What is the last unit of measurement you learned, when and why?

[Birdjaguar]

I've always known an acre is a unit for measuring land. At 42, I am still uncertain how 'big' an acre actually is (be able to look at a property and say, "Oh, that looks to be about x acres").

Yeah, 42,000 sq ft isn't much help either. I only know what an acre looks like because I once owned 5 of them and now I own a third of one. When I owned 33 of them, it was to big a space to get the sense of one.

 

[metatron]

I've always known an acre is a unit for measuring land. At 42, I am still uncertain how 'big' an acre actually is (be able to look at a property and say, "Oh, that looks to be about x acres").

I ranted about this during the "child-labor-at-the-White-House" controversy.

An acre is 63 and change meters times 63 and change meters, which shakes out to about 0.4 hectar.
In funny units that's roughly 209 times 209 feet.

For comparison:
While there is some latitude in the regulations the size common by way of near-overwhelming convention for a soccer field is roughly 0.71 hectar.
The size of an American Football field is roughly 0.54 hectar (them things are way narrow).

Presumably most of us have derped around either of these things in phys ed in school (for athletics and whatnot), so there'd be intuitive knowledge of the size.

Not sure if any of this helps.

Edit:
I suppose an American Football field without the end zones is close enough.
That's 45300 square feet. An acre is 43560.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I ranted about this during the "child-labor-at-the-White-House" controversy.

An acre is 63 and change meters times 63 and change meters, which shakes out to about 0.4 hectar.
In funny units that's roughly 209 times 209 feet.

For comparison:
While there is some latitude in the regulations the size common by way of near-overwhelming convention for a soccer field is roughly 0.71 hectar.
The size of an American Football field is roughly 0.54 hectar (them things are way narrow).

Presumably most of us have derped around either of these things in phys ed in school (for athletics and whatnot), so there'd be intuitive knowledge of the size.

Not sure if any of this helps.

209 by 209 (or 63 by 63) is probably less helpful since finding an actually square one acre parcel is pretty unlikely. How about this; in suburbia your typical 7-11 or corner gas station/mini-mart is usually on a quarter acre parcel. Your typical supermarket with attached drugstore and little strip mall development, probably with a gas station out at the corner of the parking lot, is usually on a ten acre parcel.

 

[The_J]

No matter how tight they are packed, next is still next.

It didn't say "next", and it doesn't necessarily mean "next" either, could be the second .
(I'm pretty sure that can be)

 

[Timsup2nothin]

It didn't say "next", and it doesn't necessarily mean "next" either, could be the second .
(I'm pretty sure that can be)

My bad. Since I wasn't there I can only go by witness accounts.

Last thing which I "learned", and which was not from here, was probably the yard.

Because we were on the highway, and the navigation system was said to English. It told us to leave the highway at the next exit in 400 yards.
And I was like "WTF, that could be anywhere, someone please quickly google how much that is".

 

[Traitorfish]

I'm still working on fluid ounces. It's about 30 millimeters, right? Which seems like a weird way to measure anything except whisky.

 

[BenitoChavez]

I'm still working on fluid ounces. It's about 30 millimeters, right? Which seems like a weird way to measure anything except whisky.

8 FL in a cup
2 cups in a pint
2 pints in a quart
1 quart ~= 1 liter

It's simple see?

 

[The_J]

My bad. Since I wasn't there I can only go by witness accounts.

Maybe I was wrong about what I wrote .

 

[Timsup2nothin]

8 FL in a cup
2 cups in a pint
2 pints in a quart
1 quart ~= 1 liter

It's simple see?

None of those conversions is of any use, really, which is pretty much typical. If I'm putting oil in my car, I don't care about ounces. If I'm holding a shot glass I don't care what fraction of a quart it will hold, I just keep an eye on the bottle and hope not to hit bottom.

 

[Bootstoots]

Probably the debye, svedberg, barn, or rate of reaction (mol/L/s). My reading list is fuzzy on the order.

I had never heard of the svedberg before. So now I've got a new last unit of measurement!

Before that, probably the old-timey radiation ones: the gray and the roentgen.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Maybe I was wrong about what I wrote .

S'okay. You're a good sport.

 

[Traitorfish]

8 FL in a cup
2 cups in a pint
2 pints in a quart
1 quart ~= 1 liter

It's simple see?

16 floz is 473ml. A pint is 568 ml. There's over three floz unaccounted for.

In the metric system, you would get 500ml, but you would get the full 500ml. Therefore, metric system = free beer.

 

[onejayhawk]

For scholastic purposes, the gauss, webber or telsa. It's hard to say which. All are related to magnetic fields. Of a more archaic variety--rods, chains and cables. All are mile fractions used in calculating real estate acreage.

J