Units of Length
Description
Examples
Length is a base dimension in the International System of Units. The SI unit of length is the meter, defined as the length of the path traveled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1299792458 second (17th CGPM, 1983).
Maple knows the units of length listed in the following table.
Name
Symbols
Context
Alternate Spellings
Prefixes
meter
m
SI *
meters, metre, metres
SI
bohr
a0
Atomic *
bohrs
mil
standard *
mils
US_survey
line
lines
barleycorn
barleycorns
digit
digits
inch
`in`
inches
nail
nails
palm
palms
hand
hands
finger
fingers
span
spans
foot
ft
feet
cubit
cubits
step
steps
yard
yd
yards
ell
ells
pace
paces
fathom
fathoms
rod
rods
pole
poles
perch
perches
furlong
furlongs
mile
mi
miles
league
leagues
link
Gunter *
links
Gunter_US_survey
Ramsden
Ramsden_US_survey
chain
chains
UK_nautical *
cable
US_nautical *
cables
UK_nautical
nautical *
point
printer *
points
computer
TeX
pica
picas
astronomical_unit
AU, UA
astronomical_units
parsec
pc
parsecs
light_year
ly
Julian *
light_years
tropical
hubble
hubbles
spat
spats
angstrom
Ao
angstroms
fermi
fermis
micron
microns
bicron
bicrons
x_unit
copper *
x_units
molybdenum *
microinch
microinches
calibre
calibres, caliber, calibers
marathon
marathons
quadrant
quadrants
electrical
arpent
PQ_area
PQ_length
handbreadth
Sacred *
handbreadths
Talmudic
nautical_mile
nautical_miles
planck_length
planck *
planck_lengths
An asterisk ( * ) indicates the default context, an at sign (@) indicates an abbreviation, and under the prefixes column, SI indicates that the unit takes all SI prefixes, IEC indicates that the unit takes IEC prefixes, and SI+ and SI- indicate that the unit takes only positive and negative SI prefixes, respectively. Refer to a unit in the Units package by indexing the name or symbol with the context, for example, meter[SI] or ft[standard]; or, if the context is indicated as the default, by using only the unit name or symbol, for example, meter or ft.
The units of length are defined as follows.
A bohr is defined as 5.291772573×10−11 meter.
For each of the following units, there is defined both a standard and US survey unit, each being the appropriate inch.
A standard inch is defined as 2.54 centimeters.
A US survey inch is defined such that a meter is 39.37 US survey inches.
A mil is defined as 11000 inch.
A line is defined as 112 inch.
A barleycorn is defined as 13 inch.
A digit is defined as 0.75 inch.
A nail is defined as 2.25 inches.
A palm is defined as 3 inches.
A hand is defined as 4 inches.
A finger is defined as 4.5 inches.
A span is defined as 9 inches.
A foot is defined as 12 inches.
A cubit is defined as 1.5 feet.
A step is defined as 2.5 feet.
A yard is defined as 3 feet.
An ell is defined as 3.75 feet.
A pace is defined as 5 feet.
A fathom is defined as 6 feet.
The rod, pole, and perch are defined as 16.5 feet.
A furlong is defined as 660 feet.
A mile is defined as 5280 feet.
A league is defined as 3 miles.
A Gunter chain is defined as 66 feet.
A Gunter link is defined as 1100 Gunter chain.
A Ramsden chain is defined as 100 feet.
A Ramsden link is defined as 1100 Ramsden chain, or 1 foot.
For the following units, the context of the inch, foot, and mile is standard.
A UK nautical chain is defined as 15 feet.
A US nautical cable is defined as 720 feet.
A UK nautical cable is defined as 110 nautical mile.
A nautical mile is defined as 1852 metres.
A nautical league is defined as 3 nautical miles.
A printer's point is defined as 0.013837 inch.
A computer point is defined as 172 inch.
A TeX point is defined such that there are 72.27 points in an inch.
A pica is defined as 12 points of the corresponding context.
An astronomical unit is defined as 149597870691 meters.
A parsec is defined as a parallax second based on the astronomical unit.
A Julian or tropical light year is defined as the distance light travels in 1 Julian or tropical year.
A Julian or tropical hubble is defined as 1.×109 Julian or tropical light years.
A spat is defined as 1.×1012 meters, or 1 terameter.
An angstrom is defined as 1.×10−10 meters, or 100 picometers.
A fermi is defined as 1.×10−15 meters, or 1 femtometer.
A micron is another term for a micrometer.
A bicron is another term for a picometer.
The copper and molybdenum x-units are approximately 1.00207789×10−13 and 1.00209938×10−13 meters, respectively.
A microinch is defined as 1.×10−6 inch.
A calibre is defined as 1100 inch.
A marathon is defined as 26 miles and 385 yards.
A quadrant is defined as 1.×107 meters.
A electrical quadrant is defined as 1.×10−11 meter.
A planck length is defined as the square root of: the planck constant times the Newtonian gravitational constant, divided by twice π times the third power of the speed of light.
convert⁡meter,dimensions
length
convert⁡1,units,feet,meters
3811250
convert⁡5.2,units,light_years,meters
4.919579846×1016
See Also
convert/dimensions
convert/units
Units
Units/Index
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