the origin of nautical miles,knots,etc etc??

[alphatarget1]

why do they use a different measurement for speed on the sea? what are the origins?

i googled and found nothing...

 

[her209]

I dunno. Its easier to say with your mouth full?

 

[Viper GTS]

You must not have looked too hard.

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae400.cfm

Viper GTS

 

[alphatarget1]

nevermind, found it.

pretty cool actually

"Nautical miles measure distance. 1 nautical mile is the angular distance of 1 minute of arc on the earth's surface. As these differ slightly (6108' at pole c.f. 6046' at equator) 6080 was adopted (this being it's approximate value in the English Channel). The International nautical mile is 1852 metres, so is very slightly different from the UK nautical mile.


1 UK nautical mile = 1.00064 international nautical miles"

http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/units/sea.htm