Growth in England is measured. Feet vs pounds

In English, along with the metric system of measures, their own ways of measuring length, weight and volume are used. Basically, units in English are used in the domestic market, and some are gradually falling into disuse. Until 1971, the shilling was used as a monetary unit, which was part of the pound sterling in the amount of 20 units. In turn, there were 12 pence in a shilling. It is not difficult to calculate that there were 240 pence in a pound. The two shilling coin was called the florin.

The use of such a monetary unit in international settlements caused serious difficulties, so in 1971 the good old shilling went into oblivion, and the number of pence in a shilling was reduced to one hundred. Other units of measurement in English have survived, and many of them are still in use today, and the American barrel is used in oil trading on the international market. These words need to be learned, as you will either encounter them in texts when learning English, or you will come across them when communicating with native speakers.

The English system of measures developed in "pre-metric" time, and any parts of the body, containers or improvised materials were used as a "standard". For example,

Inch was the average width of the thumb of the male hand
Foot (foot) was equal to the average length of the foot of an adult
Stone (stone) was equal to the weight of a stone of a certain size
Barrel (barrel, barrel) was the volume of a standard barrel.

In many countries and in the UK itself, various standards were invented, but after the revolution that the metric system produced, all traditional measures began to be tied to it.

Length in English

Each English measure of length has its own history of origin and these units are interconnected:

Point (0.3528mm)- a dot approximately equal to the width of the dot that we put on the letter
Line (2.1mm)- a line (6 points) that is close to the traditional 2 millimeters
Inch(2.54cm)- inch Approximately half the length of a matchbox.
Foot(30.48cm)- ft. A little less than a third of a meter.
Yard (0.9144m)- yard. Does not reach a meter about 8 centimeters.
Furlong (201, 171m)- furlong. Close to 200 meters.
Mile(1.6093 km)- land mile. Very close to 1600 meters.
Naut mile(1.832km)- sea mile. More than a simple mile by almost 231 meters.

What is volume measured in

This measure is necessary for measuring liquid or bulk products. The volume of solids is usually measured in square inches, feet and yards. An interesting measure of volume, measured by stacks (stack). This English measure of volume is equal to four cubic yards.

The following measures are used to measure bulk and liquid substances:

Butt (butt)- slightly less than 500 liters, namely 490.97 liters
Barrel- British barrel 163.65 is much larger than American 119.2 l (US)
Barrel for oil trading in the UK it is 158.988 liters, and in the USA it differs by only 0.018 liters (158.97 liters)
Gallon (gallon)- here the difference is much higher: 4.546 liters in the UK versus 3.784 liters in the US
pint- a British pint is almost 100 ml larger than an American one (0.57 liters vs. 0.473 liters)
Fluid ounce- unanimity is shown here (28.4 ml)
A quart is equal to 1.136 liters
Bushel has a volume of 36.37 liters

How is weight measured

We list the measures of weight in English and Russian:

1. Ounce slightly less than 30 g (28.35 g)
2. Pound as an English unit of weight (pound) equals 453.59 g, which is almost 47 g less than half a kilogram
3. stone used mostly in America is equal to 6.35 kg
4. Short ton (short ton) equals 907.18 kg, and if you are interested, trace the history of its occurrence on the Internet
5. Long ton (long ton) very close to the metric ton and is equal to 1016 kg

In fact, there are much more traditional English measures of measurement, we have touched only on the most popular ones.

Lim English also recommends that you pay attention to the English measure of the score - dozen (dozen). Once it was used in Russia, but gradually fell into disuse. Also of interest is such a unit of time as fortnight (14 days).

On the site you will learn to distinguish between metric and traditional English and American units of measurement. You can also compare their value. Most importantly, when traveling abroad, the mention of a pint or a gallon will not take you by surprise!

In order not to miss new useful materials,

It is impossible to study any foreign language without studying the cultural characteristics of a given country. In order to better understand the language itself, it is necessary to pay attention to the realities, traditions, linguistic and cultural differences of the nation. In our case, we are talking about the English-speaking population (as usual, we take the UK and the USA). English (American) units of measurement (units of measurement) just relate to those features in which it is desirable to understand in order to fully understand their written and oral speech.

You have probably come across English (American) units of measurement more than once. For example, I often met them in English-language literature, news, TV shows, movies, etc. And how to cook an interesting dish according to an English or American recipe? All ingredients in it are also listed in ounces and pounds. Sometimes you read some book in English, you reach it and stop, trying to understand how tall he is. After all, it is measured in feet and inches, which is unusual for us, because many do not know the meaning of these quantities. We have a metric system, give us meters and centimeters. Or listen to world news in English: again discussing the price of oil. And one barrel costs so much and so much. How much is in this barrel? Liters are more familiar to us. And they measure liquids in gallons, and they weigh everything in pounds and ounces.

