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Length/Distance | Convert from chain [Gunter, survey] to vara [South America] |
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Common Length Conversions Metric Length Conversions Unit Definition (chain [Gunter, survey]) The chain is a unit of distance formerly used by surveyors. The traditional British surveyor's chain, also called Gunter's chain because it was introduced by the English mathematician Edmund Gunter (1581-1626) in 1620, is 4 rods long: that's equal to exactly 1/80 mile, 1/10 furlong, 22 yards, or 66 feet (20.1168 meters). The traditional length of a cricket pitch is 1 chain. Gunter's chain has the useful property that an acre is exactly 10 square chains. The chain was divided into 100 links. American surveyors sometimes used a longer chain of 100 feet, known as the engineer's chain or Ramsden's chain. (However, Gunter's chain is also used in the U.S.; in fact, it is an important unit in the Public Lands Survey System.) In Texas, the vara chain of 2 varas (55.556 ft) was used in surveying Spanish land grants. In the metric world, surveyors often use a chain of 20 meters (65.617 ft). Unit Definition (vara [South America]) Vara is an old Spanish and Portuguese unit of length. Varas are a surveying unit that appears in many deeds in the southern United States, and varas were also used in many parts of Latin America. It varied in size at various times and places; the Spanish unit was set at about 835.9 mm in 1801. At some time value of 33 in (838 mm) was adopted in California, and 33 1/3 inches (847 mm) in Texas.
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