Body measurements

Various lengths have been derived from body dimensions hands feet spans cubits and the like. Related to the last point the french word for inch is pouce which also. Calibrating yourself a first step is to choose your measures and measure your choices. One individuals hand will likely not be the same as another persons hands therefore if we were building a wall 50 hands tall the actual sizes of the wall would be different. The sizes of different peopleõs body parts ie. What is the problem with using parts of the body as a unit of measurement.

Feet are not equal 2. 10 responses to body parts as tools of measurement chris on january 21 2009 136 am. Why were customary or standard units established. Yes your body and its various parts can serve as a quick length estimator. This is a list of units of measure based on human body parts or the attributes or abilities of humans. What is the problem with using parts of the body as a unit of measurement.

Although we might think there is an inescapable logic in dividing it in a systematic manner this ignores the way that measuring grew up with people measuring shorter lengths using other parts of the human body. What is the advantage of metric units. Many real life math problems dont require exact solutions or precise calculations. Standard units ensure consistent equal measuring 3. Thus if we were to use body parts as a standard of measurement the idea of standard measurement wouldnt exist. The width of your palm is about 4 inches.

Another measurement that i use is an inch made by bending my ring finger into a tabletop shape. Women dont have hoo hoo dillies so they cant measure things using one. Say we are using hands as a measure. How does si address the problem of using body parts as a unit of measurement. The si units system simply uses the meter and units derived from that kilometer nanometer etc. My hoo hoo dilly is bigger than yours and we dont have a standard hoo hoo dilly size.

The digit was the smallest basic unit being the breadth of a finger. Devin johnston on january 21 2009 259 am. When you need an approximate idea of length you have a handy dandy ruler always nearby. It does not include derived units further unless they are also themselves human based. Many body distances can be used as measures but you dont need all of them. Many have similar size for example hand and palm so you can just choose ones you prefer perhaps ones with numbers easier to remember.

These units are thus considered to be human scale and anthropocentric. So my palms quickly gave a nice measurement. Very easily by not using them. What an interesting post.