A circle has 360 degrees, and each degree is 60 minutes, so the nautical mile was defined as 1⁄ 21,600 of the Earth's circumference, or about 1,852.22 metres. The nautical mile was defined as a minute of arc of latitude measured along any meridian. The definitions of both the nautical mile and the kilometre were originally derived from the Earth's circumference as measured through the poles. Despite the fact that the difference (0.17%) between the two is insignificant at the low precision that these quantities are typically given to, it is nevertheless often specified as being at the equator. For example, one might say that a large number of objects laid end-to-end at the equator "would circle the Earth four and a half times". The circumference of a great circle of the Earth (about 40,000 km or 25,000 mi or 22,000 nmi) is often compared to large distances. The radius of Earth, generally given as 6,371 kilometers (3,959 miles) is often employed as a unit of measure to intuitively compare objects of planetary size.
#UNIT LARGER THAN LIGHT YEARS PLUS#
Within a typical large North American city, it is often only possible to travel along east–west and north–south streets, so travel distance between two points is often given in the number of blocks east–west plus the number north–south (known to mathematicians as the Manhattan Metric). Sometimes people living in places (like Manhattan) with a regularly spaced street grid will speak of long blocks and short blocks. In Manhattan, the measurement "block" usually refers to a north–south block, which is 1⁄ 20 mi (80 m). In most US cities, a city block is between 1⁄ 16 and 1⁄ 8 mi (100 and 200 m).
The usual size of a football pitch is 105 m × 68 m (115 yd × 74 yd), the dimensions used for matches in the UEFA Champions League.Ī Canadian football field is 65 yd (59 m) wide and 150 yd (140 m) long, including two 20 yd (18 m) long end zones. Īn association football pitch may vary within limits of 90–120 m (98–131 yd) in length and 45–90 m (49–98 yd) in width. The Racing Rules of Sailing also makes heavy use of boat lengths.Ī football field is often used as a comparative measurement of length when talking about distances that may be hard to comprehend when stated in terms of standard units.Īn American football field is usually understood to be 100 yards (91 m) long, though it is technically 120 yards (110 m) when including the two 10 yd (9.1 m) long end zones. A shorter distance is the canvas, which is the length of the covered part of the boat between the bow and the bow oarsman. The length of a rowing eight is about 62 feet (19 m). In rowing races such as the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, the margin of victory and of defeat is expressed in fractions and multiples of boat lengths.
#UNIT LARGER THAN LIGHT YEARS FULL#
Shorter distances are measured in fractions of a horse length also common are measurements of a full or fraction of a head, a neck, or a nose. Horses are used to measure distances in horse racing – a horse length (shortened to merely a length when the context makes it obvious) equals roughly 8 feet or 2.4 meters. This means that 1 Hammer unit is equal to exactly 0.01905 meters. The exact definition varies from game to game, but a Hammer unit is usually defined as a sixteenth of a foot (16 Hammer units = 1 foot). This unit refers to Source's official map creation software, Hammer. Valve's Source game engine uses the Hammer unit as its base unit of length. 10.2 Numbers of people: Stadium capacities.8.4 Hiroshima bomb and Halifax explosion.