What is the Difference between a Nautical Mile and A Knot?
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| Description | Nautical miles are widely used to measure traveled distance over water. Note that the nautical mile is slightly different than miles which is a commonly used unit of length over land. In simple terms, 1.1508 miles turns out to be one nautical mile. Experts consider nautical miles measurement as per the latitude and longitude coordinates of the planet earth where one nautical mile is equal to the latitude of one minute. But you may have a doubt in mind that why one should use this different measurement system while traveling over marine ways. Well, using longitude and latitude coordinates appear more practical choice for traveling over long distances. In such systems, the earth’s curvature is considered a major element for accurate measurements. The nautical charts are designed based on longitude and latitude measurements, therefore, mariners find it easier to measure the distance to the destination in terms of nautical miles. Space and air travel also make use of latitude and longitude for the purpose of navigation and the pilots prefer using nautical miles there as well. When you hear the term nautical mile, you may wonder if something like nautical kilometers may also exist, but that is not true. For sea level navigational calculations, experts use statute miles to measure arbitrary lengths without any specific significance. In general nautical mile is defined to be equivalent to 1852 meters or can be stated as 1.852 kilometers. The measurement is based on the circumference of the earth which turns out to be equal to 1 min of latitude. There are 1760 yards in a mile and in terms of feet, one mile equals 5280 feet. On the other side, nautical miles are equal to 1/60th latitude degree. It is also important to mention that the nautical mile is not the same as the statute mile. Nautical miles are widely used for charting and navigating purposes, mainly while traveling over water. On the other side, the statute mile is comparatively smaller than the nautical mile. Earlier, there was no formula defined for conversion from a statute mile to a nautical mile. However, during the 20th century, experts defined 1.1508 statute miles turns out to be equal to one nautical mile. When compared to meters, the internationally defined nautical mile turns out to be equal to 1852 meters. On the other side, the knot can be defined as the unit for measuring speed. Generally, one nautical mile/hour is equal to one knot; therefore, we can say that one knot can be defined as 1.1508 statute miles/hour. Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers has defined kn as the abbreviation of knot and it is accepted by ISO as well. Several people also prefer using the knot for air and maritime navigation. The term knot is believed to have a maritime origin. Several decades ago when sailors were not having any modern technology for speed and navigation measurement on the sea, they prefer using a common log tool to handle vessel speed information. This common log was designed with a simple rope coil having knots tied with equal spacing throughout. This rope is further connected to a piece of wood that is desired to have a shape the same as a slice of pie. Then the wooden end of the tool is dropped into the sea while unrolling the remaining coil slowly with the sailing of the ship. The coil unrolling time is determined by the hourglass for a specific duration and then the rope is reeled back to the ship. This technique was used to help sailors count the number of knots between the ship and the wooden piece. The speed of the ship was ultimately defined to be equal to the counted knots. |
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