Free · Unit conversions

Nanometer, Metric & Scientific Length Converter

Convert nanometers to metric and customary lengths, with optional astronomical reference scales.

Formula & worked example
Private in your browser
No signup

Go to tool

Calculator inputs

Loading calculator…

How to use this calculator

Enter the known values in the units shown. Results update as you type.
Where results are editable, change one to solve backwards. Lock a value to hold it fixed.
Use the worked example to check the method. Reset restores the starting fields.

Private by default

Inputs and results stay in this browser tab. Bookify does not upload or store the values you enter.

Formula and method

304,800,000 nanometers equal 0.3048 meters or one international foot. At the smaller scale, one nanometer equals one billionth of a meter.

Meters = nanometers × 10⁻⁹; international feet = meters ÷ 0.3048

Worked example

Enter these known values and leave the other values blank.

Nanometers: 304800000 nm

Metric length unit: 0.3048 m
Customary length unit: 1 ft
Scientific length scale: 4.784e-8 R⊕

Assumptions and limitations

Uses exact metric prefixes, international inches/feet, the Julian-year light-year, and a parsec defined as 648000/π astronomical units. The optional US survey foot is the historic 1200/3937 m unit.
This is a length conversion, not a wavelength-to-frequency or energy calculation. Signed lengths retain their sign. Large changes of scale do not improve the precision of a measured value.
The optional Earth-radius scale uses 6,371,000 m and the solar-radius scale uses 695,700,000 m as reference values. They are scale conventions here, not live measurements of those bodies.

Common questions

How many nanometers are in a micrometer?

Exactly 1,000 nanometers equal one micrometer. One millimeter equals 1,000,000 nanometers.

Does nm here mean a nautical mile?

No. Here nm is the SI symbol for nanometer. Nautical miles, where offered in a unit selector, are explicitly labeled and use the separate symbol nmi.

References

The light-year uses exactly 299792458 m/s times a 31557600-second Julian year, replacing the rounded reference factor. The parsec uses the IAU definition 648000/π astronomical units, with one astronomical unit exactly 149597870700 meters, instead of a rounded decimal factor. The optional legacy US survey foot uses exactly 1200/3937 meters, replacing the rounded reference factor. Ordinary international feet remain exactly 0.3048 meters.

Explore unit conversions or browse all conversion calculators.