Square Feet and Square Decimeters Converter

Using the Square Feet and Square Decimeters Converter

You can use this converter to find equivalent values between two well-known units of area, the imperial measure of square feet ($ft^2$) and the metric measure of square decimeters ($dm^2$). 

In the beginning, decide between the American or the British spelling to influence the spelling of the term decimeter (which would be spelled decimetre if you choose the British spelling). 

Then move on to the ‘CONVERT FROM’ section to select your input unit (you have a choice between $ft^2$ and $dm^2$), as well as your output unit in the ‘CONVERT TO’ section, where you have the choice from the same two options as for your input. 

You have the option to switch the order of the input and output units by pressing the icon with arrows in opposite directions, or simply keep the preselected units if that choice is suitable for you.

Type your desired number into the ‘VALUE TO CONVERT’ area in form of a decimal number, choose the number of decimal places you want your result rounded toward, and click on ‘CONVERT’ to get the result in the output unit you selected.

If needed, you can copy the result with the ‘COPY’ button located right next to it.

Converting Square Feet and Square Decimeters Manually

The relationship between square feet and square decimeters is determined by the relationship between feet and decimeters.

As we know, a square foot is equal to the area of a square with a side length of 1 foot, as is a square decimeter to a square with a side length of 1 decimeter. Hence, writing out an equality between a decimeter and a foot, then squaring it, will yield the equivalent values of the square units as well.

1 decimeter is equal to 0.33 feet when rounded to two decimal numbers. If we square both values, we receive an equality of 1 square decimeter (because $1^2$ is still 1) being equivalent to 0.11 square feet, when rounded to two decimal numbers.

We may also create the opposite equivalence by expressing 1 foot as 3.05 dm. When both values get squared, we receive the equivalence of 1 square foot is the same as approximately 9.3 square decimeters.

These equalities lead to the following two formulae which can be used to manually convert between the two units. 

The following two examples will shed some light on how the formulae are used in practice.

EXAMPLE 1: Convert 80 $dm^2$ into $ft^2$.

The first formula is suitable for this problem because it has the output value as the subject of the formula. We solve the problem by substituting 80 for $dm^2$.

EXAMPLE 2: Convert 125 $ft^2$ into $dm^2$.

The easiest way to solve this problem is to use the second formula, where we substitute 125 for $ft^2$.

What is a Square Decimeter?

A square decimeter is a unit of area that is a part of the metric system. As was mentioned before, a square decimeter is equal in size to a square with a side length of 1 dm. 

The word decimeter is a combination of two words:

• the word ‘meter’, the basic unit of length in the metric system.
• the word ‘deci’, which is a Latin prefix meaning “a tenth”.

By this definition, a decimeter is a tenth of a meter, or 10 cm long.

This would make the area of a decimeter square equal to 10x10 = 100 $cm^2$.

To gain some perspective, here are some everyday items with their areas rounded to the nearest $dm^2$:

• A sheet of A5 paper has an area of approximately 3 $dm^2$, hence a third of this paper is about the area of a square decimeter.
• Most bathroom or kitchen tiles are 10 by 10 cm in dimensions, hence equal to exactly 1 $dm^2$.
• Larger smartphones have an area between 0.9 and 1.1 $dm^2$, depending on the type. That means that despite their rectangular shape, they are a good approximation of what 1 $dm^2$ looks like in area.