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Mile (US Survey)

The US survey mile is a unit of length used in land surveying in the United States. It is defined as exactly 5,280 survey feet, with one survey foot equal to 1200/3937 meters (approximately 0.3048006096 meters). This makes the US survey mile equal to about 1,609.3472 meters, slightly longer than the international (statute) mile, which is exactly 1,609.344 meters.

The US survey mile was established to maintain consistency with older land measurement systems based on the Mendenhall Order of 1893. It was commonly used in mapping, legal land descriptions, and public land surveys.

Although the difference between the survey and statute mile is very small (about 3.2 millimeters), it can be significant over large distances. As of 2023, the U.S. has officially retired the survey foot (and survey mile) for most applications, favoring the international foot and mile to standardize measurements.

Mil

A mil is a unit of length commonly used in engineering and manufacturing to measure very small distances, especially thicknesses. It is equal to one-thousandth of an inch (0.001 inch), which is approximately 0.0254 millimeters.

The mil is widely used in industries like plastic film, coatings, wire diameter, and mechanical parts, where precise measurements of thin materials are necessary. It should not be confused with the millimeter, which is 0.001 meters or 1,000 microns — much larger than a mil.

Key points:

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  1 mil = 0.001 inch = 0.0254 mm

  
  
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  Used mainly for small thicknesses or diameters

  
  
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  Common in engineering, manufacturing, and material sciences

  
  
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  Not to be confused with millimeter (mm)

  
  

The mil remains an important unit in technical fields where fine measurement is critical.