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About these units
Meter (m)
The meter is the foundational unit of length in the International System of Units (SI) and forms the backbone of virtually all modern scientific and engineering measurements. Originally defined in the late 18th century as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along a meridian, the meter's definition has evolved alongside advances in physics and measurement technology. For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was tied to a physical bar stored in Paris—an artifact vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and damage. Today, the meter is defined using a universal constant rather than a physical object: the distance light travels in vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. This definition is elegant because it anchors the meter to an invariant physical constant, ensuring precision across laboratories and nations. It allows modern metrology labs to realize the meter through laser interferometry, achieving extraordinary accuracy. The meter's universality and reliability make it the most important single unit of length ever devised.
Arpent (arpent)
The arpent is a French unit of length and area, historically used in France and French colonial territories like Louisiana and Canada. As a length, it was roughly 58.47 meters, while as an area unit it varied regionally but was commonly used for agricultural plots. The arpent was central to land measurement, urban planning, and agriculture, particularly in colonies where standard French units were imposed. It helped define plots for farming, taxation, and property distribution, often in combination with other traditional French units such as the perche. Although largely replaced by metric units, the arpent remains significant for historians, geographers, and legal scholars interpreting colonial-era land documents and property records.