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Spicy_Cum_Lord t1_j61rv6s wrote

Reply to comment by gravi-tea in TIL to decide what measurement system America should use, John Quincy Adams took 3 1/2 years to produce a 268 page Report on Weights and Measures that ultimately concluded changing to the French metric system would be too difficult for the young nation. Congress took no action on the report. by iamveryDerp

How often do you need to know, off hand, how many feet are in an acre?

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MikemkPK t1_j61v5o2 wrote

When buying real estate. Houses are measured in square feet, the land they're on in acres.

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Spicy_Cum_Lord t1_j627hbw wrote

So you buy real estate without doing any cursory research?

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HeippodeiPeippo t1_j634rsw wrote

Asks for an example and then does... this.

A lot of things are measured in inches but need to be converted to yards and miles. For ex, how many bolts you need for a span. The idea that you don't need to ever convert is just stupid and shows that the person has never had to work measuring anything.

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MikemkPK t1_j627sry wrote

No, I'm giving a situation where converting in your head is useful. Say you see an ad for a 4000 sq ft house on 0.1 acre, being able to convert lets you know it's not worth the time to look at.

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PreciousRoi t1_j628dbf wrote

If you are a housebuyer and you cannot visualize what an acre looks like without doing math in your head...

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KA_Mechatronik t1_j62zdd4 wrote

I can't visualize what an acre looks like because I don't know how much land a yoke of oxen pulling a wooden plough can plough in a single day.

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PreciousRoi t1_j62zjm3 wrote

I mean, you can look at a few acre or half acre lots, which I'd assume a prospective homebuyer would, and have a pretty good idea of how big of a house you'd want to plop down on it.

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gravi-tea t1_j643dnx wrote

I agree it becomes pretty easy to visualize once you have an idea of what a half acre or acre looks like.

But when you want to actually do the math, for example figuring out how long the driveway will be if putting a 50x50 shed on a half acre plot. It's not as simple as it could be.

I recently relearned stuff like how wide a forty acre square plot of land is (1/4 mile). I have an 80 acre property that is 1/2 mile x 1/4 mile. Interesting to know.

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Spicy_Cum_Lord t1_j628cl8 wrote

That's only 300 sq feet of yard to mow. Which is likely a small apartment building in the middle of a city. Something you'd know by you know, looking at it.

I specifically said off hand. Knowledge you need when you don't have a globally connected super computer in your pocket.

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gravi-tea t1_j61uyrv wrote

Not too often. But recently was wondering how many miles across my 80 acres of land is.

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