Convert length and distance units — meters, feet, inches, kilometers, miles, light years and more.
| Unit | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0.001 m | 4.97097e-05 chain | |
| 0.01 m | 0.000497097 chain | |
| 0.1 m | 0.00497097 chain | |
| 1 m | 0.0497097 chain | |
| 5 m | 0.248548 chain | |
| 10 m | 0.497097 chain | |
| 50 m | 2.48548 chain | |
| 100 m | 4.97097 chain | |
| 1000 m | 49.7097 chain |
Multiply the number of Meters by 0.0497097 to get Chains. Formula: chain = m × 0.0497097. Example: 10 m × 0.0497097 = 0.497097 chain. To reverse, divide Chains by 0.0497097 to get Meters.
| Meter (m) | Chain (chain) |
|---|---|
| 0.001 m | 4.97097e-05 chain |
| 0.01 m | 0.000497097 chain |
| 0.1 m | 0.00497097 chain |
| 0.5 m | 0.0248548 chain |
| 1 m | 0.0497097 chain |
| 2 m | 0.0994194 chain |
| 5 m | 0.248548 chain |
| 10 m | 0.497097 chain |
| 20 m | 0.994194 chain |
| 50 m | 2.48548 chain |
| 100 m | 4.97097 chain |
| 250 m | 12.4274 chain |
| 500 m | 24.8548 chain |
| 1000 m | 49.7097 chain |
| 10000 m | 497.097 chain |
To convert Meter to Chain, multiply by 0.0497097. Example: 10 m = 0.497097 chain
To convert Chain back to Meter, divide by 0.0497097 (multiply by 20.1168). Use the swap button above.
Start with 100 Meters = 4.97097 chain as your reference point. Scale up or down from there.
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa converted land records from chains to metres during metrication. Surveyors and land registrars convert m-based GPS coordinates back to chains when verifying historic boundary descriptions.
British railways officially measure track distances in miles and chains while European interoperability projects use metres. Engineers converting between the two perform m-to-chain conversion for every cross-border rail project interface document.
Property title deeds in Commonwealth countries describe boundaries in chains while modern GPS surveys output metres. Solicitors and surveyors convert between the two when verifying that metric survey coordinates match historic chain-based descriptions.
Archaeological sites on historic farmland are documented in metres for GIS databases while original site records use chains from Victorian OS maps — field archaeologists convert between the two for spatial accuracy.
Conservation bodies managing historic English farmland convert m-based modern surveys to chains when referencing original enclosure maps and estate records expressed in chains and furlongs.
Geographic information system specialists migrating legacy chain-based land databases to metric coordinate systems convert between metres and chains for every parcel boundary during the migration process.
The Meter is a unit of Length measurement (symbol: m). 1 m = 0.0497097 chain. Used in scientific and practical Length measurement applications.
The Chain is a unit of Length measurement (symbol: chain). It is part of an internationally recognised measurement system used alongside the Meter.
The metre was born from the French Revolution's desire to replace the chaotic patchwork of pre-metric measurement with a rational, universal standard. In 1791 the French Academy of Sciences defined it as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along the Paris meridian — a unit based on Earth itself rather than any king's anatomy. Early platinum and platinum-iridium prototype bars were made in 1799 and 1889. In 1983, the metre was redefined permanently using the speed of light — exactly the distance light travels in 1/299,792,458 of a second. Today it is the world's most widely used unit of length.
Edmund Gunter invented the surveyor's chain in 1620. His design — 100 links totalling exactly 66 feet — was brilliantly chosen: 10 chains × 10 chains = 1 acre. 80 chains = 1 mile, 10 chains = 1 furlong. The chain became the standard survey unit across the British Empire and is written into American law — the US Public Land Survey System still divides land using chains and links.
Common use: Meter to Chain conversion is needed when working with international standards, scientific publications, or reference materials that use different unit systems for Length measurement.