Foot (unit)

The foot is a unit of length, based on the human foot, already used by ancient civilizations.

To measure length, the meter is used almost everywhere in the world, except in English-speaking countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The Roman foot, or pes, was equivalent, on average, to 29.57 cm; the Carolingian foot, formerly known as the drusian or drusic foot —pes drusianus—, was equivalent to nine eighths of the Roman foot, that is, approximately 33.26 cm; and the Castilian foot was equivalent to 27.8635 cm.

Today, the foot has been replaced almost everywhere in the world by the units of the International System (SI), except in current use in some English-speaking countries, where it is equal to 30.48 cm. Even now it is the unit of measure used in aeronautics to refer to altitude.

History

The first historical reference to a standard "foot" measurement relates to the Sumerian civilization, thanks to a definition of the measurement found on a statue of Gudea of Lagash. According to the most popular belief, it originated after a break in a strenuous day of work. The person in charge of measuring the stone blocks was not able to sit up and decided that it would be much more comfortable, to measure the blocks from the ground, using his feet from his position.^{[citation needed]}

However, archaeologists think that the Egyptians and Mesopotamians favored the elbow, while the Greeks and Romans preferred the foot. Originally both the Greeks and the Romans divided the foot into 12 inches, but in later years, the Romans also divided it into 12 unciae (from which the Spanish word "onza" and the English inch, 'pulgada', and ounce, 'onza'). The Greek foot (ποὐς pous) varied from city to city, ranging from 27 to 35 cm, but lengths used for temple construction appear to have been around 295 or 325 mm, the former being close to the size of the Roman foot. The Doric foot, used in the Doric order, ranged from 325 to 328 mm. The normal Roman foot (pes) measured 295.7 mm, but in the provinces the pes Drusianus (foot of Nero Claudius Drusus) was used with a length of approximately 334 mm (actually, this foot is previously stated to Drusus).

After the fall of the Roman Empire, some traditional Roman measurements continued to be used, but others fell out of use. In the year 790, Charlemagne tried to reform the units of measurement in his domain. Their units of length were based on the toise (in French toise) and, in particular, the toise de l'Ecritoire, the distance between the tips of the fingers. of the outstretched arms of a man. The toise has 6 pied ('foot') of 326.6 mm.

However, he was unsuccessful in introducing a standardized unit of length throughout the realm. During the 9th century a 296.1mm Roman foot was used, and in the X, a foot of about 320mm. At the same time, monastic buildings used the Carolingian foot of 340 mm.

English system

Nomenclature in English

• 1 foot (singular); abbreviation: ft
• 3 feet (plural)
• 3 ft (abbreviated)
• 3 ♫ (first)

Equivalences

• 0,33333333333333 yards
• 12 inches
• 0.000189 miles
• 30,48 cm

The International Yard and Pound Agreement of July 1959 defined the international yard length in the United States and Commonwealth countries as exactly 0.9144 meters. Consequently, the international foot is defined exactly equal to 0.3048 meters. This was 2 ppm shorter than the previous US definition and 1.7 ppm longer than the previous British definition.

The 1959 agreement concluded a series of step-by-step events, triggered in particular by the British Standards Institution's adoption of a scientific standard inch of 25.4 millimeters in 1930.

Currently, the foot is used only as a popular unit of measurement in the English-speaking United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and is still used in aeronautics (even outside these territories) to express the altitude of airplanes and other vehicles aerial. The adoption by these countries of the International System (SI) a few years ago will make this unit fall into disuse, even in these countries.

It was usual to use it for lengths of up to about three meters; for longer lengths, the yard or mile is usually used. The exception is aircraft altitude, which is still expressed in hundreds of feet in almost all countries today.

Surveyor Foot

For the delimitation of lands and coasts, the Public Land Survey System (of the United States) uses a variety called survey foot, whose length is equivalent to 30.4800609601219 centimeters.

Wooden foot

In the wood industry, the wooden foot is usually used, in this case it is a unit of volume. Its value is that which corresponds to a square piece of one foot on each side and one inch thick. One lumber foot is equal to 2359.737216 cm³ (30.48 cm × 30.48 cm × 2.54 cm). One cubic meter is equal to 423.7 lumber feet.

Foot in Spain

Foot of Burgos

The Catholic priest Bernardo Lamy, in his Apparatus (1696), describes the foot of the Castilian province of Burgos as a length of 1 8.5/11 ancient Roman cubits.

Your measurement would be approximately 27.83 cm; three feet from Burgos was equivalent to a Castilian vara from Burgos, which measured 835 mm.

Spanish square foot

Square area of one Castilian foot on a side, equivalent to 0.077637 m².