Convert yd to m yards ↔ metres Free Online Secure
Type a value in yards and read it in metres 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 yd to m (yards ↔ metres)
| yd | m |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.9144 |
| 2 | 1.8288 |
| 3 | 2.7432 |
| 5 | 4.572 |
| 10 | 9.144 |
| 20 | 18.288 |
| 50 | 45.72 |
| 100 | 91.44 |
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
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.
How is the metre defined today?
As the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The definition has been in place since 1983 and ties the metre to the speed of light, which is itself fixed at exactly 299,792,458 metres per second. The old platinum bar in Paris no longer defines anything.
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.
A hundred yards on a metric tape: how to convert yd to m
The yard is the unit of the pitch, the golf fairway and the bolt of cloth, and the metre is the unit almost everywhere else. A golf card says 380 yards; a rangefinder in a European club says 347 metres. A fabric shop in the United States prices a roll at 12 dollars a yard; a European shop prices it by the metre. The yard is shorter than the metre by 8.56 centimetres, so the two are close enough to be confused and far enough apart to matter. Whenever one source speaks in yards and another in metres, you have to convert yd to m, and this page does it as you type.
The yard has been defined as exactly 0.9144 metres since 1959, so the conversion is a multiplication by 0.9144. The sections below give the rule, worked examples, portraits of both units, a comparison, a tour of the places where the conversion appears and the mistakes people most often make.
How to convert yd to m: multiply by 0.9144
The rule
One yard is exactly 0.9144 m. To convert yd to m, multiply the number of yards by 0.9144. 1 yd is 0.9144 m, 10 yd is 9.144 m, 50 yd is 45.72 m, 100 yd is 91.44 m and 1,000 yd is 914.4 m. In the other direction, divide the metres by 0.9144, or multiply by 1.0936.
Examples
A football field of 100 yd between the goal lines is 91.44 m. A golf hole of 380 yd is 347.5 m. A cricket pitch of 22 yd is 20.12 m. A 25-yard pool is 22.86 m. A roll of 15 yd of fabric is 13.72 m. A 40-yard dash is 36.58 m.
The mental shortcut
For a mental convert yd to m, take away 9 per cent. For 100 yd: 100 minus 9 is 91, close to the exact 91.44. For 400: 400 minus 36 is 364, against 365.8. A second way is to take away a tenth and add back a hundredth: 100 minus 10 plus 1 is 91.
Rounding for a pitch
Players rarely need more than the nearest tenth of a metre. 45.72 m can be given as 45.7 m, and 91.44 as 91.4 m. For markings, keep two decimals.
The yard
Three feet
The yard is three feet or thirty-six inches. Its name comes from the Old English gerd, a rod. Legend gives it to Henry I, but it is the old cloth merchants' measure. The Imperial Standard Yard, a bronze bar, was the legal definition in Britain from 1855 until 1959.
Today
Yards are used for fabric, carpet and turf, for American football and golf and for short distances on British roads. The cubic yard is the unit of bulk soil and concrete in North America.
The metre
The base unit
The metre is the SI base unit of length. Introduced in the 1790s from the size of the Earth, it has been defined since 1983 from the speed of light. It is the unit of rooms, tracks and fabrics in most of the world.
Compared to the yard
A metre is 1.0936 yards, 3 feet 3.37 inches. A person can step a metre; a yard is a slightly shorter step. For sports fields the difference matters: a 100 m track is 109 yd.
Yard and metre compared
A yard is 91.44 per cent of a metre. Ten yards are 9.144 m, nearly a whole 10 m less 86 cm. Over a long distance the difference grows: 1,000 yd is 914 m, 86 m short of a kilometre.
The two units suit different audiences. Write the main figure in the unit your reader uses and give the other in brackets, like 100 yd (91 m). For sport, keep the official unit of the competition.
Where you will need it
Golf abroad
A course in Europe may show distances in metres on markers and in yards on the card. A hole of 380 yd is 347 m. A 150-yard marker on a fairway is 137 m. If you play with a rangefinder set to the other unit, run a “convert yd to m” calculation to choose the right club. A shot of 150 yd with a 7 iron that carries 140 m falls short by 3 m.
Fabric and shopping
Fabric in the US is priced by the yard and in Europe by the metre. 12 dollars a yard is 13.12 dollars a metre. A roll of 20 yd is 18.29 m. A pattern calling for 3 yd of fabric needs 2.74 m, so buying 3 m is enough.
