** Reply to note from [EMAIL PROTECTED] on Sun, 26 Oct 2003 08:55:15 EST

> In a message dated 2003-10-26 01:29:45 Eastern Standard Time, 
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Dear Bill, Brij, and All,
> 
> My inclination, when I (rarely) do a back conversion to old measures, is not
> to use decimal fractions. Old measures developed and favored fractions other
> than decimals.
> 
> In the example shown here, I would suggest firstly that an acre is a furlong
> (220 yards) long by 4 rods wide (22 yards); this gives an area of 4840
> square yards.
> 
> If an area of 4840 square yards was in the shape of a square it would have
> sides of (approximately):
> 
> 69 yards 1 foot 8 and 67/128 inches
> An excellent practice; it makes FFU look even stranger and more confusing 
> than it already is.
> 
> cm

True but it is a bit of a furphy.  An acre is simply ten square chains and
there is no requirement that the total area be a square.  You can generate
irrational numbers in metric just as easily such as by drawing a square having
an area of 10 square metres.

--
Jon Saxton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Developer of cross-platform software for UNIX, Windows 
and OS/2
U.S. agent for Triton Technologies International Ltd
http://www.triton.vg/

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