Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The term, yard derives from the Old English gerd, gyrd etc., which was used for branches, staves and measuring rods. [5] It is first attested in the late 7th century laws of Ine of Wessex, [6] where the "yard of land" mentioned [6] is the yardland, an old English unit of tax assessment equal to 1 ⁄ 4 hide.
The international yard and pound agreement of July 1959 defined the length of the international yard in the United States and countries of the Commonwealth of Nations as exactly 0.9144 meters. Consequently, since a foot is one third of a yard, the international foot is defined to be equal to exactly 0.3048 meters.
Detail of a cubit rod in the Museo Egizio of Turin The earliest recorded systems of weights and measures originate in the 3rd or 4th millennium BC. Even the very earliest civilizations needed measurement for purposes of agriculture, construction and trade. Early standard units might only have applied to a single community or small region, with every area developing its own standards for ...
Units of surface measurement Unit Greek name Equal to Modern equivalent Description pous πούς: 0.095 m 2 (1.02 sq ft) square foot hexapodēs ἑξαπόδης: 36 podes 3.42 m 2 (36.8 sq ft) square six-foot akaina ἄκαινα: 100 podes 9.50 m 2 (102.3 sq ft) rod hēmiektos ἡμίεκτος: 833 + 1 ⁄ 3 podes 79.2 m 2 (853 sq ft) half ...
Using the value 296 mm (11.7 in) for the Roman foot, an amphora quadrantal can be computed at approximately 25.9 L (5.7 imp gal; 6.8 US gal), so a sextarius (by the same method) would theoretically measure 540.3 ml (19.02 imp fl oz; 18.27 US fl oz), which is about 95% of an imperial pint (568 ml).
The megalithic yard is a hypothetical ancient unit of length equal to about 2.72 feet (0.83 m). [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Some researchers believe it was used in the construction of megalithic structures. The proposal was made by Alexander Thom as a result of his surveys of 600 megalithic sites in England , Scotland , Wales and Brittany . [ 4 ]
The rulers are also divided into hands [5] so that for example one foot is given as three hands and fifteen fingers and also as four palms and sixteen fingers. [6] [3] [7] [8] [9] [5] Cubit rod from the Turin Museum. Surveying and itinerant measurement were undertaken using rods, poles, and knotted cords of rope.
The informal public imperial measurement standards erected at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London, in the 19th century: 1 British yard, 2 feet, 1 foot, 6 inches, and 3 inches. The inexact monument was designed to permit rods of the correct measure to fit snugly into its pins at an ambient temperature of 62 °F (16 2 ⁄ 3 °C ).