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Pace (unit)

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(Redirected from Passus) Unit of length equal to one or two steps "Paces" redirects here. For other uses, see Pace (disambiguation).

A pace is a unit of length consisting either of one normal walking step (approximately 0.75 metres or 30 inches), or of a double step, returning to the same foot (approximately 1.5 metres or 60 inches). The normal pace length decreases with age and some health conditions. The word "pace" is also used for units inverse to speed, used mainly for walking and running, commonly minutes per kilometer.

The word "pace" is also used to translate similar formal units in other systems of measurement. Pacing is also used as an informal measure in surveying, with the "pace" equal to two of the surveyor's steps reckoned through comparison with a standard rod or chain.

Standardized units

Like other traditional measurements, the pace started as an informal unit of length, but was later standardized, often with the specific length set according to a typical brisk or military marching stride.

In the United States the pace is an uncommon customary unit of length denoting a brisk single step and equal to 2+1⁄2 feet or 30.0 inches or 76.2 centimetres.

The Ancient Roman pace (Latin: passus) was notionally the distance of a full stride from the position of one heel where it raised off of the ground to where it set down again at the end of the step: two steps, one by each foot. Under Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, it was standardized as the distance of two steps (gradūs) or five Roman feet (pedes), about 1.48 meters or 4 feet 10 inches. One thousand paces were described simply as mille passus or passuum, now known as a Roman mile; this is the origin of the English term "mile".

The Byzantine pace (Ancient Greek: βῆμα, bḗma) was an adaption of the Roman step, a distance of 2½ Greek feet. The double pace (βῆμα διπλοῦν, bḗma diploûn), meanwhile, was similar to the Roman unit, comprising 5 Greek feet.

The Welsh pace (Welsh: cam) was reckoned as 3 Welsh feet of 9 inches and thus may be seen as similar to the English yard: 3 paces made up a leap and 9000 a Welsh mile.

See also

References

  1. Morio, Yuji; Izawa, Kazuhiro; Omori, Yoshitsugu; Katata, Hironobu; Ishiyama, Daisuke; Koyama, Shingo; Yamano, Yoshihisa (2019). "The Relationship between Walking Speed and Step Length in Older Aged Patients". Diseases. 7 (1): 17. doi:10.3390/diseases7010017. ISSN 2079-9721. PMC 6473831. PMID 30717332.
  2. Differences - "Pace" vs. "Speed"
  3. "Appendix G: Weights and Measures", The World Factbook, Washington: Central Intelligence Agency, 2013
  4. U.S. Army Map Reading and Navigation, p. 5.8, Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2009 ISBN 1-60239-702-3.
  5. Schilbach, Erich, Byzantinische Metrologie. (in German)
  6. Ménage, V.L. (1973), "Reviews: Speros Vryonis, Jr.: The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century.", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 36, No. 3, University of London, pp. 659–661, JSTOR 613605
  7. Schilbach, cited by Ménage.


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