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GUNTER'S CHAIN is A measuring device composed of 100 metal links fastened together with rings. The length of the chain is 66 feet. The source of the term "chain" is frequently used in tape and steel tape measurements in surveying.
In 1620 an English mathematician and astronomer named Edmund Gunter described a surveyor's chain with 100 links, measuring 66 feet (22 yards or 4 poles) overall. By this design, one square chain equals 484 square yards, ten square chains equal an acre, and eighty chains equal a mile. Gunther's design proved extremely popular, especially in English lands. This example belonged to John Johnson (1771-1841), the Surveyor General of Vermont. It is made of steel, with round handles at either end, brass tallies every 10 links, and swivels every 25 links. Each link is joined to the next by three rings, and each unit (link and three rings) is 7.92 inches long.
How long is a Gunter's chain?
22 yards
Surveyor's chain, also called Gunter's chain, measuring device and arbitrary measurement unit still widely used for surveying in English-speaking countries. Invented by the English mathematician Edmund Gunter in the early 17th century, Gunter's chain is exactly 22 yards (about 20 m) long and divided into 100 links.
The chain was originally called an "acre's breadth", because it was the width of a acre, while a furlong was the length. Edmund Gunter, a clergyman and mathematician, invented a measuring device called a chain. It was the forerunner of the slide rule. The chain was 66 ft (20 m) long.
eighty chains
In 1620 an English mathematician and astronomer named Edmund Gunter described a surveyor's chain with 100 links, measuring 66 feet (22 yards or 4 poles) overall. By this design, one square chain equals 484 square yards, ten square chains equal an acre, and eighty chains equal a mile.
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