San Carlos University of Guatemala

Faculty of Engineering
Technical English 1

Special Assignment 1
Units of Measure used in Guatemala

Name: Elmer Antonio Pinto Barrios

ID: 201114546
1

Index
Introduction... 3
Objectives....... 4
Investigation... 5
Conclusion.. 9
Bibliography 10

Introduction
The present work shown below is about the measurements used in Guatemala,
the measurement system used in Guatemala is the metric system, however
there are some other measurement units that are used from other measurement
systems like the English system, and some form the Spanish system. The
investigation also includes the Engineering notations, which are used to
express huge numerical values in fewer terms using prefixes; each prefix is
assigned to a different power of 10. It is important to be aware of the metric
system used in our country given that many equipments and mechanical parts
from many machines are made using different measurement systems, so it is
indispensable to know the equivalences of the metric system in other
measurement systems.
In every part of the world, each region, each country does not necessarily have
the same units and measure due to the need for measures measurement scales
were made in many regions.
Over time many scales were disappearing as trade routes were demanding
equal measures existed between the two points, so we eventually came to
establish two systems that are recognized and easily manipulated anywhere in
the world (the English system and metric).
Many countries now have some mixture of these two systems by many outside
influences that have influenced the standards, such as conquests, trade
agreements etc. Such is the case of Guatemala, that the way of life of its
inhabitants uses measures of the two systems.

Objectives
Identify units of time (day, week, month, year) and compare calendar
elements; e.g., weeks are longer than days
Compare and order objects of different lengths, areas, weights and
capacities; and use relative terms, such as longer, shorter, bigger,
smaller, heavier, lighter, more and less
Recognize and explain the need for fixed units and tools for measuring
length and weight; e.g., rulers and balance scales
Estimate and measure lengths using non-standard and standard units;
i.e., centimeters, inches and feet
Establish personal or common referents for units of measure to make
estimates and comparisons; e.g., the width of a finger is a centimeter, a
large bottle of soda pop is 2 liters, a small paper clip weighs about one
gram

Units of Measure Used In Guatemala

On May 1910 most of Central America adopted a common system of
measurements, and on May 1921 Guatemala became officially metric.
Therefore, all road distances are in km; Guatemalan specific is that all roads
have their distances measured from a spot that is located in the entrance of
former
presidential
palace,
now
called
National
palace.
The measurement system used in Guatemala is the metric system, but also
some traditional units of measurement, that come from Spain, and influence
from US English units. For example you buy gas by the gallon, distances on
roads are measured in kilometers, and you plant corn by the cuerda.
Some of the Guatemalan units of measurement some are based on old Spanish
units; some of them are the vara and cuadra linear measurements; the vara
cuadrada, the manzana and the cuerda units of area; and the libra, arroba,
quintal
and
garrafn
units
of
weight
and
volume.
The most common measurement units of the metric system used in Guatemala
are:
Magnitude

Measurement

Symbol

Lenght
Mass
Time
Temperature
Electric current intensity
Luminous intensity
Substance quantity

Meter
Gram
Second
Kelvin
Ampere
Candela
Mol

m
gr
s
k
A
Cd
Mol

Vara
Its an old Spanish unit of length. Varas are very well known in many places
along the United States, and varas were also used in many parts of Latin
America. Measurements vary in size at different times and places; the Spanish
unit was set to be 835.905 mm (32.91 in) in 1801. In Argentina, the vara
measured about 866 mm (34.1 in), and typical urban lots are 8.66 m (28.41 ft)
wide (10 Argentine varas). At some time a value of 33 inches (838.2 mm) was
adopted
in
California.
A measure of 100 varas by 100 varas (Spanish) is almost 7000 square meters,
and is known traditionally throughout Latin America as a manzana.
The vara cuadrada or square vara is commonly used in land transactions in
Guatemala and 10,000 square varas equal one manzana. One square vara
equals 0.6987 square meters (7.521 sq ft), while one manzana equals 6,987
square meters (1.727 acres). A Spanish pound (libra) is 460
grams. Some United States customary units are also used. These include
inches, feet, miles, gallons, pounds(note the Spanish pound is also used) and
ounces.

