Calculating a Linear Yard

A linear yard is an English unit of length used in the British imperial and U.S. customary measurement systems. In 1959, an international agreement standardized one yard as as exactly 0.9144 meters. If you have the length of an object in inches or meters or a distance in miles, you can convert to yards by carrying out a simple calculation.

Convert Inches to Yards

1. Determine Length in Inches

Measure the length in inches. (If you have a length in feet, multiply by 12 to convert to inches.)

2. Apply the Equation

There are 36 inches in a yard. If you have a 48-inch piece of wood, find its length in yards by dividing by 36.

3. Divide by 36

For this example, work out:

(frac{48}{36}=1.33)

The piece of wood is 1.333 yards.

Convert Meters to Yards

1. Determine Length in Meters

Measure the length in meters. (If you have a length in centimeters, divide by 100 to convert to meters.)

2. Apply the Equation

One meter is equal to 1.0936 yards. If you have a building that is 60 meters long, find its length in yards by multiplying by 1.0936.

3. Multiply by 1.0936

Work out

(60 times 1.0936 = 65.616)

The building is 65.616 yards long.

Convert Miles to Yards

1. Determine Distance in Miles

Measure the distance in miles.

2. Apply the Equation

One mile is equal to 1,760 yards. If the distance between two towns is 4.6 miles, find the distance in yards by multiplying by 1,760.

3. Multiply by 1,760

Work out

(4.6 times 1760 = 8096)

The distance between the two towns is 8,096 yards.