Convert chain (US survey) to kiloparsec Online | Free Length Converter

Chain (US Survey)

The US survey chain is a unit of length used historically in land surveying in the United States. It is defined as exactly 66 US survey feet, which is slightly longer than the international foot. Since one US survey foot equals about 0.3048006096 meters, the US survey chain is approximately 20.11684 meters long.

Like the standard chain, it is divided into 100 links, each measuring 0.66 US survey feet. The US survey chain was widely used in the Public Land Survey System to measure land parcels and boundaries.

Key facts:

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  1 US survey chain = 66 US survey feet

  
  
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  1 US survey chain ≈ 20.11684 meters

  
  
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  10 US survey chains = 1 furlong

  
  
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  80 US survey chains = 1 US survey mile

  
  

Though the US survey foot and chain are being phased out in favor of international units, the US survey chain still appears in historical land records and some legal contexts.

Kiloparsec

A kiloparsec (kpc) is a unit of distance used in astronomy equal to 1,000 parsecs, or about 3,260 light-years. It is commonly used to measure distances within and between galaxies. For example, the Milky Way galaxy is about 30 kiloparsecs in diameter. Kiloparsecs help astronomers describe large-scale structures in space more conveniently than using light-years alone. The symbol for kiloparsec is "kpc". It’s an important unit for understanding the size and scale of galaxies and their components.