Convert Foot (ft) to Nanometer (nm) instantly.
About these units
Foot (ft)
A foot, equal to 12 inches, has been used for thousands of years and likely originated from the length of a human foot. Though early definitions varied, the modern standard foot—established internationally in 1959—provides a stable and consistent reference. The foot remains the foundation of architectural and construction measurements in the United States, influencing everything from lumber dimensions to ceiling heights and room layouts. Because the foot is intuitively relatable to human scale, people often estimate heights, furniture sizes, and walking distances in feet. In aviation, altitude is universally measured in feet worldwide, even in countries that otherwise use metric units—an unusual but deeply embedded global convention. The foot's persistence shows how cultural inertia can remain strong even when a unit predates modern scientific measurement.
Nanometer (nm)
A nanometer—one billionth of a meter (10⁻⁹ m)—is central to nanoscience, nanotechnology, and molecular biology. Many structures essential to life fall into this scale: DNA's double helix is about 2 nm wide, viruses often measure tens to hundreds of nanometers, and key cell structures like ribosomes are on the order of 20–30 nm. In engineering, nanometers define the dimensions of modern semiconductor technology. Silicon transistors have shrunk to features only a few nanometers wide, approaching the physical limits of electron behavior in solid-state materials. In optics, wavelengths of ultraviolet light can be expressed in nanometers, as can surface roughness, material grain sizes, and thin-film coatings. The nanometer is ubiquitous across modern science because it describes both biological and technological structures at the frontier of research.