is a handy ruler for judging fabric.
Making a quick reference
The table to keep
3 ft is 1 yd, 6 ft 2 yd, 9 ft 3 yd, 12 ft 4 yd, 15 ft 5 yd, 30 ft 10 yd, 60 ft 20 yd, 90 ft 30 yd, 300 ft 100 yd. If you can remember the first four, you can derive the rest by adding.
Adding fractions
For a leftover foot, remember that 1 ft is a third and 2 ft are two thirds of a yard: 14 ft is 4 yd and 2 ft, or 4 2/3 yd.
Planning a vegetable plot
Rows, paths and totals
Suppose you plan a plot 27 ft long and 18 ft wide. A quick convert ft to yd gives 9 yd by 6 yd, so 54 square yards, which is 486 square feet. Leave a 2 ft path, two thirds of a yard, between rows set 3 ft apart. That gives six rows across, each 9 yd long, and seed is usually counted by the yard of row, so you need 54 yd of row in all.
Seed and compost
A packet of beans might cover 25 yd of row, so two packets are enough. Compost is spread 2 in deep, which is one sixth of a foot; over 486 square feet that is 81 cubic feet, 3 cubic yards. The first step in every one of these figures is the “convert ft to yd” calculation for the plot dimensions.
Dressmaking in detail
Reading a pattern envelope
A pattern envelope lists yardage by size and fabric width: for example 3 1/4 yd of 45 in cloth, or 2 7/8 yd of 60 in. The wider fabric needs less because more pieces fit across it. If you only have a remnant measured in feet, say 9 ft 6 in, divide by three to get 3.17 yd and compare it with the table.
Allowing for shrinkage
Cotton can shrink by 3 to 5 per cent after washing. Add a quarter yard, 9 in or 0.75 ft, for safety on every 3 yd. Wash and iron the cloth before cutting, then measure again; if you need to convert ft to yd for what is left, do so after the wash and not before.
Measuring a room for flooring
From the tape to the order form
Measure the room at its widest points. Say 13 ft 6 in by 11 ft 3 in. Those are 13.5 ft and 11.25 ft, which become 4.5 yd and 3.75 yd. The area is 16.875 square yards. Add 10 per cent for waste and you order 18.6 square yards, in practice 19. A shop that sells carpet in 12 ft wide rolls, 4 yd, will cut a length of 4.2 yd for you, so ask what the wide-roll price per running yard is.
Seams and pattern repeats
Carpets with a pattern need extra for matching the repeat, often a full repeat of 18 or 27 in per join. A room that needs a seam adds 1 to 1.5 ft, or about half a yard. Add this to your total before you place the order.
Cricket and other pitches
The 22 yards
A cricket pitch is 22 yd long, which is 66 ft and 20.12 m. It is also one chain in surveying, and it is the origin of many measurements in English fields. A baseball diamond has 90 ft between bases, 30 yd.
Other sports
A tennis court is 78 ft long, 26 yd. A basketball court measures 94 ft, 31.3 yd. Swimming pools in the US are often 25 yd, 75 ft.
Lawn, turf and landscaping
Sod and seed
Sod is sold by the square yard or roll. A lawn 30 ft by 45 ft is 1,350 square feet, which is 150 square yards. Each roll covers about 10 square feet, so you need 135 rolls, or 150 with a margin.
Edging and hedges
Hedges are planted at one every 3 ft, one per yard. A border of 60 ft thus takes 20 plants. The coincidence of the three-foot spacing and the yard makes such planting easy to plan by counting yards.
The yard in language and history
Henry's arm
The story of Henry I fixing the yard to his arm is a legend, but the fact that early yards were arm lengths is probable. Merchants measured cloth from the nose to the end of the arm, which gives about a yard.
Standard bars
In 1496 Henry VII sent brass standards to towns across England. A copy of the Imperial Standard Yard was made in 1845, and for over a century it was the legal definition until the agreement in 1959.
British road signs
Short distances in yards
In the UK, signs show distances in miles and yards. A junction 300 yd ahead is 900 ft ahead. Signs warning of a hazard commonly show 100 or 200 yd, which is 300 or 600 ft.
Driving habits
The Highway Code gives a stopping distance of about 23 m at 30 mph, which is roughly 25 yd or 75 ft. That is a handy number to remember when you convert mentally.
Fences, hoses and ropes
Standard lengths
Rope is sold by the foot, but garden hoses come in 25, 50 and 100 ft, which are 8.3, 16.7 and 33.3 yd. A sailor's dock line of 30 ft is 10 yd. Run a “convert ft to yd” calculation so you can compare with cloth or turf quotes.
Fence runs
Fence panels are 6 or 8 ft wide. A run of 24 yd takes 9 panels of 8 ft, since 24 yd is 72 ft. Converting to feet makes the division by panel width straightforward.
Teaching the idea of a conversion factor
A classroom string
Cut a string 3 ft long and call it a yard. Let students measure objects with the string, then with a 12 in ruler, and write both results. The ratio of 3 appears each time.
Why the exercise matters
Students see that a conversion factor is a ratio between measurements, not a magic number to memorise, and that the same object has two descriptions.
Spreadsheet use
A formula
With feet in column A, enter =A2/3 in column B. Format the result with two decimals. For a project with many items, add a total at the bottom and compare it with the total in feet divided by three.
Rounding up
When buying fabric or carpet, round up to the next quarter yard. A shop will cut 3 3/4 yd but not 3.4.
Area and volume warnings
The squares and cubes
A square yard has 9 square feet because 3 times 3 is 9. A cubic yard has 27 cubic feet because 3 times 3 times 3 is 27. Using three instead of nine or twenty-seven is the most common mistake in this area, and it can leave you with a third of the material you need.
A rule for yourself
Convert each length first, then compute area or volume in yards. This keeps the factor at three at every stage and avoids the powers.
More values for convert ft to yd
A longer list of conversions
If the value you need is not in the first list, these further conversions may be close enough to read off directly:
- 0.1 ft = 0.0333333 yd
- 0.5 ft = 0.166667 yd
- 3 ft = 1 yd
- 4 ft = 1.33333 yd
- 7 ft = 2.33333 yd
- 15 ft = 5 yd
- 20 ft = 6.66667 yd
- 75 ft = 25 yd
- 200 ft = 66.6667 yd
- 500 ft = 166.667 yd
- 2,000 ft = 666.667 yd
- 10,000 ft = 3,333.33 yd
Mistakes when you convert ft to yd
Multiplying instead of dividing
The yard is the bigger unit, so the number of yards is smaller. If 15 ft becomes 45, you multiplied.
Using three for area
Areas use nine and volumes twenty-seven, as explained above.
Forgetting the inches
Convert the inches before you divide: 7 ft 6 in is 7.5 ft, not 7.6.
Quick answers
How many feet in a yard?
Three.
How do I convert ft to yd?
Divide by three.
What is 30 ft in yards?
10 yd.
Is the conversion exact?
Yes, exact.
Does my number leave my device?
No. The calculation runs in your browser.
Related pages and a last word
If you work with lengths, these conversions are close at hand: Convert ft to dm, Convert ft to mi, Convert mi to yd, Convert m to yd, Convert yd to mi, Convert °C to °F, Convert °F to °C, Convert L to gal, Convert gal to L. The reverse of this page is Convert yd to ft.
In short, to convert ft to yd divide by three, remember that area uses nine and volume twenty-seven, and keep only the digits your measurement supports. Your number stays on your device: nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.