> From: Patrice Schadt <pschadt@tampabay.rr.com> > Sent: Oct 12, 2008 3:53 PM MT > > My map skills being what they are, prompt me to ask for some clarification. > The legend shows 1:50 000. Is that 1" = 50 miles or kilometers? What do > the three 0's mean after the fifty? Is each grid 50 square miles or 50 > square kilometers? 1:50 000 means that one of any unit on the map corresponds to 50,000 of the same unit on the ground. The space between 50 and 000 is just another way to group zeros (we primarily use commas in the U.S., the Brits primarily use periods). So 1" = 50,000" * (1'/12") * (1 mi/5280') = 0.78 mi What is linear dimension of the grid squares? Measure that with a ruler, and apply the above conversion to it, and that will tell you how many miles square it is. Then square it, and that will tell you how many square miles it is. For example, if each grid square is 0.64" on a side, then that would be: 0.64" * (0.78 mi/1") = 0.5 mi So each grid square would be 0.5 mi square, or 0.25 square miles. Scott