How many feet are in a furlong?

A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, or 10 chains. Using the international definition of the inch as exactly 25.4 millimetres, one furlong is 201.168 metres. However, the United States does not uniformly use this conversion ratio. Older ratios are in use for surveying purposes in some states, leading to variations in the length of the furlong of about two parts per million, or 0.4 millimetres (1⁄64 inch). This variation is too small to have many practical consequences. Five furlongs are about 1.0 kilometre (1.00584 km is the exact value, according to the international conversion).

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

Test your knowledge

What are your thoughts on this subject?

28 Comments

Wyla Reedy

I have only heard it used at the race track.

Char

Darlene Davidson, it is in a way

Char

Sankararao Nagalla, ok that's how I kept thinking feet to yards and furlongs. I kept wanting to connect the three but didn't exactly remember why

Char

Chandler Biddle, a guess or majority or get another question..lol that's what I do

Char

I knew the name but nailed it on my second pick..it was a little more than I originally thought..keep thinking horses now why? Racing?

Howard Groopman

EZ arithmetic. Furlong is an eighth of a mile, which is 5280'.

Karen Mack

Knew what a furlong was thanks to horse racing. Was born and raised in "the Mile High City", so knew how many feet in a mile. Simple division from there...

Shirley Dutt

Wow. Had to dig deep in the memory banks for that one.

Chris Braid

That one took me back to primary school!

pamela h

Rich Davis, There are 8 furlongs in a mile (each furlong equals 220 yards, 1/8 of a mile). A mile is 1760 yards. A furlong is 660 feet and a mile is 5,280 feet.