Английская Википедия:Comparison of the imperial and US customary measurement systems

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Файл:MetricImperialUSCustomaryUnits.jpg
A baby bottle with measurements in metric, imperial and US customary
Файл:GasCan.jpg
A one-US-gallon petrol can purchased near the US–Canada border showing equivalents in imperial gallons and litres

Both the British imperial measurement system and United States customary systems of measurement derive from earlier English unit systems used prior to 1824 that were the result of a combination of the local Anglo-Saxon units inherited from Germanic tribes and Roman units.

Having this shared heritage, the two systems are quite similar, but there are differences. The US customary system is based on English systems of the 18th century, while the imperial system was defined in 1824, almost a half-century after American independence.

Volume

Volume may be measured either in terms of units of cubic length or with specific volume units. The units of cubic length (the cubic inch, cubic foot, cubic mile, etc.) are the same in the imperial and US customary systems but differ in their specific units of volume (the bushel, gallon, fluid ounce, etc.). The US customary system has one set of units for fluids and another set for dry goods. The imperial system has only one set defined independently of, and subdivided differently from, its US counterparts.

By the end of the 18th century, various systems of volume measurement were in use throughout the British Empire. Wine was measured with units based on the wine gallon of 231 cubic inches (3.785 L), beer was measured with units based on an ale gallon of 282 cubic inches (4.621 L) and grain was measured with the Winchester measure with a gallon of approximately 268.8 cubic inches (one eighth of a Winchester bushel or 4.405 L). In 1824, these units were replaced with a single system based on the imperial gallon.Шаблон:Efn Originally defined as the volume of Шаблон:Convert of distilled water (under certain conditions),Шаблон:Efn then redefined by the Weights and Measures Act 1985 to be exactly Шаблон:Val (277.4 cu in), the imperial gallon is close in size to the old ale gallon.

The Winchester measure was made obsolete in the British Empire but remained in use in the US.Шаблон:Efn The Winchester bushel was replaced with an imperial bushel of eight imperial gallons. The subdivisions of the bushel were maintained. As with US dry measures, the imperial system divides the bushel into 4 pecks, 8 gallons, 32 quarts or 64 pints. Thus, all of these imperial measures are about 3% larger than are their US dry-measure counterparts.

Fluid measure is not as straightforward. The American colonists adopted a system based on the 231-cubic-inch wine gallon for all fluid purposes. This became the US fluid gallon. Both the imperial and US fluid gallon are divided into 4 quarts, 8 pints or 32 gills.Шаблон:Efn However, whereas the US gill is divided into four US fluid ounces, the imperial gill is divided into five imperial fluid ounces. So whilst the imperial gallon, quart, pint and gill are about 20% larger than are their US fluid measure counterparts, the fluid ounce is about 4% smaller.Шаблон:Efn One avoirdupois ounce of water has an approximate volume of one imperial fluid ounce at 62 °F (16.67 °C).Шаблон:Efn This convenient fluid-ounce-to-avoirdupois-ounce relation does not exist in the US system.

One noticeable comparison between the imperial system and the US system is between some Canadian and American beer bottles. Many Canadian brewers package beer in a 12-imperial-fluid-ounce bottles, which are 341 mL each. American brewers package their beer in 12-US-fluid-ounce bottles, which are 355 mL each. As a result, Canadian bottles are labelled as 11.5 fl oz in US units when imported into the United States. Because the standard size of Canadian beer bottles predates the adoption of the metric system in Canada, the bottles are still sold and labelled in Canada as 341 mL. Canned beer in Canada is sold and labelled in 355 mL cans, and when exported to the US, they are labelled as 12 fl oz.

