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Oh god, the real definition of an acre...
It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, 1⁄640 of a square mile, or 43,560 square feet
If it's one by ten chains, a standard acre isn't even a square shape. Lunacy.
edit. What is a chain...
The chain is a unit of length equal to 66 feet. It is subdivided into 100 links or 4 rods. There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile.
How about a rod?
The rod or perch or pole is a surveyor’s tool and unit of length exactly equal to 5 ¹⁄₂ yards, 16¹⁄₂ feet, ¹⁄₃₂₀ of a statute mile or one-fourth of a surveyor's chain.
It's like a horrible recursive nightmare of measurements, all related to each other only by arbitrary factors of a third unit...
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christianSpaceman
@AlexD
I love how a metre is not that accurate, just after explaining that an acre is the area of land that can be ploughed by an ox in one day