Units of length

The system for measuring length in the United States' customary system is based on the inch, foot, yard, and mile. However, for each of these units there exist two slightly different definitions, yielding two different systems of measure - international measure, and U.S. survey measure. The relationships between the different units within each measure is the same, but each measure has a slightly different definition in terms of metric units. One inch international measure is exactly 25.4 millimeters, while one inch U.S. survey measure is defined so that 39.37 inches is exactly 1 meter. For most applications, the difference is insignificant (about 3 millimeter per mile). International measure is used for everyday use, engineering, and commerce in the United States, while survey measure is used only for surveying. International measure uses the same definition of the units involved as is used in the UK and other Commonwealth countries. U.S. survey measure uses an older definition of these units which the United States used prior to adopting international measure.

1 inch (in) = 25.4 mm 1 foot (ft) = 12 in = 30.48 cm 1 yard (yd) = 3 ft = 91.44 cm 1 mile (mi) = 5280 ft = 1760 yd = 1.609344 km 1 rod (unit) (rd) (also called pole or perch) = 16.5 ft = 5.0292 m 1 furlong (fur) = 40 rd = 660 ft = 201.168 m 1 mile (survey) = 8 fur = 5280 ft 1.609347 km

Sometimes, for surveying purposes, units known as Gunther's Chain Measure (or equivalently Surveyor's Chain Measure) are used. These units are defined by survey feet as follows:

1 link (li) = 7.92 in = 0.66 ft = 0.001 fur (approx. 201.168 mm) 1 chain (ch) (Gunter's) = 100 li = 66 ft (approx. 20.1168 m)

To measure depths at sea, fathoms are used:

1 fathom = 6 feet = 1.8288 m 1 cable length = 120 fathoms = 720 feet = 219.456 m (US Navy definition, there are others)

Units of area
The units of area in the U.S. customary system are mostly based on the units of length squared, e.g., square inch (sq in, 645.16 mm). Since the U.S. customary system has two differing definitions of the foot (international and survey), there are also two differing definitions for the square foot.

1 square foot (sq ft) = 144 sq in = 929.0304 cm 1 square rod (sq rd) = 272.25 sq ft = 25.29285264 m 1 acre = 10 sq ch = 1 fur 1 ch = 160 sq rd = 43,560 sq ft = 4046.8564224 m 1 square mile (sq mi) = 27,878,400 sq ft = 3,097,600 sq yd = 640 acres = 2.589988110336 km

The Public Land Survey System, used to divide land in most of the United States, uses the survey mile to divide land into regular square parcels, such "sections" and "townships." However, these terms aren't used for general area measurement, instead used to indicate particular parcels of land in a rectangular grid.

Units of capacity and volume

The cubic inch, cubic foot and cubic yard are commonly used for measuring volume. In addition, there is one group of units for measuring volumes of liquids, and one for measuring volumes of dry material. Other than the cubic foot, cubic inch and cubic yard, these units are differently sized from the units in the Imperial system, although the names of the units are similar. Also, while the U.S. has separate systems for measuring the volumes of liquids and dry material, the Imperial system has one set of units for both. Technically speaking, since these units are defined in terms of the inch, it would make a difference whether international or survey measure was used. However, in practice, the difference between the two definitions would be imperceptible, and in any case in defining volumes international measure is used.

Volume in general
1 cubic inch (in or cu in) = 16.387064 ml (or cm) 1 cubic foot (ft or cu ft) = 1728 cu in 28.317 L 1 cubic yard (yd or cu yd) = 27 cu ft 7.646 hL 1 acre-foot = 43,560 cu ft 325,851 gallons 12,334.818 m

Liquid volume
1 minim (min) = 1/480 fl oz 61.612 L 1 fluid dram (fl dr) = 1/8 fl oz = 60 min 3.697 mL 1 fluid ounce (fl oz) = 1/128 gal = 8 fl dr 29.574 mL 1 gill (gi) = 7.21875 cu in = 4 fl oz 118.294 mL 1 cup = 2 gi = 8 fl oz 236.588 mL 1 pint (pt) = 2 cups = 4 gi = 16 fl oz 473.176 mL 1 fifth = 25.6 fl oz 757.082 mL 1 quart (qt) = 2 pt = 32 fl oz 946.353 mL 1 gallon (gal) = 231 cu in = 4 qt = 128 fl oz = 3.785411784 L

The gill is basically a paper unit which is never actually used in the United States. Distilled liquor and wine were bottled in fifths until 1973; when the term "fifth" is used now it almost always means 750 mL.

