Convert Homestead (homestead) to Circular Mil (circ mil) instantly.
About these units
Homestead (homestead)
A homestead is not a strictly fixed area unit but historically referred to land parcels granted under the U.S. Homestead Act of 1862, typically 160 acres, or 1/4 of a section. These homesteads were offered to settlers willing to cultivate and improve the land. The 160-acre parcel was chosen to be large enough to sustain a family farm in many regions, though this proved inadequate in drier western areas. While no longer an official area unit, "homestead" is deeply embedded in American cultural memory and historical land-use patterns. In legal and historical contexts, it often implicitly means a quarter-section, preserving its measurement-like nature.
Circular Mil (circ mil)
A circular mil is defined as the area of a circle with a diameter of exactly one mil. Because wires and cables have circular cross-sections, the circular mil has become a standard unit in electrical engineering for specifying conductor sizes. One circular mil simplifies calculations because area scales directly with the square of wire diameter without needing π in computations. For example, doubling a wire's diameter increases its circular-mil area fourfold. This makes circular mils extremely convenient for determining ampacity, resistance, and voltage drop in electrical conductors. Even though SI units are common elsewhere, the circular mil remains entrenched in North American electrical codes.