Key facts
- Unit system
- Imperial / US units
- Unit of
- length
- Symbol
- ch
- Imperial us units
- 22 yd , 66 ft , 100 links
- Metric si units
- 20.1168 m
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
Show 4 more facts
- conversion to standard unit
- 0.01086222
- Wikidata SPARQL query equivalent
- wd:Q552299 p:P2370/psn:P2370 [wikibase:quantityAmount ?source; wikibase:quantityUnit ?base]. ?item p:P2370/psn:P2370 [wikibase:quantityAmount ?target; wikibase:quantityUnit ?base]. BIND(?source / ?target as ?value)
- conversion to SI unit
- 20.11684
- unit symbol
- ch
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~11 min read
Article
The chain (abbreviated ch) is a unit of length equal to 66 feet (22 yards), used in both the US customary and Imperial unit systems. It is subdivided into 100 links. There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile. In metric terms, it is 20.1168 m long. By extension, chainage (running distance) is the distance along a curved or straight survey line from a fixed commencing point, as given by an odometer.
The chain has been used since the early 17th century in England, and was taken by British settlers during the colonial period to other countries around the globe. In the United Kingdom, there were 80 chains to the mile, but until the early nineteenth century the Scottish and Irish customary miles were longer than the statute mile; consequently a Scots chain was about 74 (imperial) feet, an Irish chain 84 feet. These longer chains became obsolete following the adoption of the imperial system of units in 1824. In India, "metric chains" of exactly 20 metres (65.62 feet) are used, along with fractions thereof.