Square Yard (yd²)
The square yard is the area of a square with sides of one yard, equal to exactly 9 square feet or 1296 square inches. At approximately 0.836 square meters, it is close in size to a square meter, which makes mental conversion between the two surprisingly easy. The square yard occupies a specific niche in American and British commerce: it is the traditional unit for carpet, fabric, and other materials sold in rolls or large sheets. When you buy wall-to-wall carpet, the price is per square yard. When you buy fabric from a bolt, the piece is measured in yards of length and the total area is in square yards. Landscaping materials like sod, mulch coverage, and paving estimates also frequently use square yards.
Definition
One square yard is the area of a square with sides of exactly one yard, where one yard is exactly 0.9144 meters. This makes one square yard exactly 9 square feet, 1296 square inches, or 0.83612736 square meters. There are approximately 1.196 square yards in one square meter and 4840 square yards in one acre.
History
The square yard derives from the yard, which has been an English unit of length since at least the twelfth century. The word yard comes from the Old English gerd, meaning a rod or stick. By tradition, the yard was defined as the distance from King Henry I's nose to the tip of his outstretched thumb, though this story may be apocryphal. The international yard and pound agreement of 1959 fixed the yard at exactly 0.9144 meters, making the square yard exactly 0.83612736 square meters. In the textile and carpet industries, the square yard became the standard unit of area because rolls of fabric and carpet are measured in yards of length and yards of width. The carpet industry in the United States still prices by the square yard, though some retailers have shifted to square feet to make prices appear lower. In India, real estate in many cities is measured in square yards, a legacy of British colonial measurement practices.
Common Uses
The carpet and flooring industry is the primary domain. Carpet in the United States is traditionally priced per square yard, with typical residential carpet ranging from 15 to 50 dollars per square yard installed. Fabric sold by the yard from a bolt is measured in square yards for total area. Landscaping uses square yards for sod coverage, artificial turf, and mulch spreading. Concrete and paving contractors sometimes quote area in square yards. In India, Pakistan, and some other South Asian countries, real estate plots are commonly measured in square yards, especially for residential land.
Did You Know? Facts About Square Yard
- A square yard is only about 16 percent smaller than a square meter, making rough conversions easy: just reduce by about one sixth.
- The carpet industry's use of square yards dates back centuries to when fabric was woven on looms measured in yards. The tradition persists even though most other American industries have moved to square feet.
- There are exactly 4840 square yards in one acre. This number comes from the acre's original definition as a chain by a furlong: 22 yards wide by 220 yards long.
- In cricket, the playing area of a pitch is 22 yards long, making the rectangular pitch area easy to calculate in square yards.
- A standard American football field, excluding end zones, is 100 yards by 53.33 yards, giving an area of about 5333 square yards.