So I know that 438cm is equal to 14.37ft.

But how was that calculated?

You must start with one of the establised relation between the length units of measurement.

In this case, 1 m = 3.2808399 ft.

438 cm = 4.38 m = 4.38 m * [ 3.2808399 ft / 1 m] = 4.38* 3.2808399 ft = 14.37ft.

438 cm*(1 in/2.54 cm)*(1 ft/12 in)=14.37 ft. The way I learned to do these is set them up so that you get the right units on top and the units you want to get rid of cancel. So the stuff in the first set of parens converts from cm to inches, and the next one converts from inches to ft.

There's a bunch of different ways. Here's how I would do it:

438 cm is 4.38 meters, and there's 3.281 feet in one meter.

So multiply 3.281 by 4.38.

Legally, the inch is defined as exactly 2.54cm (or 25.4mm the same thing) so just change feet to inches and finish multiplying

So I know that 438cm is equal to 14.37ft.

But how was that calculated?