How many square centimeters are in one square meter?

• A. 1,000 square cm
• B. 100 square cm
• C. 10,000 square cm
• D. 1,000,000 square cm

Answer: (C)

Understanding how area units scale is key. If 1 meter equals 100 centimeters, then to convert square meters to square centimeters you apply that conversion to both dimensions, because area depends on length times width. A 1 m by 1 m square is the same as a 100 cm by 100 cm square. Multiply those lengths: 100 × 100 = 10,000. So 1 m^2 equals 10,000 cm^2. The reason this ends up as 10,000 is that the conversion factor is squared when dealing with area.