Yard

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, 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).
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) 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 theoretical US survey yard is very slightly longer.

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