[pg_bot]

A mile is 5,280 feet and a kilometer is approximately 3,280 feet.

If you need to do rough conversions just think of a kilometer as slightly more than 3/5ths of a mile.

[ordu]

> A mile is 5,280 feet and a kilometer is approximately 3,280 feet.

Wow, I didn't think of poor imperial kids, that are definitely forced to remember all these numbers. But now I'm really sorry for them.

    $ factor 5280
    5280: 2 2 2 2 2 3 5 11

2^5 and 5 is nice, 3 can be tolerated, but 11? Who in their right mind would come up with something like this? Why not just round it to 5000?

[ahazred8ta]

Up until 1300, the old foot was longer and the mile was 5000 feet. In 1300 they redefined 10 old feet to be 11 new smaller feet, an acre was now 66x660 feet instead of 60x600, and eventually the mile was 8x660 = 5280.

[QuercusMax]

In practice these are just big numbers you memorize. 5280 feet in a mile, 63360 inches in a mile, 1760 yards in a mile...

It's not like you often have to do math with them, outside of school math problems. A year isn't precisely 365 days, and months are all different lengths. It's just more of the same type of thing; doesn't actually cause problems when distances are usually expressed in miles anyway.

[jameshart]

Sure you can use 3/5 - an easy Fibonacci fraction. Or about 5/8. Or 8/13. These fractions have the advantage of being easy to produce and having different prime factors that cancel more easily with some numbers.

[namrog84]

If remembering a fraction or number. I always felt like it was easier to remember 100kph is 62mph or basically close to a mile a minute.

[Taniwha]

having lived thru switching from miles->km you learn a few simple rules of thumb:

100km==60miles 80==50 50==30

It helped that that also covered most of our posted speed limits - the US with its penchant for speed limits ending in 5 would find it harder going

[theendisney]

You are doing it wrong.

A kilo meter is 1000 meter like a kilo gram is 1000 gram.

A land mile is 1609.344 meter.

16 is easy to remember as a symbol of immaturity but you do get to drive in the us. Not in the eu nein

[riccardomc]

> just think of a kilometer as slightly more than 3/5ths of a mile.

I can confidently assure you that right about now there are a bunch of Europeans reading your message multiple times, trying to figure out what 3/5ths of a mile even means, asking themselves if this is satire.

[thechao]

It's the same ratio as 28 3/4 tsp to a cup.

[pg_bot]

It's approximately one kilometer.