Conversion
Table:
|
1
mi = 1.609 km
2 = 3.219
3 = 4.828
4 = 6.437
5 = 8.047 |
10 mi = 16.093 km
50 = 80.467
100 = 160.934
500 = 804.672
1000 = 1609.344 |
Mile
to km Conversion
In modern times,
the international statute mi is by international agreement.
It is defined to be precisely 1,760 international yards (by definition,
0.9144 m each) and is therefore exactly 1,609.344 metres (1.609344 kilometres). A kilometre is 0.621371192 mi. It is used
in the United States and the United Kingdom as part of the U.S. customary
and Imperial systems of units, respectively. The components of the
International Statute Mi are the same as those of the English
Parliamentary Statute of 1592, that is 8 furlongs, 80 chains or 5,280
international feet.
The Statute Mi is the distance typically meant when the word
mile is used without other qualifying words (e.g. Nautical Mile, see
below). It was named "Statute" by the English parliament
in 1592 during the reign of Elizabeth I. Mi was defined the
as 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards or 63,360 inches.
Before the statute of the English parliament, there was confusion
on the length of the "mile". The Irish mile was 2240 yards
(6720 ft) and the Scottish mile was the length of the so-called Royal
Mile in Edinburgh, from the Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse,
and was 1976 yards (5928 ft). In England the Roman mile of 5,000 feet
was often used, a length not divisible without fractions into furlongs
or yards (5000 ft = 1666 2/3 yards). For other "miles" see
the list below. In the late 1500s, accurate ground mapping was becoming
commonly available, such as Saxton's maps of the English Counties.
Therefore, a standard mile became more important than before, hence
the Parliamentary Statute. It may also have been related to the potential
for taxation, for which a standard measure across the country would
be required to prevent regional arguments about length and area.
All of the metric conversions (conversions to km / kilometres
) follow from the international agreement, made in 1960, that one
inch equals 25.4 millimetres (2.54 centimetres) exactly. There are
12 inches to a foot and all of the feet-to-metre conversions
(and vice versa) follow.
|