What is a statute mile?

[RideTheWind]

MMMMMMMMMM......BEEEER......

You can tell who the freightdog is here

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

You can tell who the freightdog is here

And I haven't hauled freight in 9 years!!!!

Just goes to show you can take the Dog out of the freighter, dress him up as an airline pilot, and he will still hump your leg and piddle on your shoe when given the chance!!!!!

 

[UnstableAviator]

My car gets 17 rods to the hogshead and thats the way I likes it. - Grandpa Simpson

 

[A Squared]

Amazing,


This happens every time somone asks about Nautical vs Statute miles; you get about 7 different answers, most of which are completely off base. Kudos to Tony C for actually looking up the correct answer before posting (why am I not surprised?) Once again, the correct answer is:

Statute mile = 5280 feet
Nautical Mile = 6076.12 feet.

Hugh mentions the difference between the US survey foot and the international foot. Never mind that the concept of an "international" foot is ludicrous when only one country on the planet uses the foot, the difference between the two units is very, very small.
A nautical mile is 6076.110549 "international" feet, and 6076.103333 US survey feet.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

you get about 7 different answers, most of which are completely off base.

Good morning A-squared. Nice to see you, too. Actually, I don't see any answers on here that are "completely off base". If I asked a student to define the difference between the two, and his/her response was 6000 feet vs 5280, that would be good enough for me let alone the student mixing up the difference between the pre-1954 defined international nautical mile and the post-1954 international nautical mile (which by the way, is 6076.11549 feet as opposed to the "way off base" number of 6076.110549 that you provide. you really ought to look this stuff up before you post. No kudos for you.)



I even looked it up for you...according to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:



"For many years the British set the nautical mile at 6080 feet (1853.18 meters), exactly 800 feet longer than a statute mile; this unit was called the Admiralty mile. Until 1954 the U.S. nautical mile was equal to 6080.20 feet (1853.24 meters). In 1929 an international conference in Monaco redefined the nautical mile to be exactly 1852 meters or 6076.11549 feet, a distance known as the international nautical mile."



By the way, in navy subhunting, we use 2000 yards (I looked it up, that's 6000 ft) as the NM distance for tracking and targeting weapons systems. Amazing that we could ever track a sub when we were so far "off-base".

Never mind that the concept of an "international" foot is ludicrous when only one country on the planet uses the foot, the difference between the two units is very, very small.

A nautical mile is 6076.110549 "international" feet, and 6076.103333 US survey feet.

Ludicrous to define something by its' definition? Ludicrous to provide the definition as defined in the country for which the question arises? Did you look up the word ludicrous before you used it?



Sorry the humor in my answer was lost on you. There are about 7 right answers to the question. If one does a little looking up, they'll find all 7 and more. 2000 yards, 6000 ft, 6076.11549, 6076.103333, 6080 and change...hey if they are all good enough to sink a sub, they're all good enough for me. Lighten up.

 

[A Squared]

Hugh,

Lighten up a bit yourself. My comments about the ludicrousness of the international foot were not directed at you. What you posted about the international foot was indeed correct. Rather my comment was directed more generally at the idea of there *being* an "international" foot, when no-one in the world except the US (and maybe burma) uses the foot as a unit of measure. It has the same absurdity as say, the Germans unilaterally declaring the pfennig as an international unit of currency. Sorry if it appeared that it was directed at you, that wasn't my intent.

Actually, your post was pretty good, right up to the last line.

>>>>The U.S. now uses the International Nautical Mile that is defined as 1852 meters. In feet, that's 5280 ft and a NM is 6080.27 ft.

Now, it may be close enough for blowing up subs, but 1852 meters is neither 5280 feet nor 6080.27 feet. The other "answers" may be interesting from a historical perspective or useful approximations in situations involving high explosives, but ultimately, there is only one correct answer. Your background involved blowing up subs, mine involved doing deformation studies on dams. Naturally this leads to a different perspective on units of measure and thier accuracy.

 

[Axel]

The circumference of the Earth can be divided evenly into NM. Each second of arc on a line of longitude or on the equator = 1 NM

 

[nitrogen]

Hey, quick!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I just saw the horse twitch his hoof!!!

Somebody start beating him again until we're absolutely sure he's dead.

 

[A Squared]

I think I just saw the horse twitch his hoof!!!

Somebody start beating him again until we're absolutely sure he's dead.

welllllll, if you insist......

The circumference of the Earth can be divided evenly into NM. Each second of arc on a line of longitude or on the equator = 1 NM

Actually, each *minute* of arc is one NM approximately

 

[91100 100 set]

Is that one minute at the equator assuming the earth is a perfect sphere, or the "oblate spheroid" that it really is?

 

[RogerMOSA]

daaaaaaamn.....

In 1893 the inch was defined as 100 / 3937 of a meter, or a little more than 2.54000508 cm. This is the old definition of the U.S. inch. The survey foot is 12 of these inches, or 1200 / 3937 of a meter. The length of an inch was changed to exactly 2.54 cm in 1959. It came to be known as the international inch. In 1988 the U.S. switched to all international units. The international foot is based on the international inch. The statute mile is based on the survey foot, and the international mile is based on the international foot. A nautical mile was defined as one minute of latitude. (Therefore 5400 nautical miles was equal to about 10 mega meters.) The U.S. now uses the International Nautical Mile that is defined as 1852 meters. In feet, that's 5280 ft and a NM is 6080.27 ft.

Check out the big brain on Hugh!......hahaha

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

So which is longer, a males 8 inches, or a females 8 inches?

 

[A Squared]

Is that one minute at the equator assuming the earth is a perfect sphere, or the "oblate spheroid" that it really is?

well, given that it is an approximation, it would be roughly true wheather you were considering a spherical earth or an oblate spheroid. The oblate spheroid is just an approximation also, albeit a more accurate approximation. The earth also is "pear shaped" in that the southern portion bulges slightly in comparison to the northern portion.

To address the question more directly, if you had an ellipsoid in which a minute of longitude was precisely one nautical mile at the equator, a minute of latitude would subtend slightly less than a nautical mile at the equator and slightly more than a mile at the poles.... but that is taking the one minute= one mile approximation way beyond it's useful application. On the WGS 84 ellipsoid (one of the more common earth approximations) one minute of longitude at the equator is 6087 feet, which is 11 feet longer than the nautical mile. Like I said it's an approximation, an useful one but an approximation nonetheless.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

Hugh,

Lighten up a bit yourself.

Wilco.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

Check out the big brain on Hugh!......hahaha

You know what they call a 1/4 pounder with cheese in France?

 

[100LL... Again!]

I do all my groundspeed calculations in furlongs per fortnight.

 

[TonyC]

You know what they call a 1/4 pounder with cheese in France?

An appetizer?





.

 

[ClarenceOveur76]

It's easier to say than "nautical miles per hour"... Rolls off the tongue better.

 

[RogerMOSA]

You know what they call a 1/4 pounder with cheese in France?

.....royale with cheese.....

 

[Loafman]

The circumference of the Earth can be divided evenly into NM. Each second of arc on a line of longitude or on the equator = 1 NM

I believe it's a minute of longitude at the equator, or a minute of latitude, as the length of a minute of longitude gets smaller toward the poles, as latitude remains constant.