Cuadra
Its the linear space that encompass from the two corners made by the
intersection of a street with another street to the two corners made by the next
crossing,
it
is
approximately
100
to
150
meters
long.
The Metric System and Scientific and Engineering Notations
Engineering notation is a version of scientific notation in which the powers of
ten must be multiples of three (i.e., they are powers of a thousand, but written
as, for example, 106 instead of 10002). A common set of decimal-based
prefixes is applied to some units which are too large or too small for practical
use. The effect of the prefixes is to multiply or divide the unit by a factor of
ten, one hundred or an integer power of one thousand, that is what they are
used for, each prefix name has an associated symbol which can be used in
combination with the symbols for units of measure, this prefix are:
6

Prefi
x
yott
a
zett
a
exa
peta

Symbo
l
Y

1000m

| 10n

Decimal

Short scale

Long scale

10008
10007

quadrillio
n
trilliard

E
P

10006
10005

10000000000000000000
00000
10000000000000000000
00
1000000000000000000
1000000000000000

septillion

102
4
102
1
1018
1015

tera
giga
meg
a
kilo
hect
o
deca

T
G
M

10004
10003
10002

1012
109
106

1000000000000
1000000000
1000000

quintillion
quadrillio
n
trillion
billion
million

k
h

103
102

1000
100

thousand
hundred

1795
1795

101

10

ten

1795

deci

10-1

0.1

tenth

1795

cent
i
milli

10-2

0.01

10-3

0.001

micr
o
nan
o
pico

1000-2

10-6

0.000001

hundredt
h
thousandt
h
millionth

1795

10001
10002/
3
10001/
3
10001/3
10002/3
1000-1

1000-3

10-9

0.000000001

billionth

milliardth

1960

1000-4

0.000000000001

trillionth

billionth

1960

femt
o
atto

1000-5

0.000000000000001

1964

1000-6

trillionth

1964

zept
o
yoct
o

1000-7

trilliardth

1991

1000-8

quadrillio
nth
quintillion
th
sextilliont
h
septilliont
h

billiardth

1012
1015
1018
1021
1024

quadrillio
nth

1991

da

0.000000000000000001
0.000000000000000000
001
0.000000000000000000
000001

sextillion

Sinc
e
1991
1991

trillion
billiard

1975
1975

billion
milliard

1960
1960
1960

1795
1960

Application to units of measurement

Unit prefixes for amounts that are much larger or smaller than those actually
encountered are seldom used, though they remain valid combinations. In most
contexts only a few most common combinations are established as standard.

Metric systems in Engineering

The systems used in Engineering are not easy to establish, that is why there
are there are a lot of ineffective systems in the engineering field. Most
enterprises use the metric system, but since a lot of products from the U.S. and
UK factories are made using the English system, most users of these products
have to adaptto this type of measurements, and that is why metric conversion
is useful.

Table of Metric Conversion Factors

1 centimeter =

10 millimeter

1 decimeter =

10 centimeter

1 meter =

10 decimeter

1 dekameter=

10 meter

1 hectometer=

10 dekameter

1 kilometer =

1000 m = 10 ha

1 Angstrom =

10-10 meter
English & Metric Conversion Factors

1 inch =

25.4 millimeter

1 feet =

12 inches

1 yard =

3 foot

1 rod / perch =

16.5 foot

1 chain =

22 yard

1 furlong =

40 rd = 220 yd

1 mile =

8 furlong

1 mile =

5280 feet

1 hand =

4 inches

1 mil =

0.001 inch

Nautical Conversion Factors

1 fathom =

6 feet

1 cable length =

720ft = 120 fathom

1 nautical mile=

1852 meter

1 league =

3 miles

Conclusions
In Guatemala there are different measurement units that are used and
not all belong to the same measurement system.

In Engineering as in other scientific fields there are enormous numerical

quantities, with a lot of decimal numbers, and very little as well, for that
reason Engineering notations are used to avoid using this big numbers.
In Guatemala Spanish units are used as well like the vara and the
cuadra, also the cuerda which is used in agriculture, the manzana, the
garrafn.

Bibliography/References

http://www.france-property-andinformation.com/metric_conversion_table.htm

http://www.metric-conversions.org/

http://www.cename.org/equipo.html

http://alien.guatexplorer.com/?p=111

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