American football and rugby
A field of 100 yd is 91.44 m between goal lines, plus end zones of 10 yd, 9.14 m. A rugby pitch is 100 m between goal lines, 109 yd. A 50-yard field goal is 45.7 m. Comparing the two sports is easier in one unit.
Road signs and navigation
British road signs show short distances in yards. A junction in 300 yd is 274 m ahead. A speed camera in 200 yd is 183 m. Satnavs set to metres show the same distance in tenths of a kilometre.
Rowing, swimming and tracks
Racecourses
A rowing race of 2,000 m is 2,187 yd. The Boat Race on the Thames is 4 miles 374 yd, 6,779 m. A 25-yard pool is 22.86 m; a 50-metre pool is 54.7 yd. Swimmers who move between yard pools in the US and metre pools in Europe need to convert times and distances.
Track events
The 100 yd dash was once a standard sprint, 91.44 m. The 220 yd was 201.2 m, the 440 yd 402.3 m. The mile of 1,760 yd is 1,609.3 m. Records from the 1950s and 60s are in yards.
A worked example: marking a pitch
Setting out
A club wants to mark a pitch using the official dimensions: 100 by 55 yd. To convert yd to m: 91.44 by 50.29 m. The corners are marked with pegs and a diagonal check gives sqrt(91.44² + 50.29²) = 104.4 m. If the two diagonals are equal to within 5 cm, the pitch is rectangular.
Painting
The lines are 12 cm wide. For 2 lengths of 91.44 m and 2 widths of 50.29 m, the total line is 283.5 m, 310 yd. Order paint for 285 m of line and add a margin for the first marking, when the grass takes more.
Final checks
Round trip
Divide your answer by 0.9144. If you return to the yards you started with, the conversion is right. If the result differs by about 9 per cent, you used 1 as the factor.
Notes
Write both figures in your notes. A reader can then verify them in seconds.
Old engineering drawings and railway cuttings
Victorian numbers
Railways, canals and docks built in Britain in the 19th century were described in yards, chains and miles. A tunnel of 3,000 yd is 2,743 m; a cutting of 800 yd is 731.5 m; an embankment 40 yd high would be 36.6 m, so a very large one. Modern engineers who survey or repair such works receive the old drawings and must convert yd to m for every dimension before they plan a repair or an inspection.
Checking against modern maps
A bridge at 127 miles 1,100 yards on the old railway is 127.625 mi, 205.4 km from the datum. Modern maps in kilometres and a bridge register in yards may need to be joined, so keep a table of the factor 0.9144 on your clipboard.
Walks and route cards
Distances in yards
A walker's route card in the United Kingdom gives legs in miles and yards: "farm track for 600 yd, then a path of 1,100 yd to the stile". In metres these are 549 m and 1,006 m. A group leader planning for a metric-speaking party converts each leg and adds: 1.555 km, about 20 minutes' walking. A GPS device shows the same legs in metres.
Timing
At 4 km/h, 66.7 m per minute, 100 yd takes 82 seconds. At 5 km/h it takes 66 seconds. Use these anchors to estimate how long a stretch described in yards will take.
Parks, reserves and boundaries
Boundary markers
Legal descriptions of old estates give boundaries in yards: "thence 450 yd north-east to an oak". 450 yd is 411.5 m. Land registers in metric countries convert these when they digitise records, and a surveyor who walks the boundary today compares the old yard figures with GPS metres.
Exclusion zones
Wildlife reserves set distances such as 100 yd, 91.4 m, from nesting sites. A visitor who carries a rangefinder in metres knows that 90 m is slightly too close. The conversion keeps both people and birds safe.
Wine, beer and the yard of ale
A drinking glass a yard long
The yard of ale is a glass about a yard, 0.9144 m, tall, with a bulb at the bottom and a long trumpet shape above. It holds about 1.4 litres, two and a half pints. Drinking one without spilling is a pub challenge; the record is under a second for the best. To describe the glass to a visitor who thinks in metres, you convert yd to m: 91 cm, roughly the height of a kitchen counter.
Why a yard
The glass was supposedly made for coachmen who needed to drink without getting down from their seat. Whether true or not, the shape stuck, and the name of the unit became a name for the drink.
Archery and shooting
Ranges in two units
Archery ranges in yards are 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100 yd, which are 18.3, 27.4, 36.6, 45.7, 54.9, 73.2 and 91.4 m. Olympic archery uses 70 m, 76.6 yd. A target set at 70 yd is 64.0 m, 6 m short. A shooter should check the unit of the range.
