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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday December 15 2019, @08:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the that-foot-stinks dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

US finally giving boot to official foot measurement

Change is afoot for the official measuring stick used to size up big places in America.

The reason? There are actually two different definitions of the 12-inch measurement known as a foot.

Some land surveyors use what's known as the U.S. survey foot. Others use the definition that's more accepted by the broader world: the international foot.

The difference between them is so tiny that you can't see it with the naked eye on a 12-inch ruler. But over big distances, it matters. So, to reduce the chance for errors and confusion, the federal government has announced it's finally giving the boot to the survey foot.

The international foot is the smaller one—adding about an eighth of an inch of difference when measuring a mile. That means the United States is 28.3 feet wider when measured using the international foot instead of the survey foot.

The change started in 1959, when the federal government mandated that everyone use the international foot but allowed surveyors to keep to the old U.S. survey foot for a while. That temporary reprieve has lasted 60 years, but it will finally end in 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced in October.


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  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday December 16 2019, @05:33PM (3 children)

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday December 16 2019, @05:33PM (#932914) Journal

    Including averages?

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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday December 16 2019, @05:48PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 16 2019, @05:48PM (#932919) Journal

    That's interesting. But is an average an actual measurement or is it really a calculation? You never measure the average something or other.

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    • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday December 16 2019, @10:43PM (1 child)

      by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday December 16 2019, @10:43PM (#933056) Journal

      True, although I do take the measure of a man. So therefore people are integers also.

      No, DON'T go looking for the post hoc in that one.... By the way, I also weigh the same as a duck.

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      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday December 17 2019, @02:46PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 17 2019, @02:46PM (#933269) Journal

        Thinking more about this. Suppose you took measurements in Planck lengths. Then took the average. You could end up with a non-integer average. So not all stated lengths are integer multiples of the Planck length -- even if the Planck length is your unit of measure.

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