Dry volume
1 pint (pt) 550.610 mL 1 quart (qt) = 2 pt 1.101 L 1 gallon (gal) = 4 qt = 268.8025 in = 4.404 842 803 2 L 1 peck (pk) = 8 qt = 2 gal 8.81 L 1 bushel (bu) = 2150.42 cu in = 4 pk 35.239 L

Units of mass
There have historically been four different English systems of mass: Tower weight, Troy weight, avoirdupois weight, and apothecaries weight. Tower weight fell out of use (due to legal prohibition) centuries ago, and was never used in the United States. Troy weight is still used to weigh precious metals. Apothecaries weight, once used in pharmacy, has been largely replaced by metric measurements. Avoirdupois weight is the primary system of mass in the U.S. customary system. The Avoirdupois units are legally defined as measures of mass, but the names of these units are sometimes applied to measures of force. For instance, in most contexts, the pound avoirdupois is used as a unit of mass, but in the realm of physics, the term "pound" can represent "pound-force" (a unit of force properly abbreviated as "lbf").

Troy weight, avoirdupois weight and apothecaries weight are all defined in terms of the same basic unit, the grain, which is the same in all three systems. However, while each system has some overlap in the names of their units of measure (all have ounces and pounds), the relationship between the grain and these other units within each system varies. For example, in apothecaries and troy weight, the pound and ounce are the same, but are different from the pound and ounce in avoirdupois, in terms of their relationships to grains and to each other. The systems also have different units between the grain and ounce (apothecaries has scruple and dram, troy has pennyweight, and avoirdupois has just dram). The dram was once known as thedrachm. To alleviate confusion, it is typical when publishing non-avoirdupois weights to mention the name of the system along with the unit. Precious metals, for example, are often weighed in "troy ounces", because just "ounce" would be more likely to be assumed to mean an ounce avoirdupois. The pound avoirdupois, which forms the basis of the U.S. customary system of mass, is defined as exactly 453.59237 grams. All the other units of mass are defined in terms of it. For the pound and smaller units, the U.S. customary system and the British Imperial system are identical. However, they differ when dealing with units larger than the pound. The definition of the pound avoirdupois in the British Imperial system is identical to that in the U.S. customary system.

Avoirdupois weight
1 grain (gr) = 64.79891 mg 1 dram (dr) = 27 11/32 gr = 1/16 oz 1.772 g 1 ounce (oz) = 16 dr = 437.5 gr 28.35 g 1 pound (lb) = 16 oz = 7000 gr = 453.59237 g 1 hundredweight (cwt) = 100 lb = 45.359 kg 1 ton (t) = 20 cwt = 2000 lb = 907.18474 kg 0.907 t

The ton and hundredweight above are referred to as the short ton, and the short hundredweight, to distinguish them from the British Imperial ton and hundredweight, which are larger and hence are referred to as the long ton and long hundredweight. The long ton has limited use in the United States.

1 long hundredweight = 112 lb 50.802 kg 1 long ton = 20 long cwt = 2240 lb 1016.047 kg 1.016 t

Apothecaries' weight
The grain has the same definition as for avoirdupois weight.

1 scruple (s ap) = 20 gr 1.296 g 1 dram apothecaries (dr ap) = 3 s ap 3.888 g 1 ounce apothecaries (oz ap) = 1 oz t = 8 dr ap = 480 gr 31.103 g 1 pound apothecaries (lb ap) = 1 lb t = 12 oz ap = 5760 gr 373.242 g

The pound and ounce apothecaries are identical to the pound and ounce troy.

Troy weight
The grain has the same definition as for Avoirdupois weight.

1 pennyweight (dwt) = 24 gr 1.555 g 1 ounce troy (oz t) = 20 dwt = 480 gr 31.103 g 1 pound troy (lb t) = 12 oz t = 5760 gr 373.242 g

Cooking measures
The most common cooking weights and measures in the U.S. are as follows:

1 teaspoon = 1/3 tbsp = 1/6 fl oz 5 mL 1 tablespoon (tbsp) = 1/2 fl oz = 4 fl dr 15 mL 1 cup = 8 fl oz 240 mL 1 stick (of butter) = 1/4 lb = 4 oz 115 g

Grain measures
These are derived from the volume measures and there have been more for other crops.

1 bushel (maize) = 56 lb 25.401 kg 1 bushel (wheat) = 60 lb 27.216 kg

Units of temperature
Traditionally, degrees Fahrenheit are used in the United States to measure temperatures.

Pure water freezes at 32 F and boils at 212 F at 1 atm. Water saturated with common salt freezes at -6.02 F.

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