Why isn't a foot as long as a foot?
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answers:
Zirp say: because it's longer or shorter
Some people's feet ARE 12 inches / 30 cm, but good luck finding someone who has a "lower arm plus hand" of a yard
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retired old sarge say: Because we do not know how high is high and if you dig a hole is it really a hole and not just a dent in the ground.. How do you know it was really a virgin without a close examination before touching it..If it goes up does it really have to come back down,,, Science has proven that to be a lie..
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Philomel say: King Henry I of England decided that 1 foot was the length of his foot.
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busterwasmycat say: Mine is a bit longer actually. Turns out that we are all different so it is only random chance if a given person's foot is an actual foot in length. The foot length we use now, as a fixed length, is not what a foot always was. It is a long story, but lengths were established before standardization, and I believe foot length got fixed relative to mile distance (forced to have the already-defined number of feet per mile) and the mile distance was fixed as longer than had been "normal" in the past by reference to a different measure (in England, it was 8 furlongs).
So, if you have to have constant fixed unit values (which science and law eventually imposed), you have to reconcile the different definitions, and the different definitions end up defining a foot as what we now use, even if it is not a very typical actual foot length. Sure, it is a bit effed-up, but it is what it is.
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Krishnamurthy say: The reason why a foot isn't as long as a foot:
1 mile = 5280 feet (63,360 inches)
1 foot = (9.2 to 11) inches
1 mile = (6890 to 5760) feet
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Joe say: because feet are different sizes
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say: the same reason that inflammable compounds ignite easily
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B-Dub say: My feet are actually longer than a foot. I wear a size 16 shoe and my feet are about 13 inches long.
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say: Because Americans think things are longer than they are.
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Elizabeth say: For the same reason "abbreviation" is a long word.
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RWPossum say: The unit of measurement known as the foot originated in an experiment aimed at finding the length of the average man's foot. It was a crude experiment in which a lot of men were lined up and the total distance was measured. It didn't take into account the obvious fact that the feet were not all touching each other, that a foot was separated from the one in front and the one behind it.
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TJ say: Because "foot," as referring to the human foot, was used before American Standard was invented
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CarolOklaNola say: Maybe kings had bigger and longer feet. I wear USA women's size 6 shoes. That's small, and some times the smallest size in some shoes is size 7. Yes, I am short because I am type 1 diabetic. I buy children's gloves as well.
Two New Orleans department stores used to send out postcards to women who wore size 5 1/2 and 5 shoes. Dillard's used to do that according to a former friend who wears 5.5 shoes.
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say: Short people........
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