If you have already encountered similar situations, then, obviously, you looked into the table of English (American) units of measurement in order to approximately estimate what quantities we are talking about. If you haven't tried it yet, let's take a look.

English (American) linear measures

According to the English system of units ( British Imperial System of measurement), which is used in the UK, the United States of America and other countries, the main linear measures ( linear measure) are the following values:

inch ( inch) = 25.4 mm (2.54 cm)
foot ( foot) = 0.3048 m (or 12 inches)
yard ( yard) = 0.9144 m (or 3 feet)
Mile ( miles) = 1.609 km (or 1.760 yards)
Hand ( hand) = 10.16 cm (or 4 inches)

Note that the nautical mile value ( nautical miles) is somewhat different - 1.8532 (England) and 1.852 (USA). If you need to convert the value in feet as quickly as possible, divide the number in feet by three. And if you want to quickly convert the length in miles into kilometers, multiply the number by 1.5 (or divide the number of miles by 5 and multiply by 8). Get an approximate result in each case. By the way, a yard is almost a meter (91.44 cm), you can safely round it up.

The common narwhal or sea unicorn often attains a length of sixty feet. - The common narwhal whale often reaches 60 feet (20 meters) in length.

She wears classic 5 inch high heels. – She wears dress shoes with 5 inch (12-13 cm) heels.

English (American) area measures

Under area units ( square measure) we understand any values in the "square", namely:

square inch ( square inch) = 6.45 cm²
square foot ( square foot) = 929 cm²
square yard ( square yard) = 0.836 m²
square mile ( square mile) = 2.59 km²
acre ( acre) = 0.405 ha = 4046.86 m²

The new value is "acre". To quickly convert acres to hectares, multiply the value by 0.4. Even faster is to divide by two. The approximate area in hectares will become known. It's easier with square feet - divide the number by 10, and you have a value in meters.

We bought an old house on five acres. We bought a new house on five acres of land (2 hectares).

How many square yards are there in a square meter? How many square yards are in a square meter?

English (American) measures of weight

In what units are the British or Americans used to measure the weight of a substance ( weight measure), product, etc.?

ounce ( ounce, oz) = 28.35 g
Pound ( pounds) = 453.59 g (or 16 oz)
Stone ( stone) = 6.35 kg (or 14 lb) - used primarily in the USA
short ton ( short tone) = 907.18 kg
long ton ( long tone) = 1016 kg

You have probably already noticed that the basic unit of measurement - the pound - is almost half a kilogram. Therefore, converting the number you need to pounds and vice versa is not difficult. To specify, for example, your weight in pounds, simply double it.

Baby Brianna weighed 13 ounces at birth. – Little Brianna weighed 13 ounces (370 g) at birth.

How to lose 20 pounds forever in exercise and diet? How to permanently lose 20 pounds (9 kg) through exercise and diet?

English (American) measures of volume

Among the main English (American) units of measurement of volume ( cubic measure) should be called:

Cubic inch = 16.39 cm³
Cubic foot = 0.028 m³
Cubic yard = 0.76 m³

How many cubic yards does this dump truck hold? How many cubic yards does this dump truck hold?

The USA has more than 2200 trillion cubic feet of gas waiting to be pumped, enough to satisfy nearly 100 years of current US natural-gas demand. – The US has more than 22 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, which is enough to supply the US for the next hundred years at current consumption levels.

English (American) measures of liquids and bulk solids

How do they measure liquid substances ( liquid measure)?

Butt ( butt) = 490.97 l
Barrel ( barrel) = 163.65 L ( GB)/119.2 l ( US)
Barrel (oil) = 158.988 L ( GB)/158.97 l ( US)
gallon ( gallons) = 4.546 L ( GB)/3.784 l ( US)
Pint ( pint) = 0.57 L ( GB)/0.473 l ( US)
fluid ounce ( fluid ounce) = 28.4 ml

How many ounces of water should I drink every day? How many ounces of water a day should I drink?

How many gallons of gasoline are consumed in the USA? How many gallons of fuel does the US population consume?

US units. When you go to give birth in the USA (you can read about why they go to give birth in the USA), you will have to live in this country for some time, enjoy its benefits and put up with some not always convenient features. It cannot be said that the inconvenience is significant, rather it is a matter of habit, but some of them can practically lead to a stupor. First of all, we are talking about the measurement system adopted in the United States.

