Convert Chain (ch) to Hectometer (hm) instantly.
About these units
Chain (ch)
A chain is equal to 66 feet or 4 rods, and it was standardized by surveyor Edmund Gunter in the 17th century. "Gunter's chain," consisting of 100 metal links, became the backbone of land surveying in the English-speaking world for centuries. Its convenience stems from simple arithmetic: 10 square chains make an acre, making land area calculations straightforward. Railroads, farmland, and city parcels across the United States and the Commonwealth nations were once laid out using chains, so the unit appears in countless historical records. Even today, some legal property descriptions still reference chain-based measurements, making the unit relevant for modern surveyors who interpret old maps. Although high-precision digital equipment has replaced physical chains, the unit's structural role in land division ensures its lasting importance.
Hectometer (hm)
A hectometer is equal to 100 meters, and though rarely used colloquially, it remains relevant in specific scientific and geographic applications. In meteorology, cloud ceiling heights and visibility distances are sometimes expressed in hectometers. In agriculture, field lengths and irrigation layouts may also be measured in hectometers, offering a compromise between the small meter unit and the more expansive kilometer. Because it aligns nicely with the metric system's decimal structure, the hectometer appears in statistical summaries or technical documents that benefit from uniform numerical scaling. Its relative rarity in day-to-day speech stems from the fact that kilometers are generally more intuitive when discussing larger distances, but in some countries, especially in Europe, hectometers still appear on roadside markers.