Do you need to know how big one acre is?
In this post, I want to answer one of the questions that I’ve seen recently, which is “how big is an acre visual?“
An acre isn’t something you can get a definite vision of. Because an acre could be in any shape on any piece of land. An acre is a measurement of land. One acre measures 43,560 square feet. Acres are used when discussing the amount of land that is being referred to. Usually when selling or buying land.
However… just because it doesn’t make complete sense to get a visual of an acre, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.
Knowing the size of an acre is important for homesteaders and living off the grid. If you’re going to be farming and gardening to produce your own food, (which I recommend) you want to know an acre like the back of your hand.
Acres 101
Let’s start with, what is an acre? According to Wikipedia,
An acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, 1⁄640 of a square mile, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare.
Based upon the International yard and pound agreement of 1959, an acre may be declared as exactly 4,046.8564224 square meters. The acre is a statute measure in the United States and was formerly one in the United Kingdom and almost all countries of the former British Empire, although informal use continues.”
Why 43,560 Square Feet?
The number 43,560 seems to be a random number to represent the square footage of an acre. So why such an uncommon number?
The number comes from a measurement that was from multiplying a chain by a furlong. A chain is 66 feet and a furlong is 660 feet. A chain comes from the length of a surveyor’s chain and a furlong was the length of land that a team of oxen could plow before a period of rest was required.
This is how a traditional acre came to existence. Let’s look at some examples of visuals of acres so you can get an idea of how big an acre actually is.
Visual Examples
Here are some examples of just how big is an acre of land visually. In fact…
…there is only one visual you need to get a perfect visual in your mind.
The closest visual we all know to the size of one acre is a football field.
So if you ask yourself, how big is half an acre visual? What would that look like?
Simple. Just picture of football field.
Now a football field is not exactly one acre. One football field measured in acres comes out to be about 76% of one football field.
Close, but no cigar.
An entire football field measured comes to about 350 feet by 160 feet, which equals 57,600 square feet. One acre is 43,560 feet.
Acre Measurements
As we said above, an acre has no prescribed or definite shape. Any area of 43,560 square feet is an acre.
How Big Is An Acre In Length And Width
If you’re wondering how big an acre is in length and width, it’s not quite that simple.
An acre is measured in area, not in length. Which is why is it measured in square feet.
The most common shape of an acre is 660 feet by 66 feet.
Measured In Meters
An acre measured in meters equals 4046.86.
Measured In Miles
1 acre measured in miles equals 0.0015625 square miles.
Acre Perimeter
According to MatchCentral, the perimeter depends on the shape as well as the area, so without knowing the shape, you can’t find the perimeter.
Take a Walk
So how long would it take you to walk the distance of an acre? knowing that will give you a better visual and comprehension of the size.
If you walked at 4 MPH, it would take you 35.1 seconds to walk the distance of an acre in a square shape.
In the future, here’s a resource for a quick way to measure acres. Use this acre calculator.
Conclusion
Now you know, now you have a clear vision of how big an acre is. Having the visual of a football field as your measuring tool works well for navigating distance. You can quickly judge how large a piece of land is and how long it will take you to travel by the acre.
Not to mention when you go to farm one acre of vegetables or go to buy seven acres of land for your homestead, you’ll know how big an acre visual is as clear as day.
When was the last time you had to measure an acre of land?
