A foot it is a unit of measurement used to measure lengths and is exactly equivalent to 0.3048 meters, i.e 30.48 cm. This unit of measurement, although it was in use in ancient Romeis no longer in use in Italy as it has been replaced by the meter which is the official unit of measurement for lengths in the International System. However, it may happen that we come across lengths measured in feet in some specific contexts, as well as when we travel to some foreign countries, let’s see which ones.
The foot, indicated with the word foot and abbreviated with ftis still the official unit of measurement (or at least widespread in daily practice) for lengths in various countries Anglo-Saxon culturelike the Great Britain, the USA and Canada. Consequently, when we find ourselves in one of these countries it may happen that we are dealing with the foot and its multiples and submultiples, i.e. the yard (yd) which is made up of 3 feet, and the inch (in) which is 1 twelfth of a foot. It can therefore be useful, when traveling, to remember that 1 foot is approximately 30 cm: we will thus be able to make conversions on the fly, for example if we are tall 180cm then we can say we are approximately tall 6 feet (180 cm ≅ 6 ft).
However, there are practical contexts in which also in Italy the foot has not yet been completely supplanted by the metre. For example in nautical field it may happen that, at an informal level, the length of a vessel is indicated in feet. But it is not the only case, the foot is, in fact, still officially admitted in aviation as a unit of measurement of altitude, alongside the meter, as specified by ENAC (National Civil Aviation Authority) consistently with the indications of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