Comparison of current imperial, US and metric volume measuresШаблон:Anchor
Notes:
  • Approximate values are denoted with ≈
  • Exact values are denoted with ≡
  • Definitions are marked in bold
Unit name Imperial measures US fluid measures US dry measures Metric measures

fluid ounces
Imperial fluid ounce
(fl oz)

Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

US fluid ounce
(customary)
(fl oz)

Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

US fluid ounce
(food nutrition labelling)
(fl oz) (food)

Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val


pints
Imperial pint
(pt)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

US liquid pint
(pt)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

US dry pint
(pt)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

1 US dry pt
≡ 0.5 US dry qt
≡ 0.125 US dry gal

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val


quarts
Imperial quart
(qt)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

US liquid quart
(qt)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

US dry quart
(qt)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

1 US dry qt
≡ 2 US dry pt
≡ 0.25 US dry gal

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val


gallons
Imperial gallon
(gal)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

US liquid gallon
(gal)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
231 cu in

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

US dry gallon
(gal)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

4 US dry qt
1 US dry gal
268.8025 cu in

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val


metric
litre
(l or L or dm3)

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val (food)
Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Шаблон:Val
Шаблон:Val

Length

The international yard is defined as exactly 0.9144 metres. This definition was approved by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand through the international yard and pound agreement of 1959, and corresponds with the previous 1930s British and American definitions of 1 inch being 25.4 mm. In all systems, a yard is 36 inches.

The US survey foot and survey mile were maintained as separate units for surveying purposes to avoid the accumulation of error that would follow replacing them with the international versions, particularly with State Plane Coordinate Systems. The choice of unit for surveying purposes is based on the unit used when the overall framework or geodetic datum for the region was established; for example, much of the former British empire still uses the Clarke footШаблон:Explain for surveying.

The US survey foot is defined so that 1 metre is exactly 39.37 inches, making the international foot of 0.3048 metres exactly two parts per million shorter. This is a difference of just over 3.2 mm, or a little more than one-eighth of an inch per mile. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the survey foot is obsolete as of 1 January 2023, and its use discouraged. [1]

The main units of length (inch, foot, yard and international mile) were the same in the US, though the US rarely uses some of the intermediate units today, such as the (surveyor's) chain (22 yards) and the furlong (220 yards).

At one time, the definition of the nautical mile was based on the surface area of the Clarke ellipsoidШаблон:Explain. While the US used the full value of 1853.256 metres, in the British Commonwealth, this was rounded to 6080 feet (1853.184 m). These have been replaced by the international version (which rounds the 60th part of the 45° to the nearest metre) of 1852 metres.

Weight and mass

Файл:English mass units graph.svg
Relation of English mass weights to one another

Traditionally, both Britain and the US used three different weight systems: troy weight for precious metals, apothecaries' weight for medicines and avoirdupois weight for almost all other purposes. However, apothecaries' weight has now been superseded by the metric system.

One important difference is the widespread use in Britain of the stone of 14 pounds (Шаблон:Val) for body weight; this unit is not used in the United States, although flour was sold by a barrel of 196 pounds (14 stone) until World War II.

Another difference arose when Britain abolished the troy pound (Шаблон:Val) on 1 January 1879, leaving only the troy ounce (Шаблон:Val) and its decimal subdivisions, whereas the troy pound (of 12 troy ounces) and pennyweight are still legal in the United States, although they are no longer widely used.

In all of these systems, the fundamental unit is the pound (lb), and all other units are defined as fractions or multiples of a pound. The tables of imperial troy mass and apothecaries' mass are the same as the corresponding United States tables, except for the British spelling "drachm" in the table of apothecaries' mass. The table of imperial avoirdupois mass is the same as the United States table up to one pound, but above that point, the tables differ.

The imperial system has a hundredweight, defined as eight stone of 14 lb each, or 112 lb (Шаблон:Val), whereas a US hundredweight is 100 lb (Шаблон:Val). In both systems, 20 hundredweights make a ton. In the US, the terms long ton (Шаблон:Val, Шаблон:Val) and short ton (Шаблон:Val; Шаблон:Val) are used. The metric ton is the name used for the tonne (Шаблон:Val, Шаблон:Val), which is about 1.6% less than the long ton.

The US customary system also includes the kip, equivalent to 1,000 pounds of force, which is also occasionally used as a unit of weight of 1,000 pounds (usually in engineering contexts).

See also

Notes

Шаблон:Notelist

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Шаблон:Imperial units Шаблон:United States Customary Units Шаблон:Systems of measurement