What is the Imperial System?
The Imperial system, sometimes referred to as the English system of units is an old system of measurements that was used throughout human history, with evidence of its use in ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the Middle ages, and more. It is currently used only in the United States, United Kingdom, and a couple of other countries, and even there it is defined by using the meter as a de facto base unit. Historically the definitions of the imperial units varied with time and place, but were set relative to the standard meter by a 1959 international treaty.
When is unit conversion needed?
Since both systems coexist in the modern world, unit conversion is often needed when dealing with goods purchased from parts of the world using the other system. An imperial to metric converter can be helpful in such situations.
What is imperial unit?
Imperial units or the imperial system (also known as British Imperial) was first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824. Used across the British Empire, imperial measurements touched almost all of the globe. So, a universal measurement unit, that's great right? Erm... not exactly. The challenge with the imperial system lays with its use of 12 as the common denominator. Although familiarity breeds confidence in a system, the actual mathematics involved in calculating divisions of 12 becomes complex as the number grows larger or enters into decimal or negative numbers. The same applies with fractions and decimal numbers.
Is the metric system easier to use than the imperial system?
Although our parents and grandparents may disagree, the Metric measurement system is much easier to use (practical and theoretical application) than imperial. The metric system has a common set of decimal-based prefixes (0, 10, 100, 100, 1000, 10,000 etc.) that make mathematical processing simple to complete, you can even use your fingers.
Is metric to imperial converter necessary?
Metric to Imperial converters remain an essential part of everyday life as we operate (in industry and on a personal level) in both imperial measurements and metric measurements, let's explore at why.
Why are imperial units used?
Some imperial units continue to be used in naval and air navigation for historical reasons (the nautical mile), while others have entered through innovation, for example screen/display sizes are usually listed in inches since historically they were designed in countries using the imperial system. From the units supported by our metric ...
Is the league a metric or imperial unit?
From the units supported by our metric to imperial converter, the league is the only one without an official definition, since it is not an official unit of length in any country.
When was the International System of Units developed?
The International System of Units, currently the most widely used system of measurement, was published in 1960. It has been adopted by all developed countries except for the United States, though as previously mentioned, it is used in science, as well as heavily in the military, even in the US.
What is the weight of a silver dirhem?
They used a coin called a silver dirhem as a basic measure of weight, which had a weight roughly equivalent to 45 fully grown grains of barley. Ten dirhems comprised a Wukryeh which was translated into Latin as an "uncia" – the origin of the word "ounce.".
What Units Are supported?
- This online imperial to metric unit converter supports conversions from inches (in), feet (ft), yards (yd), miles (mi), nautical miles (M), and leagues (lea) to nanometers (nm), micrometers (μm), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), decimeters (dm), meters (m), and kilometers (km). It uses the standards defines by the International System of Units a...
Imperial vs. Metric Units of Length
- The Imperial system, sometimes referred to as the English system of units is an old system of measurements that was used throughout human history, with evidence of its use in ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the Middle ages, and more. It is currently used only in the United States, United Kingdom, and a couple of other countries, and even there it is defined by using the meter …
How to Convert Imperial to Metric units?
- Our converter supports many different pairs of units, so we provide examples on how to perform unit conversions for only the most popular pairs.
Miles to Km Conversion Table
- Unit conversion tables like the above can be useful if for some reason you don't have access to an online converter.