What is a nautical mile and what is the sea knot? Why nautical miles are different from statute miles 60,000 miles to kilometers

The British metric system causes a lot of inconvenience to those who are used to simple and understandable kilograms, meters and liters. How a mile is determined in km and why the old measure turned out to be so tenacious is described in this article.

historical measures

From the distant past came to us inches and miles, pounds and yards, bushels and pints. All these units of measurement were directly related to man. Without a standard system of weights and measures at hand, people used what was nearby. And what could be closer than your own hands and feet? This is how the first anthropometric measures related to the size of human body parts appeared. For example, an inch was the length of the phalanx of the index finger. A foot is the size of a grown man's foot, and so on. But what is 1 mile? How many kilometers is it?

What are miles

This well-known measure of length came to us from ancient times. Due to its antiquity, it has many interpretations. When answering the question “1 mile - how many kilometers?”, It is imperative to clarify which unit of measurement the interlocutor has in mind. The Egyptian mile is 580 meters, while the longest, the Norwegian mile, is almost 11 kilometers.

Until the middle of the 18th century, in Europe alone, there were about 46 different miles, which measured completely different distances.

Why is that?

Such a discrepancy in this standard measure of length is easily explained. The word "mile" has Latin roots. This standard measure of length was measured by one thousand steps of ancient Roman legionnaires.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, a simple and convenient value began to be used throughout Europe. Yes, they just considered it differently. Many nations coordinated the mile with their national measures of length. For example, the Russian mile was equal to seven versts, the French equated it to their Gallic leagues, and the British measured a mile in furlongs. Proud Scots also used this measure of length, but it varied considerably in size in different regions of the Highlands and was somewhat longer than the English one.

Snap to geography

Later, with the advent of precise measuring instruments, they tried to standardize the wayward mile. Over the centuries, the study of the surrounding world has given scientists accurate knowledge about the structure of our planet. It turned out to be very convenient to draw the surface of the Earth with parallels and meridians and link the existing units of length to geographical measurements. One of the first in this series was 1 mile. How many kilometers did it cover in geographic units? Everything depended on the name.

Such a different mile

The practical Germans were the first to love this correspondence. From now on, the German mile (aka geographical) was equal to 1/15 degree of the equatorial parallel, which amounted to 7.420 km.

The French divided the land and nautical miles, but equated both values to a fraction of the earth's meridian. One land league occupies the 25th part of one meridian degree. In the standard system of measures and weights, one French mile is 4.44 km. A nautical mile is slightly longer. The French equated it to 1/20 of a meridian degree. Accordingly, its length will be longer - the French nautical mile is 5.55 km.

The Swedes were the easiest. Before the spread of the metric system, they used their own mile, which was equal to 10.6 km. After the approval of the international SI system, the Swedes only slightly shortened their mile and recognized it as equal to 10.0 km.

British (American) mile

By far the most common is the British mile, often referred to as the American mile. The default for international business documents is UK 1 mile. How many kilometers of airways are converted into miles for British and American passengers, only employees of international airlines know.

After all, according to tradition, the duration of air flights and bonuses for passengers are calculated in US miles. One such unit of length is 1.609 km and is a multiple of eight furlongs, 1760 yards and 5280 feet.

The mile as a unit for measuring long distances did not first appear in England or the USA (where it eventually took root). The word was invented by the ancient Romans, and it means only "thousand". That was how much a legionnaire in full combat dress had to go through in order to feel tired and have some rest.

History of the mile

At first, it was customary to indicate by miles all the long distances: both on land and at sea. But then, with the advent of the meter, it became not very convenient to use a mile as a unit of length: after all, it is not every day that you need to travel such distances on dry land, and in other cases, for example, to measure the length of objects, use a mile even less appropriate.

But the sailors of all countries and continents fell in love with the mile. If it is not surprising for the great maritime power - England - what would you say about the Portuguese navigator Magellan or the Turkish marshal Piri Reis? Nevertheless, the mile fell in love with them. Miles began to designate all distances on sea charts, to use when counting distances, using sextants. Later, derivatives of the nautical mile appeared. For example, the knot, the unit of speed for a ship, is one mile per hour. Interestingly, in English-speaking countries, the measurement of speed in miles per hour was practiced at the end of the 20th century, and in the USA and conservative Great Britain, some car brands still supply speed measuring devices where miles appear.

How many miles were there?

A lot of. In an era of not very intense connections between different regions, there were German, French, Norwegian and even Scottish miles. The longest was the French (otherwise - league), and on land it corresponded to 4444.4 m, and at sea - 5555.5 m. However, the longest mile comes from Norway: it was almost 11300 m.

