A gigameter measures extremely long distance, such as the distance of the moon's full rotation around the Earth. Gigameters are metric units based on multiples of the distance of a meter, and a gigameter can easily be converted into an expression of meters. Converting gigameters to meters can help you visualize the true nature of very long distances.

Multiply the gigameter number by 1 billion, or 1,000,000,000, which is also 10^9, to convert to meters. For example, 100 gigameters multiplied by 1 billion equals 100 billion. Therefore, 100 gigameters equals 100,000,000,000 meters.

Move the decimal place in the gigameter number nine places to the right as an alternative method to find the meter conversion. For example, if the number of gigameters is 11.255, moving the decimal point nine places yields 11,255,000,000 meters.

Divide the number of meters by 1,000,000,000 to convert meters to gigameters. For example: 5,000,000,000 meters equals 5 gigameters.