Rifles
A rifle zeroed at 100 yd is zeroed at 91.4 m. At 100 m, the bullet will have dropped 0.09 m further down its path. Hunters note the difference when they change rifle or range.
Lawns, turf and landscaping
Areas in square yards
A lawn of 15 by 12 yd is 13.72 by 10.97 m, 150.5 m². In square yards, 180; the area factor is 0.8361, the square of 0.9144. Turf sold by the square yard needs this factor: 200 yd² is 167.2 m².
Volumes in cubic yards
Topsoil comes by the cubic yard, 0.7646 m³. A bed of 10 m by 2 m by 0.15 m is 3 m³, 3.92 yd³. Order 4 yd³ to cover it. The cube of the length factor, 0.7646, is the one to use.
Horse racing and ploughing
Furlongs
A furlong is 220 yd, 201.2 m. A race of 5 furlongs is 1,100 yd, 1,006 m. Eight furlongs make a mile, 1,609 m. The furrow length, a furrow long, was the distance a team of oxen could plough before resting. British racing still uses these units.
Chains
A chain is 22 yd, 20.12 m, the length of a cricket pitch. Eighty chains make a mile. Surveyors used the chain for centuries because of its neat relation to the acre.
Spreadsheet formulas
Formula
To convert yd to m for a column, put yards in column A and enter =A2*0.9144 in column B. Format with two decimals. To reverse, divide by 0.9144. For areas, multiply by 0.836127, for volumes by 0.764555.
Check values
Enter 1: 0.9144. Enter 100: 91.44. Enter 1.09361: 1. If the result is 109.4 for 100, the formula is reversed.
Rounding
Match the source
A distance of 150 yd is 137.16 m, but if the source is rounded to the nearest 10 yd, 137 m is plenty. A golf card gives yards to the nearest 5, so 140 m is a safe figure.
For materials
Round up to the next metre or to the roll length. 14 yd of fabric is 12.8 m, so buy 13 m. For a fit, round down.
Teaching
Compare the sticks
To teach the “convert yd to m” calculation, place a yardstick next to a metre stick. The metre sticks out beyond the yard by 8.56 cm. Measure ten objects with both and tabulate. The ratio of the readings will be 0.914 or its inverse, 1.094.
Estimation
Ask students to take away 9 per cent from a number of yards and compare with the exact result. The error stays below half a per cent.
History of the yard
Standards of cloth
Merchants measured cloth by the ell, the yard and the span. From the 15th century the Crown kept brass yard standards for local trading authorities.
Modern fixing
The yard was defined exactly in terms of the metre in 1959. Before that, the British yard was 0.91439841 m and the American 0.91440183 m, a difference of 4 parts per million.
Language and symbols
Symbols
The symbol for yard is yd, for metre m. Put a space between number and unit. In British writing, yds is common but technical writing prefers yd.
Phrases
The phrase "the whole nine yards" has an unclear origin. Another is "a yard of ale", a drinking glass about a yard long. A yard of ale holds about 1.4 litres, 2.5 pints.
More values for convert yd to m
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 yd = 0.09144 m
- 0.5 yd = 0.4572 m
- 3 yd = 2.7432 m
- 4 yd = 3.6576 m
- 7 yd = 6.4008 m
- 15 yd = 13.716 m
- 20 yd = 18.288 m
- 75 yd = 68.58 m
- 200 yd = 182.88 m
- 500 yd = 457.2 m
- 2,000 yd = 1,828.8 m
- 10,000 yd = 9,144 m
Mistakes when you convert yd to m
Treating them as equal
A yard is 9 per cent shorter than a metre. Over 400 yd the gap is 34 m.
Dividing instead of multiplying
The yard is shorter, so the number of metres is smaller. If 100 yd becomes 109.4, you divided.
Wrong factor for area
Areas need 0.836, not 0.914. Volumes need 0.7646.
Quick answers
How many metres in a yard?
Exactly 0.9144.
How do I convert yd to m?
Multiply by 0.9144.
What is 100 yd in metres?
91.44 m.
Is the conversion exact?
Yes, because the yard is defined as exactly 0.9144 m.
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 yd to ft, Convert yd to mi, Convert mm to m, Convert cm to m, Convert m to cm, Convert °C to °F, Convert °F to °C, Convert L to gal, Convert gal to L. The reverse of this page is Convert m to yd.
In short, to convert yd to m multiply by 0.9144, remember that a yard is about 9 per cent shorter than a metre, and keep only the digits your measurement supports. Your number stays on your device: nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.