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There are two yards (6 feet) in an imperial fathom. [1] Originally the span of a man's outstretched arms , the size of a fathom has varied slightly depending on whether it was defined as a thousandth of an (Admiralty) nautical mile or as a multiple of the imperial yard .
For measuring length, the U.S. customary system uses the inch, foot, yard, and mile, which are the only four customary length measurements in everyday use. From 1893, the foot was legally defined as exactly 1200 ⁄ 3937 m (approximately 0.304 8006 m). [13] Since July 1, 1959, the units of length have been defined on the basis of 1 yd = 0.9144 ...
The yard standards of the different Commonwealth countries were periodically compared with one another. [26] The value of the United Kingdom primary standard of the yard was determined in terms of the meter by the National Physical Laboratory in 1964 to be 0.914 3969 m, [27] implying a pre-1959 UK foot of 0.304 7990 m.
The yard (symbol: yd) [3] [4] is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9144 meter. A distance of 1,760 yards is equal to 1 mile. The US survey yard is very slightly longer.
The UK statute chain is 22 yards, which is 66 feet (20.1168 m). This unit is a statute measure in the United Kingdom, defined in the Weights and Measures Act 1985. [6] One link is a hundredth part of a chain, which is 7.92 inches (20.1168 cm).
End of the standard yard of 1855 showing the gold plugs which bore the markings for the standard yard. The standard yard and [Troy] pound were lost in 1834 when a fire partially destroyed the Palace of Westminster. Following a report published in 1841 by a commission, a new standard yard and pound were manufactured using the best available ...
The Compositio redefined the yard, foot, inch, and barleycorn to 10 ⁄ 11 of their previous value. [dubious – discuss] However, it retained the Anglo-Saxon rod of 15 x 11 ⁄ 10 feet (5.03 metres) and the acre of 4 × 40 square rods. Thus, the rod went from 5 old yards to 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 new yards, or 15 old feet to 16 + 1 ⁄ 2 new feet. The ...
Unit Type Notes Cable length: Length: Fathom: Length: Knot: Speed: League: Length: Nautical mile: Length: Rhumb: Angle: The angle between two successive points of the thirty-two point compass (11 degrees 15 minutes) (rare) [1]