Imperial units

system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, which was later refined and reduced From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Imperial units or the Imperial system is a collection of measurement units. An Act of Parliament in 1824 created it from traditional English units. The United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries (which were once part of the British Empire as British colonies) used this system from 1824 until they changed to the metric system in the second part of the 20th century. The Imperial system is very similar to the American system but there are some differences.

In 2019 Boris Johnson proposed changes to the law in the United Kingdom to increase the use of Imperial units. He said this would be a benefit of Brexit. In 2023 the idea was dropped when 98.7% of people said they preferred using metric units. The law was changed to permit wine to be sold in pints. [1]

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Length

More information inch, link ...

The British nautical mile used to be 6080 feet. In 1970 the UK adopted the international definition of 1852 metres.

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Measures of area

More information Derived, Square rods (sq poles) ...
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Volume

More information ounce, gill ...
More information 1 peck, 1 kenning or bucket ...
More information 1 firkin, 1 kilderkin ...

The full table of British apothecaries’ measure is:

More information 1 minim, 1 (fluid) scruple ...

For a comparison to the United States customary units see the article on Comparison of the Imperial and US customary systems.

Mass and weight

More information 1 grain, 1 drachm ...
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References

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