In modern practice, the mile has firmly established itself in maritime affairs: there it is equal to 1852 m. Such a multiple number was chosen by navigators for a reason: this is exactly the length of the arc of 1/60 ° of the earth's meridian. Since sailors are not spoiled by land landmarks, it is easier to measure distances on the high seas precisely by astronomical parameters.

Some multinational automakers that sell their products both in Europe and overseas supply the speedometer scale with both "mile" and "metric" parts. Not very convenient, but original.

But in Russia, the mile did not take root. If it was used, it was only as an addition to the traditional verst. It turned out quite clumsily - one Russian mile corresponded to 7467 meters. Try to remember here...

Education

How many kilometers in a mile? This question 250-300 years ago would have baffled not only an experienced traveler, but also a scientist. What mile? And what is a kilometer?

The word "mile" comes from the Roman milia passum, which means a thousand steps. The Romans denoted the distance as a thousand double steps of a legionnaire. The need to measure the length, and not only of the road, but also of individual objects, has always been with people. The distance was tied to the flight of an arrow, and to a day's march, and even to pipes - that is, while walking, you smoke a certain number of pipes.

The names of measures of length associated with the name of body parts were especially popular. This, for example, is an elbow - 0.5 meters, a span - about 20 cm, a foot - about 30 cm. The latter is translated from English as "step, leg." Obviously, such a system is rather inconvenient. After all, the legs, and arms, and steps of all people are of different lengths.

By the end of the nineteenth century, there were over forty different miles in Europe for measuring distance on land. The answer to the question of how many kilometers is in a mile varied greatly even in neighboring countries.

The Roman mile, according to various sources, was 1483 or 1598 meters. Neighboring England and Scotland had different miles. The English one was shorter, there were 1609 meters in it, in the Scottish one - 1808 m. The German mile was much longer - 7420 meters. The situation was similar in Russia. Here, the mile was rarely used as a land measure of length, it was mainly used to solve metric problems. The Russian mile consisted of seven versts, and it had 7468 meters.

But all length records were beaten by miles of Scandinavian countries. The Swedish mile had a length of 10688 m, and the Norwegian mile could claim the title of the longest - it was 11298 m.

Naturally, this situation did not suit very many. And in 1875 in Paris, XVII countries signed the metric convention, which was later joined by other states. Meters, kilometers, kilograms came into use. Now all economically developed countries adhere to the decimal metric system. Now answer the question: "How many kilometers in 1 mile?" much easier, despite the fact that miles are out of use. The reverse problem is also easily solved. Suppose we read that the objects were separated by 1 mile. How many kilometers will the traveler have to walk? There is an exact answer. How many kilometers in a mile is now absolutely known. A land mile is 1.608 km and a nautical mile is 1.853 km.

With a nautical mile, everything was initially somewhat simpler. After all, in the sea you can not measure the distance with steps. To answer the question of how many kilometers in a mile, sailors had to rely on astronomical calculations. A nautical mile was conditionally equal to one minute of latitude, or 1853 meters, that is, if a ship sails one nautical mile along the meridian, its location will change by exactly one minute of geographical latitude.

True, there is a small catch. Our Earth is not exactly a sphere, it is flattened from the poles. And it turns out that at the equator the distance separating one minute of latitude from another is a little more. Therefore, there is another unit for measuring distance - the equatorial nautical mile. It is 1855 meters.

Comments

What is "mile"

In Latin, a mile is mille passuum, which is translated as 1,000 double steps of Roman soldiers in full dress on the march.

This unit was originally used to measure the path in ancient Rome. Before the introduction of the metric system, the mile was in use everywhere, and in countries with a non-metric system of measures, it is still preserved. The Egyptian mile is 0.58 km, the Old Norse mile is 11.3 km, and in total there were 46 units of measurement with this name in Europe.

A statutory or British (American) mile is equal to 1,609 meters, 5,280 feet, or 1,760 yards.

The range of mile values is huge: French land mile = 4,444.4 m, nautical mile = 1,852 m, geographic or German = 7,420 m, old Russian = 7,467.6 m, Swedish = 10 km, Scottish 1,809-1,814 m .

What is "kilometer"

A kilometer (km, km) is a multiple of a meter reference unit of distance measurement, widely used throughout the world.

In one kilometer there are 1,000 meters, 0.621 miles, 0.9374 versts, 1,094 yards, 3,281 feet, 1.057 x 10 - 13 light years, 6.67 x 10 - 9 astronomical units.

