(OT) definition of an 'inch' (was: Re: [Calc] Feature request: Change default cell width from 2,27cm to 2,50cm)

[Mike Scott <mi...@scottsonline.org.uk>]

On 03/06/12 07:12, Niall Martin wrote:
> The problem with that comment is what standard other countries are using.  The yard was
> an imperial unit, based on a bit of metal kept in London, and until say Canada and India went
> metric, their units were based on that.  But in the 80s it was discovered that the length of the
> bit of metal kept in London, the Imperial yard, had been drifting down over time, and the
> legislation was based on an estimate of what that length once had been. I suppose the USA,
> as usual a law unto itself, has done something else, or ignored the problem, but if it has, its
> measurements will still be based on the Imperial yard.  (I do know that their volume
> measures are different from the Imperial units, but that is not at issue here.  Though, does
> anybody know of another country still using the pound/foot measurement system?)

from wikipedia:

"From July 1, 1959, the United States and countries of the British 
Commonwealth defined the length of the international yard to be exactly 
0.9144 metres.[5][6] Consequently, the international inch is defined as 
exactly 25.4 millimetres. This creates a slight difference between the 
international units and American surveyor's units which are described in 
the article on the foot."


-- 
Mike Scott
Harlow, Essex, England

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: ooo-users-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: ooo-users-help@incubator.apache.org