Forget the usual centimeters, meters, liters, kilograms, grams, degrees Celsius - most Americans have only heard about them, but have no idea how many kilograms they weigh and how many liters fit in the gas tank of their car. This would be only half the problem if local units of measurement were formed according to the same system as in the metric scale - 1000 grams in a kilogram, 1000 kilograms in a ton, 100 centimeters in a meter, and so on. Here, everything is completely different and there is no system, you just need to remember.

Why did it happen? A small digression into history. As you know, the United States at one time was predominantly a British colony and, accordingly, the same system of measures was adopted in the United States as in Great Britain - the imperial one. Units of measurement were formed simply, for example, a foot is the length of a king's foot, a gallon is the size of a standard wine jug at that time, etc. In this form, this system migrated to the United States. It is curious that officially the imperial system of measurement currently exists only in three countries - these are the USA, Liberia and Myanmar. In Great Britain itself, where the imperial system of measurement comes from, the metric system has long been formally adopted.

So, you had a baby in the USA, in the hospital immediately after birth they weighed him, measured him and told you that your baby weighs, for example, 6 Lb (pounds) and 5 Oz (ounces), and his height was 22.5 In (inch). You are interested in his temperature, and the nurse answers you that the baby's temperature is normal, a little over 98 degrees. How to be? Of course, we are exaggerating a little - all medical workers, unlike ordinary people, are familiar with the metric system of measurement and easily convert data into the form we are used to, but nevertheless, local units of measurement should be, if not known by heart, then at least understand. After all, the speed on the road signs is indicated in miles, you will fill the rented car with gallons of fuel, weigh the goods in stores in pounds, and measure the baby’s temperature in Fahrenheit (if you didn’t bring your usual Celsius thermometer from home). Below we list the main units of measurement that you will regularly encounter when traveling to give birth in America.

1 mile (mile) - 1609 meters
1 foot (foot) - 0.304 meters
1 inch (inch) - 2.54 cm.

1 ft2 - 0.09 m2. The area of apartments is measured in feet. To make it easier to understand, 100 feet2 is a little more than 9 m2.
1 acre - 0.405 hectares

1 pound (Lb) - 454 grams. Please note that the weight in stores is indicated in pounds. Therefore, the price per pound of apples is approximately 2.2 times less than the price per kilogram.
1 ounce (Oz) - 28.3 grams

Liquid:

1 gallon - 3.78 liters
1 pint (Pt) - 0.47 liters
1 ounce (Oz) - 29.5 grams

Temperature. With temperature, it’s getting more and more difficult and it will be difficult for you to calculate exact numbers without a calculator, so it’s easier to just remember a few values that generally reflect the situation. For example, a body temperature of 98 degrees is the norm. 100 degrees outside is hot, 70 is pleasant, 32 is zero Celsius and anything below is freezing. It is worth noting that most manufacturers of goods in the United States have recently duplicated information in the metric system on their products, so you can go shopping without a calculator.

And by the way, the date in the USA is also written differently - first the month is indicated, then the day, and at the end the year.

We will be happy to organize your birth trip in the USA, we have been working for a long time, transparently and professionally. You can familiarize yourself with the prices for our services.

We also provide additional services of assistance in the preparation of Russian and American documents and provide excursion support in the state of Utah.

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A few facts about the British imperial and American systems of measures and weights

Many have heard that there are British imperial and American systems of weights and measures. Do you know how they differ? These two systems are closely related, they both originated from the English system, which, in turn, is based on the ancient Roman system of measures. The American and British systems of measures are so close that they are often confused. And it is not surprising, given that often in these systems the names of the units are the same, although their meanings may differ.

History of units

The units of measurement that are in use today in the US and partly in the UK were introduced during the Norman conquests. The yard is the only unit that has remained virtually unchanged since that time. The yard replaced the previously used cubit (ell). Chain (chain) - another measure that came from the old England, which has not changed much. On the other hand, the foot (foot), which is in use today, has changed from the original foot. Today the unit has a rod of 16.5 feet, but originally there were exactly 15. The furlong and the acre have not changed much in the last thousand years. Initially, they were a measure of the value of land, but later became simply units of area.

Confusion with British pounds

Differences between British and American systems

Perhaps the most unusual are units of volume. A US liquid gallon is 0.83 imperial gallon and a US dry gallon is 0.97 imperial gallon. In the UK, a single gallon is used for liquids and solids.

