Acre

A measure of land equal to 43.560 square feet, 4,840 square yards, 4,047 square meters, 160 square rods or 0.4047 hectares.

One acre comprises 4,840 square yards or 43,560 square feet (which can be easily remembered as 44,000 square feet, less 1%; or as the product of 66 x 660). Because of alternative definitions of a yard or a foot, the exact size of an acre also varies slightly. Originally, an acre was understood as a selion of land sized at one furlong (660 ft) long and one chain (66 ft) wide; this may have also been understood as an approximation of the amount of land an ox could plow in one day. A square enclosing one acre is approximately 208 feet and 9 inches (63.6 meters) on a side. But as a unit of measure an acre has no prescribed configuration; any perimeter enclosing 43,560 ft2 is an acre in size.

The acre is often used to express areas of land. In the metric system, the hectare is commonly used for the same purpose. An acre is approximately 40% of a hectare.

One acre is 90.75 percent of a 53.33-yard-wide American football field. The full field, including the end zones, covers approximately 1.32 acres (0.53 ha).

Equivalence to other units of area

1 acre (both variants) is equal to the following customary units:

* 66 feet × 660 feet (43,560 square feet)
* 1 chain × 10 chains (1 chain = 66 feet = 22 yards = 4 rods = 100 links)
* 1 acre is approximately 208.71 feet × 208.71 feet (a square)
* 4,840 square yards
* 160 perches. A perch is equal to a square rod (1 square rod is 0.00625 acre)
* 10 square chains
* 4 roods
* A chain by a furlong (chain 22 yards, furlong 220 yards)
* 1/640 (0.0015625) square mile (1 square mile is equal to 640 acres)

Didn't find what you were looking for? Use this search feature to find it.