A statute mile is, 5280 ft.; a nautical mile is, 6080 ft. Can someone explain why the difference?

Answer 1

The above answerer already stated the definition of a nautical mile, but a statue mile simply came from a different industry than the nautical mile. It was measure to be 8 furlongs, which is an agricultural measurement of 660 feet. It was called a statute mile, because it resulted from a statute(stated rule) of the English Parliament. The original mile was measured to be 1,000 double long steps (29" walking steps x 2) or about 4,833.33 feet, which is exactly 5,000 Roman feet.

The nautical mile actually originated from the Geographical mile, which was the original attempt at rationalizing the circumference of the earth. The geographical mile was actually close enough to one arc minute that it proved useful on navigational maps to prevent run-ons and collisions with rocks and shelves near land in the ocean. Scientists have now refined it's definition to be exactly one arc-minute. In case you didn't know, and arc minute is an increment of hours, which is an increment of degrees of measurement around the earth. In other words, the point at the intersection of the Equator and the Prime meridian is located at 0° 0' 0.00" Lattitude, 0° 0' 0.00" Longitude. ' being hours, " being minutes.

Answer 2

You would think that measuring distances on the ocean would be the more difficult, because you can't walk on the surface of the water and it doesn't hold still to be measured. But in fact, the nautical mile, ate 6080 feet, is the more accurate measure of the two, because it represents one minute of the earth's circumference.
The statute mile, that we use to measure on land, is based on 1000 steps by a Roman soldier. And that, of course, depended on the size of the soldier's foot. Eventually it was standardized at 5280 feet, but there is no logical reason for that number, as there is for the nautical mile.
Another of those goofy measurements was the yard, which used to be the distance from the end of your nose to the tip of your outstretched fingers. Obviously, when people went shopping for fabrics, they bought at the shop where the proprietor had the longest arms, and the proprietors looked for clerks who had the shortest arms.
It, too, was eventually standardized at 36 inches, but like the mile, there was no rational measure to determine it.

Answer 3

A mile was originally 1000 ("mille" in Latin) paces of a Roman
soldier. In latter years it has been standardized at 5280 feet. Since the standardization was accomplished by law, it is more formally known as a statute mile.

The nautical mile has varied in the past. It is supposed to be the
length of one minute of arc at the equator. The actual value has been 6080 feet, 6080.20 feet, but now it is standardized at 6076.103 feet. It is called a nautical mile because sailors have been using it for many, many years. This is due to the use of spherical trigonometry in navigation.

Answer 4

A nautical mile is based on the circumference of the planet Earth. If you were to cut the Earth in half at the equator, you could pick up one of the halves and look at the equator as a circle. You could divide that circle into 360 degrees. You could then divide a degree into 60 minutes. A minute of arc on the planet Earth is 1 nautical mile.

Answer 5

The nautical mile is based on the curvature of the earth for seamen & airplanes. this is how the knot was formed which is the speed you travel an hour over the ocean

Answer 6

on land when you step say a foot you actually moved a foot, but on water moving a foot forward may only equate to 10" because the waves move you back while traveling forward

Answer 7

A nautical mile is one minute of one degree of latitude at the equator,as for the statute bit, dunno.