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This content has been automatically translated from Ukrainian.
British Imperial System, or Imperial system, formed in Great Britain in the 18th century as an attempt to standardize numerous local units of length, weight and volume. In 1824, the Parliament of Great Britain passed the «Weights and Measures Act», which introduced official standards for all British colonies. The system became the main one in the countries of the British Empire, in particular in Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa.
Its main purpose was simple: to unify the measures for trade and the economy, but to preserve convenient and familiar units that the population already knew.
System structure
The British Imperial system is similar to the US custom system, but has some differences. Base units include:
Length
- Inch (inch) = 2.54 cm
- Foot (foot) = 12 inches ≈ 30.48 cm
- Yard (yard) = 3 feet ≈ 91.44 cm
- Mile (mile) = 1760 yards ≈ 1.609 km
Weight and mass
- Pound (pound) = 16 oz ≈ 453.6g
- Ounce (ounce) = 28.35 g
- Ton (Imperial ton) = 2240 lbs ≈ 1016 kg
Volume
- Gallon (Imperial gallon) = 4.546 L
- Quart (quart) = 1/4 gallon ≈ 1.136 L
- Pint (pint) = 1/8 gallon ≈ 568 ml
- Fl. ounce (fluid ounce) = 1/160 gallon ≈ 28.41 ml
Temperature
- The Fahrenheit scale is used in the US, and in the UK it is mostly Celsius for everyday use, but Fahrenheit is still found in historical contexts.
Origin of names and units
- Inch (inch) <TAG1> from Latin uncia («one twelfth»), thumb width first.
- Foot (foot) <TAG1> average length of human foot.
- Yard (yard) <TAG1> distance from nose to tip of extended monarch arm.
- Mile (mile) <TAG1> lat. mille passus, thousand steps.
- Gallon (gallon) <TAG1> medieval measure for beer and wine, which varied across regions.
- Pound (pound) i ounce (ounce) <TAG1> latin libra i uncia, units of weight of Roman times.
Thus, the system combines historical «human» units with official standards for trade and industry.
Where used today
Today, Great Britain is officially metric, but imperial units have survived in everyday life and culture:
- miles for road signs,
- beer pints,
- pounds for body weight,
- inches and feet for some types of construction.
Other former colonies of the British Empire — Canada, Australia, New Zealand — have completely switched to the metric system, but sometimes retain historical units in everyday life.
The British Imperial System — is part of the historical heritage that influenced the formation of the US custom system and the culture of measurement in many countries. It demonstrates how historical traditions and everyday needs shaped standards that have survived even in the modern world.
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