Standard to Metric  Tables
 
Imperial - UK - US system

With modern man now using the metric system there is sometimes a need to remember what the old units of measurement were, the common and not so common.
The UK table should really be the English table as some very old measurements were slightly different in Scotland, Ireland or Wales.
The metric conversions shown are approximate, see the main tables for accurate factors.

Imperial - UK Units of Length

1 inch ( in. or " )  =    about the width of a thumb = 25.4 mm
12 inches ( ins.)  =  1 foot about the length of a size 10 shoe = 305 mm
3 feet ( ft. )  =  1 yard about from nose to stretched finger = 0.91 m
1760 yards (yds)  =  1 mile ( m ) about 15 minutes walking = 1.61 km
  Less common units
25 links  =  1 rod for measuring land = 5m
4 rod or perch  =  1 chain ( ch ) surveying; length of a cricket pitch = 20m
10 chains  =  1 furlong ( fg ) length of a furrow; horse racing = 200m
8 furlongs  =  1 mile ( m ) = 1610m

Imperial - UK units of Area

144 square inch (sq.in)  =  1 sq.foot about a paper napkin = 0.093 m2
9 square feet ( sq.ft)  =  1 sq.yard about the size of a card table = 0.84 m2
4840 sq.yards (sq.yds)  =  1 acre about a football pitch = 4047 m2
  Less common units
30 1/4 sq.yds  =  1 pole (P) also called a square pole = 25.3 m2
40 poles  =  1 rood (R) = 1012 m2
4 roods  =  1 acre   = 0.4 hectare

Imperial - UK units of Mass or Weight

16 drams ( dr )  =  1 ounce a tablespoon of sugar = 28 grams
16 ounces ( ozs.)  =  1 pound a bag of sugar = 0.45 kg
14 pounds ( lbs)  =  1 stone used in body weight = 6.35 kg
2 stone  =  1 quarter less common unit = 12.7 kg
4 quarters  =  1 hundredweight = 112 lb; bag of cement. = 50.8 kg
20 hundredweight (cwt)  =  1 ton = 2240 lb.; about 14 men = 1.016 tonne

Imperial - UK units of Capacity

5 fluid ounces  = 1 gill = 142 ml
20 fluid ounces  =  1 pint an english beer = 568 ml
2 pints( pts.)  =  1 quart a german beer = 1.1 L
4 quarts ( qrt )  =  1 gallon a large can of paint, maybe = 4.546 L
      less common units  
2 gallons ( gals )  =  1 peck 'pick a peck of pickled pepper' = 9.1 L
4 pecks  =  1 bushel = 8 gals; bulk food measure = 36.4 L
Note:- In USA 16 fluid ounces = 1 pint = 0.473 litre and US gallon = 3.785 litre

Imperial - UK units of Volume

1728 cubic inches  = 1 cu.foot cu.in to cu.ft = 0.028 m3
27 cubic feet  =  1 cu.yard cu.yd. = 0.76 m3

Imperial - UK units, coins and notes of Old Money, pre Feb 1971

2 farthings  =  1 halfpenny pronounced 'hapepenny' = 0.208p
4 farthings  =  1 penny ( d ) Latin - denarius = 0.417p
3 pennies  =  1 threepenny bit used to be 'silver', then bronze = 1.25p
6 pennies  =  1 sixpenny piece first coin in nickel = 2.5p
12 pennies  =  1 shilling ( s ) a bob as in 'bob a job' = 5p
2 shillings  =  1 florin a tenth of a pound = metric! = 10p
2s - 6d; 2/6d  =  1 half crown biggest coin in regular use = 12.5p
10 shillings  =  1 ten 'bob' note first in paper money = 50p
20 shillings  =  1 pound note (quid) also £5 and £10 notes = £1
         
      less common units  
5 shillings  =  1 crown = 25p
21 shillings  =  1 guinea to buy horses = £1.05
4 pennies  =  1 groat 13th centuary coin = 1.7p
£ s d or L s d is a term for pounds, shillings and pence

Imperial - UK - US and current metric units of Time

60 seconds ( secs, " )  =  1 minute There are proposals for decimalised time with a day devided into 10, 100, 1000, etc.
60 minutes ( mins, ' )  =  1 hour
24 hours ( hrs )  =  1 day
7 days ( d )  =  1 week ( wk )
28, 29, 30 or 31 days  =  1 month
12 months ( m )  =  1 year
10 years ( y )  =  1 decade
1000 years  =  1 millenium

For metric conversions go to a unit starting with -
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w y

last modified : 31st. July 2010


© 1998 - 2016 roger walker
Related pages
" Home page
" Info on SI Units
" SI Unit Descriptions
" SI Derived Units
" SI Prefixes (mega, giga)
" Imperial/UK Units
" Scientific Notation
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Detail pages
" Feet to metres calculator
" Metres to feet calculator
"
British Thermal Units Btu
" Density of bulk materials
" Density of liquids
" Specific Gravity of water
" Density of metals
" Density of woods
" Kitchen metric
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" Time
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" Paper & Envelopes
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" Nett to Gross price
" Add on Commission
" Sheet metal swg - mm
" Wire & rod swg - awg
" Electrical wire swg - awg
" Steam tables (4 pages)
" Watts, amps, volts, ohms
" M Threads & spanners
" Self tapping screws
" M tap & pilot drill sizes
Other useful sections

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