Yard

For other uses, see Yard (disambiguation).

Yard
Two yardsticks, used for measuring "yard goods"
General information
Unit systemimperial/US units
Unit ofLength
Symbolyd
Conversions
1 yd in ...... is equal to ...
   Imperial/US units   3 ft
   36 in
   Metric (SI) units   0.9144 m
The informal public imperial measurement standards erected at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London, in the 19th century: 1 British yard, 2 feet, 1 foot, 6 inches, and 3 inches. The inexact monument was designed to permit rods of the correct measure to fit snugly into its pins at an ambient temperature of 62 °F (16.66 °C).[1][2]
Bronze Yard No.11, the official standard of length for the United States between 1855 and 1892, when the Treasury Department formally adopted a metric standard. Bronze Yard No.11 was forged to be an exact copy of the British Imperial Standard Yard held by Parliament. Both are line standards: the yard was defined by the distance at 62°F between two fine lines drawn on gold plugs (closeup, top) installed in recesses near each end of the bar.

The yard (symbol: yd)[3][4] is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9144 meter. A distance of 1,760 yards is equal to 1 mile.

The US survey yard is very slightly longer.

  1. ^ Bennett (2004), p. 8.
  2. ^ Ewart (1862), pp. 112–113.
  3. ^ "Recommended Unit Symbols, SI Prefixes, and Abbreviations" (PDF). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  4. ^ BS350:Part 1:1974 Conversion factors and tables Part 1. Basis of tables. Conversion factors. British Standards Institution. 1974. pp. 5, 100.