What is a statute mile?

[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.