Try mixing US, English and metric as we do here in Canada! I think its
on the citizenship test.
Temperatures in celsius, body weight in pounds, height in feet and
inches -- but food in kilos and distance in kilometres.
An even more fun past time is trying to figure out the price of a US
gallon of gas in Canadian dollars and in litres. Except in Point
Roberts where the gas is sold in litERs - in US dollars.
Admittedly - we're an awful bored lot whilst waiting for the winter
cariboo migration. But I'm glad I have WiFi in my igloo.
:)
Doug
On Thursday, October 7, 2004, at 01:19 PM, Michael Kaufman wrote:
>
> http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/230/235/appxc/appxc.htm#1
>
> Ok look at this:
>
> 2. TABLES OF U.S. UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
> In these tables where foot or mile is underlined, it
> is survey foot or U.S. statute mile rather than
> international foot or mile that is meant.
>
> 3 feet (UNDERLINED) = 1 yard (yd)
>
> Ok so here it defines a yard as 3 SURVEY feet.
>
> But then scroll down to:
>
> 5. ...
> 1 yard (yd)---------------------------- 0.914 4 meter
> (exactly)
>
> Here it defines a yard as 0.9144 meters EXACTLY, which
> is exactly 3 INTERNATIONAL feet.
>
> So what's the deal here???
>
>
> --- Ron McConnell <rcmcc@...> wrote:
>
>>
>> Two definitions of a foot in the USA
>>
>> 1. standard ("international") foot = 0.3048
>> meters
>>
>> 2. U.S. survey foot = 1200/3937 meters =
>> 0.3048006096012 m
>>
>> <http://www.vterrain.org/Projections/sp_feet.html>
>>
>> - Full note with more links below this message body
>>
>> This topic may have been covered already in BP,
>> but for a new folk like me, the extract below
>> was very interesting, including the statement
>> "... there have been instances where the
>> conversions
>> were done using the wrong conversion factor
>> or the computation was otherwise done incorrectly
>> [by the professionals]..."
>>
>> So, we need to look closely at the data
>> we get from anywhere in the USA to see
>> _if_ we can tell which foot was used or converted.
>> That last "millimeter" of calculated distance
>> may be correct to only the last several meters.
>> This type of multiple definition of a unit/name
>> is not exclusive to the USA.
>>
>> There are _many_ other interesting, well written
>> notes
>> links and resources on geography at
>>
>> Virtual Terrain Project (VTP)
>>
>> <http://www.vterrain.org/index.html>
>>
>> "The goal of VTP is to foster the creation
>> of tools for easily constructing any part
>> of the real world in interactive, 3D digital form.
>> The VTP software consists of a set of entirely
>> free and open source applications and libraries."
>>
>> I've added a link to VTP to BP.
>>
>> Cheers, 73,
>>
>> Ron McC.
>> w2iol@...
>>
>> Ronald C. McConnell, PhD
>>
>> WGS-84: N 40º 46' 57.6" +/-0.1"
>> W 74º 41' 22.1" +/-0.1"
>> FN20ps.77GU31 +/-
>> V +5058.3438 H +1504.2531
>>
>> http://home.earthlink.net/~rcmcc
>>
>> Don't argue about facts.
>> - G. Robert Leopold
>>
>> ===============================
>>
>> State Plane Coordinate Systems and the U.S. Survey
>> Foot
>>
>>
>> <http://www.vterrain.org/Projections/sp_feet.html>
>>
>> There is a unit of measure called the "U.S. Survey
>> Foot."
>> It is almost exactly equal to a standard foot,
>> but it's definition is slightly different:
>>
>> * standard (or "international") foot: .3048
>> meters
>>
>> * U.S. survey foot: 1200/3937 meters
>>
>> In other words, one is defined in relation to the
>> meter
>> by a decimal expression, the other by a fraction.
>> Fortunately, the difference is very small,
>> amounting to less than a few meters over an area
>> as large as a U.S. state.
>> However, this small difference can cause problems
>> in some cases, so it's advisable to always know
>> which units are being used.
>>
>> More information about how this relates to the
>> U.S. State Plane Coordinate System is contained
>> in this fascinating and informative document:
>>
>> POLICY OF THE NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY CONCERNING
>> UNITS OF MEASURE FOR THE STATE PLANE COORDINATE
>> SYSTEM OF 1983
>> January 1991
>>
>> Key excerpts:
>>
>> * The State Plane Coordinate System of 1927
>> was published in a unit of measure identified
>> as the "U.S. Survey Foot."
>> By 1959, except for surveying and mapping
>> applications,
>> the United States had switched to the unit of
>> measure
>> identified as the "International Foot."
>>
>> * (In 1983) the U.S. Survey Foot was specified
>> in 11 states and the International Foot was
>> specified
>> in 6 states. In all other states the meter
>> is the only referenced unit of measure in the SPCS
>> 83 legislation.
>> The remaining 19 states do not yet have any
>> legislation
>> concerning SPCS 83.
>>
>> * Because SPCS 83 is presently published by NGS
>> only in meters, many surveyors, mappers, engineers,
>> and LIS users are converting these metric values to
>> feet.
>> [...]
>> there have been instances where the conversions
>> were done using the wrong conversion factor
>> or the computation was otherwise done incorrectly.
>>
>> More background for those interested:
>>
>> The "Foot-to-Meter" Conversion
>>
>> *
>> <http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Metrics/ftmtr2.htm>
>>
>> [USA] State Plane Coordinate System of 1983
>>
>> *
>> <http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/PUBS_LIB/ManualNOSNGS5.pdf>
>>
>>
>
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