Foot (unit of length)
A foot is a unit of length, the original measure being the length of a man's foot. There are twelve inches in one foot and three feet in one yard.
The most commonly used foot today is the imperial foot, which is defined to be 0.3048 meters. This unit is sometimes denoted with an apostrophe (e.g. 30' means 30 feet). Similarly, inches can be denoted by a quotation mark, so 6'2" means 6 feet 2 inches.
The foot as a measure was used in almost all cultures. The first known standard foot measure was from Sumeria, where a definition is given in a statue of Gudea of Lagash from around 2575 BC.
The imperial foot was adapted from an Egyptian measure by the Greeks, with a subsequent larger foot being adopted by the Romans.
In addition to the current standard imperial foot, there is also a slightly different U.S. survey foot, used only by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, defined as exactly 12 U.S. survey inches, approximately 30.48006 cm. (See inch for more on the survey inch.)
See also
Referenced By
1 E00 m² | 1 E0 m2 | 1 E0 m² | 1 E1 m | 1 E2 m | 1 E3 m | 1 E 0 m² | 1 E 1 m | 1 E 2 m | 1 E 3 m | 1e0 m2 | 1e1 m | 1e2 m | 1e2 metres | 1e3 m | 1e3 metres | Aerial tramway | Amerigo Vespucci (ship) | Astronomical Unit | Astronomical Units | Benjamin Silliman | C14 dating | Cablecar | Cableway | Carbon dated | Carbon dating | Double-deck | Double-decker | Double-level | Double decker | Emley Moor | English language/Long words | Ffestiniog Railway | Flugtag | Foot (disambiguation) | Freedom Tower | Gorch Fock (1933) | Göppingen Gö 3 | Inch | Jack LaLanne | Jack La Lanne | Kilometer | Kilometre | Kilometres | Logology | Longest English word | Longest word in English | Longest word in the English language | Radiocarbon dating | Radiocarbon test | Ricky Jay | Roller coaster | South-Eastern Alps | Tall ship | Tattershall Castle | Telpherage | Tovarishch | U.S. customary unit | U.S. customary units | USCG Eagle | USCG barque Eagle | US customary units | Unit of length | Velvet Glove missile | Yard
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