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Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities , length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived.
Before the establishment of the decimal metric system in France during the French Revolution in the late 18th century, [4] many units of length were based on parts of the human body. [5] [6] The Nippur cubit was one of the oldest known units of length. The oldest known metal standard for length corresponds to this Sumerian unit and dates from ...
[4]: 2 For example, using metre per second is coherent in a system that uses metre for length and second for time, but kilometre per hour is not coherent. The principle of coherence was successfully used to define a number of units of measure based on the CGS, including the erg for energy , the dyne for force , the barye for pressure , the ...
length "The metre, symbol m, is the SI unit of length. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the speed of light in vacuum c to be 299 792 458 when expressed in the unit m s −1, where the second is defined in terms of ∆ν Cs." [1]
The former Weights and Measures office in Seven Sisters, London Units of measurement, Palazzo della Ragione, Padua. A unit of measurement, or unit of measure, is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. [1]
The unifying characteristic is that there was some definition based on some standard. Eventually cubits and strides gave way to "customary units" to meet the needs of merchants and scientists. The preference for a more universal and consistent system only gradually spread with the growth of international trade and science.
Length of a meridian on Earth (distance between Earth's poles along the surface) [37] 40.075 Mm Length of Earth's equator: 10 8: 100 Mm: 142.984 Mm Diameter of Jupiter: 299.792 Mm Distance traveled by light in vacuum in one second (a light-second, exactly 299,792,458 m by definition of the speed of light) 384.4 Mm Moon's orbital distance from ...
The current definition was adopted in 1983 and modified slightly in 2002 to clarify that the metre is a measure of proper length. From 1983 until 2019, the metre was formally defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum in 1 / 299 792 458 of a second.