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Gunter's chain (also known as Gunter's measurement) is a distance-measuring device used for surveying. It was designed and introduced in 1620 by English clergyman and mathematician Edmund Gunter (1581–1626). It enabled plots of land to be accurately surveyed and plotted, for legal and commercial purposes.
The chain (abbreviated ch) is a unit of length equal to 66 feet (22 yards), used in both the US customary and Imperial unit systems. It is subdivided into 100 links . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] There are 10 chains in a furlong , and 80 chains in one statute mile . [ 2 ]
The unit is based on Gunter's chain, a metal chain 66 feet long with 100 links, that was formerly used in land surveying. Even after the original tool was replaced by later instruments of higher precision, the unit was commonly used throughout the English-speaking world, for example in the United States customary units and the Imperial system ...
A chain 66 feet (20 m) long, with intermediate measurements indicated, was chosen for the purpose, and is called Gunter's chain. The length of the chain chosen, 66 feet (20 m), being called a chain gives a unit easily converted to area. [9] Therefore, a parcel of 10 square chains gives 1 acre.
Distances were always measured in chains and links, based on Edmund Gunter's 66-foot measuring chain. The chain – an actual metal chain – was made up of 100 links, each being 7.92 inches (201 mm) long. Eighty chains constitute one U.S. survey mile (which differs from the international mile by a few millimeters).
The rod, perch, or pole (sometimes also lug) is a surveyor's tool [1] and unit of length of various historical definitions. In British imperial and US customary units, it is defined as 16 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet, equal to exactly 1 ⁄ 320 of a mile, or 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 yards (a quarter of a surveyor's chain), and is exactly 5.0292 meters.
American surveyors use a decimal-based system of measurement devised by Edmund Gunter in 1620. The base unit is Gunter's chain of 66 feet (20 m) which is subdivided into 4 rods, each of 16.5 ft or 100 links of 0.66 feet. A link is abbreviated "lk", and links "lks", in old deeds and land surveys done for the government.
The term chain in both cases usually refers to the measuring instrument rather than a unit of length, and distances measured are normally given in feet and decimal fractions of a foot (not inches). Despite Ramsden's chain originating in the UK, Gunter's predominated there: "When a chain is spoken of without qualification, Gunter's chain is ...