US Independence

After the US Declaration of Independence, America broke away and developed its own system of weights and measures. That is why today the values \u200b\u200bof American and British gallons, pounds, yards differ. Ultimately, the two governments decided to work together and introduce precise definitions of the yard and foot, based on copies of the official standards that the British Parliament adopted in 1850. True, I had to admit that these "official" standards were not of very high quality and cannot provide the accuracy needed in the modern world. So in 1960, two governments officially redefined the pound and yard based on the standards used in the metric system. And although the changes in 1960 were very small in magnitude, they resulted in the emergence of two parallel standards of measures of length in the United States - land surveying measures (the old standard) and international measures (the new one, tied to metric units).

The differences between US and UK units are often the subject of discussion and jokes among tourists. For example, in England, beer is sold by the pint, with a British pint being larger than an American pint. This spawns endless jokes about Americans not being able to calculate their dose of drink and the British, who always have too high prices for a gallon of gasoline.

What other differences are there in units?

Until 1960, the British yard and pound did not differ significantly from their American counterparts, at least for everyday use - measuring not very long distances or selling, for example, products. But there were some differences even in this common usage. For example, in the United States, short distances are usually expressed in feet, while in England they are expressed in yards.

It's hard to believe, but people who grew up among a different measurement system and other units are still alive. In the old imperial system, there was a unit of stone (stone), equal to 14 pounds. Eight stone was a centner (hundredweight), and a ton was equal to 20 centners or 2240 pounds. There are no stones in the American system, and a centner is equal to 100 pounds. Accordingly, a ton is equal to 2000 pounds. The round value of 2000 is easier to remember than 2240, but the existence of two different options for tons and hundredweights leads to confusion, especially in international trade. To make it easier for people in different countries to understand the difference when talking about a ton, often the British ton is called long (long ton), and the American - short (short ton). But there is still a metric ton (metric tonne)!

If you think the modern system is too complicated, think about those who lived in the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson, in his Plan for the Establishment of Uniform Standards for Coins, Weights and Measures, noted that only in the United States there were 14 different definitions of the gallon. The smallest of the gallons contained 224 cubic inches and the largest contained 282 cubic inches. The difference is more than a quarter! Ultimately, the Queen Anne gallon was chosen as the official one.

To facilitate the international trade in oil, a single unit of measurement, the barrel, was chosen. One barrel is 159 liters or 42 US gallons. Precious metals are traded in troy ounces, one troy ounce is equal to 31.10 grams.

In the end, probably, the whole world will come to a single system of measurements. Most likely, it will be the metric system. But while we still live in a world where a wild mixture of systems and units coexist, including units that have the same name, but with different meanings. Isn't our world a little crazy?

While the universal metric standard for measurements is used all over the world, in Great Britain, the USA and some other countries (former English colonies) an old, conservative and rather confusing system is used, which is called the imperial one. All these inches, ounces, feet, gallons are an old English invention that will never go out of use, despite the obvious complexity in comparison with the metric system.

Meters, kilometers, kilograms and other units are gradually conquering England and the USA, but this is a very slow process. Officially, Great Britain has abandoned imperial measurements and uses the metric system, but in practice the old measures are still in use, although most Britons are well acquainted with the measurements adopted in most countries. The Americans turned out to be more conservative in this matter and still use the imperial system of measures. This system is also common in Liberia and Myanmar.

The metric system is indeed simpler and more convenient than the English one, which the British themselves can recognize. But while yards, feet and inches are in use by most of the English-speaking population of the world, it will be useful for English learners to know their names and be able to compare with units of the metric system in order to have an idea of the approximate volumes, sizes, weights that are found in books, textbooks , descriptions of goods, on signs.

The most common units of the imperial system are:

1 inch 1 - inch - 2.54 centimeters
1 foot - 1 foot - 0.3048 meters
1 yard - 1 yard - 0.9144 meters
1 pound - 1 pound - 453 grams
1 ounce - 1 ounce - 28.3 grams
1 quart - 1 quart - 1.1365 liters
1 pint - 1 pint - 0.568 liters

In fact, there are more than a hundred units of measurement in the British system, and they are all interconnected: furlongs, leagues, nails, lines, ores, acres, square miles, centals, drachms, grains and many others. It is not worth memorizing all of them and, of course, it does not make sense to memorize the relationships between them. It is enough to use one of the tables-converters of systems of measures, which are in most dictionaries or on the Internet: http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/weight/

Even Americans measure temperature differently: in Fahrenheit! And here it’s more difficult to quickly convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, they are interconnected by such an intricate formula: you need to subtract 32 from the temperature value in Fahrenheit, multiply the resulting number by 5 and divide by 9.

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