Unit 17 Section 3 : Estimating imperial units

The imperial system was used, until very recently, for all weights and measures throughout the UK.
There are many aspects of everyday life where the system is still in common usage.
Road signs are an obvious example where miles instead of kilometres are used.

In this section we look at estimating in these units; the following list gives some useful facts to help you:
The height of a tall adult is about 6 feet.
The width of an adult thumb is about 1 inch.
The length of a size 8 shoe is about 1 foot.
An adult pace is about 1 yard.
A pack of sausages weighs about 1 pound, which is 16 ounces.
An old-style bottle of milk contains 1 pint.
It takes about 20 minutes to walk one mile.
You will find the following abbreviations used for imperial units:
1 yard = 1 yd
6 feet = 6 ft = 6'
9 inches = 9 in = 9"
8 ounces = 8 oz
7 pounds = 7 lb
Be careful not to use m as an abbreviation for miles because m is a standard abbreviation for metres.

Practice Question

Work out the answer to each of these questions then click on the button marked Click on this button below to see the correct answer to see whether you are correct.

(a) Look at this line and the images of adult thumbs below it.


How long would you estimate the line is, in inches?

(b) A double-decker bus is about three times as tall as my uncle, who is a tall man.
How tall would you estimate a double-decker bus is, in feet?

 

Exercises

Work out the answers to the questions below and fill in the boxes. Click on the Click this button to see if you are correct button to find out whether you have answered correctly. If you are right then will appear and you should move on to the next question. If appears then your answer is wrong. Click on to clear your original answer and have another go. If you can't work out the right answer then click on Click on this button to see the correct answer to see the answer.

Question 1
Look at the lines below and estimate their length in inches.
The screen may be scaled differently on your computer, so there is a row of thumbs at the bottom to help you.
(a)  inches
(b)  inches
(c)  inches
(d)  inches
(d) 
Question 2
A pack of sausages contains eight prime pork sausages.
Estimate how much each sausage will weigh, in ounces.
oz
Question 3
How much would you estimate the mass of an apple to be, in ounces?
oz
Question 4
Estimate the capacity of a mug, in pints.
pts
Question 5
Estimate the weight of an average newborn baby, in pounds.
lbs
Question 6
Estimate the length of a football pitch, in yards.
yds

You have now completed Unit 17 Section 3
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Produced by A.J.Reynolds August 2008