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When redefining traditional measuring units into metric, it is generally preferred that the traditional unit equals a terminating decimal number in metric. For example, 1 inch = 25.4 mm exactly. This helps with transitioning to metric because old specifications can be translated to metric without introducing fractions or repeating decimals. The fact that the survey inch is exactly 100/3937 metres violates this property and makes it more cumbersome to work with in metric.



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