length

dimension

Learn about this topic in these articles:

main reference

  • In length, area, and volume

    Length is the size of a line segment (see distance formulas), area is the size of a closed region in a plane, and volume is the size of a solid. Formulas for area and volume are based on lengths. For example, the area of a…

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Imperial units

  • Weights and measures being tested during the reign of Henry VII.
    In Imperial units: Early origins

    …inches, each inch equaling the length of three barleycorns (employed merely as a learning device since the actual standard was the space between two marks on a yard bar). Units of capacity and weight were also specified. In the late 15th century, King Henry VII reaffirmed the customary Winchester standards…

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measurement in mechanics

  • vector mathematics
    In mechanics: Units and dimensions

    …mechanics are time, mass, and length. Symbolically, these are written as t, m, and l, respectively. The study of electromagnetism adds an additional fundamental dimension, electric charge, or q. Other quantities have dimensions compounded of these. For example, speed has the dimensions distance divided by time, which can be written…

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shipbuilding

  • passenger ship
    In ship: Naval architecture

    …are given in terms of length, breadth, and depth. The length between perpendiculars is the distance on the summer (maximum) load waterline, from the forward side of the stem at the extreme forward part of the vessel to the after side of the rudder post at the extreme rear, or…

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standardization via speed of light

  • Photosynthesis
    In electromagnetic radiation: Speed of light

    …definition of the measure of length and of time. Current techniques allow a determination of the velocity of electromagnetic radiation to a substantially higher degree of precision than permitted by the unit of length that scientists had applied earlier. In 1983 the value of the speed of light was fixed…

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systems and standards of measurement