Definition:Imperial/Length/Chain
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This page is about Chain in the context of Linear Measure. For other uses, see Chain.
Definition
The chain is an imperial unit of length.
| \(\ds \) | \(\) | \(\ds 1\) | chain | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 4\) | rods, poles or perches | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 22\) | yards | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 66\) | feet | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 792\) | inches | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 100\) | links | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 20 \cdotp 1168\) | metres |
Historical Note
The chain was invented by Edmund Gunter for the purpose of land surveying.
The original Gunter's chain was a physical chain, $66$ feet in length, of $100$ links.
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $11$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $11$