Quick answer: 1 mile is 1.609 km.

And did you know that kilometer distance is a distance measurement introduced in Ancient Rome?

In fact, even its Latin name unequivocally says: "mille chume" - a thousand double steps of Roman soldiers in full uniform.

Today, of course, the Roman length measurement does not apply. Although we are talking about a mile, this means the British or American mile, which is 1609 meters long in the metric system.

At the same time, there are many other miles that you also need to be aware of:

French Sea: 5555.5 m.

French House. Phone: 4444.4 m.

Old Russian miles: 7467.6 m.

Scottish mile: no longer applicable, in the 19th century its length may vary by region.

What is more kilometers or kilometers?

task:

Learn more about miles or miles?

solution:

In accordance with the international system of measures and the weight of 1 kilometer is 1.609 kilometers.

That's why it's more than a mile.

Answer:

A mile is more than a kilometer 1609 times.

Decision Theory:

Mathematics is the science that deals with the logic of form and quantity.

Physics is the science that deals with the structure of matter and the interactions between fundamental components.

Mechanics is the field of science that deals with the behavior of physical bodies.

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This page provides a detailed answer to the question of what is a few kilometers or kilometers away (kilometer or kilometer).

Back in the days of the ancient Romans, one land mile was equal to 1000 steps. Later, a specific figure was set - 1609 meters. The length of a nautical mile was 1852 meters. Where did this one come from?

A bit of history...

It was inconvenient for sailors to use statute miles to measure the speed of a ship. Especially, there were unjustified risks during emergency work. From the raging elements during the storm, the life of sailors was in great danger. Under such conditions, it was not possible to use land measurements.

Therefore, we found a more suitable option. They took a heavy log and threw it overboard. Then they counted how many knots will pass through the sailor's hands for a certain period of time before the rope is pulled.

Empirically determined the distance between the nodes and the time interval. There are different versions about the exact definition. One of them, when the distance between the nodes averaged 15 meters. It took 30 seconds in time.

It was practical and rational. The countdown was measured with an hourglass. All that remained was to count the knots and look at the sand. The task could be performed even by an illiterate sailor.

We summed up these studies and found out. The length from one knot to another to the tension of the rope is 15 meters, in time it takes 30 seconds. By simple arithmetic operations, the average speed of the ship was calculated. Thus, one nautical mile was 1852 meters in one hour.

Further developments

With the development of navigation, even greater convenience was introduced. One nautical mile became equal to one minute along the meridian. 1 degree equals 60 minutes. This will be 60 nautical miles. The nautical mile has become convenient for calculating navigation tasks.

Therefore, the navigators began to measure the distance with a compass. By attaching it to a degree scale, they recognized the distance in nautical miles. For example, to find out a distance of 30 miles, it is enough to measure 30 arc minutes with a compass on any meridian plotted on the map.

Now, of course, all equipment is computerized. There is no need to use outdated methods, but the nautical mile, as a unit of distance, has remained unchanged and amounted to 1852 meters. It is called navigational or geographic.

The knot is used in shipping as the basic unit of speed. Nautical miles and knots are the same clear and familiar measurements at sea as kilometers and meters on land.

The need to translate the speedometer readings, as a rule, arises among the owners of American cars, whose instruments have a scale in miles. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the metric system is used and speed limits are set in kilometers per hour.

1 mile = 1.609 kilometers

You can solve this simple mathematical problem with the help of our converter. To do this, you must enter the initial value in the corresponding field. At the same time, the translation is carried out both from mph to km / h, and vice versa.

Correspondence table

Current limit, km/h	Speedometer readings at which there is no excess, mph
40	25
60	37
90	56
110	68
130	81

It should be borne in mind that administrative responsibility under Art. 12.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses occurs when the speed is exceeded by 20 km / h, therefore the speedometer values \u200b\u200bspecified in the table have a “run-up” of about 10 miles.

Types of speedometers

Currently, there are several types of speedometers:

turnout;
electronic;
combined.

The speedometer scale with an arrow can be in kilometers, miles, or have double values, as in the picture:

In vehicles with an electronic speedometer, the dashboard settings often have the option to display kmh or mph. In some cases, the translation is carried out by connecting a special computer to the diagnostic connector of the vehicle or by firmware of the electronic unit.

Combined speedometers (with an arrow and an electronic scoreboard at the same time) can also have the ability to adjust the units of measurement. In this case, we recommend that you refer to the operating instructions for your car.