science

Pous

Pous is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pous rather than just read about it. In short: The pous (pl. podes; Ancient Greek: πούς, poús) or Greek foot (pl. feet) was a Greek unit of length of approximately 300mm or 12 inches. It had various subdivisions whose lengths varied by place and over time. 100 podes made up one plethron, 600 podes made up a stade (the Greek furlong) and 5000 made up a milion (the Greek mile).

Key takeaways

Pous belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pous to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pous from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The pous (pl. podes; Ancient Greek: πούς, poús) or Greek foot (pl. feet) was a Greek unit of length of approximately 300mm or 12 inches. It had various subdivisions whose lengths varied by place and over time. 100 podes made up one plethron, 600 podes made up a stade (the Greek furlong) and 5000 made up a milion (the Greek mile). The Greek pous also has long, median and short forms. The pous spread throughout much of Europe and the Middle East during the Hellenic period preceding and following the conquests of Alexander the Great and remained in use as a Byzantine unit until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Comparative analysis A pous is divided into digits or fingers (daktyloi) which are multiplied as shown. Generally the sexagesimal or decimal multiples have Mesopotamian origins while the septenary multiples have Egyptian origins. Greek measures of short median and long podes can be thought of as based on body measures. The lengths may be compared to the Imperial/U.S. foot of 304.8 mm. Stecchini and others propose the Greek podes are different sizes because they are divided into different numbers of different sized daktylos to facilitate different calculations. The most obvious place to observe the relative difference is in the Greek orders of architecture whose canon of proportions is based on column diameters.

References

Mathematical and metrological references H Arthur Klein (1976). The World of Measurements. Simon and Schuster. R. A. Cordingley (1951). Norman's Parallel of the Orders of Architecture. Alex Trianti Ltd. Francis H. Moffitt (1987). Surveying. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-044554-8. Gillings (1972). Mathematics in the time of the Pharaohs. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-07045-6. Lucas N. H. Bunt; Phillip S.Jones; Jack D. Bedient (1976). The Historical Roots of Elementary Mathematics. Dover. ISBN 0-486-25563-8. Somers Clarke & R. Englebach (1990). Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture. Dover. ISBN 0-486-26485-8. Gardiner (1990). Egyptian Grammar. Griffith Institute. ISBN 0-900416-35-1.

Linguistic references Anne H. Groton (1995). From Alpha to Omega. Focus Information group. ISBN 0-941051-38-2. J. P. Mallory (1989). In Search of the Indo Europeans. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27616-1.

Classical references Vitruvius (1960). The Ten Books on Architecture. Dover. Claudias Ptolemy (1991). The Geography. Dover. ISBN 0-486-26896-9. Herodotus (1952). The History. William Brown.

Archaeological historical references Michael Grant (1987). The Rise of the Greeks. Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 9780684185361. Lionel Casson (1959). The ancient mariners: seafarers and sea fighters of the Mediterranean in ancient times. Macmillan. OCLC 392365. James B. Pritchard (1968). The Ancient Near East. OUP. Nelson Glueck (1959). Rivers in the Desert. HUC.

Medieval references Jean Gimpel (1976). The Medieval Machine. Holt Rheinhart & Winston. ISBN 0-03-014636-4. H Johnathan Riley Smith (1990). The Atlas of the Crusades. Swanston. ISBN 0-7230-0361-0. Elizabeth Hallam (1986). The Plantagenet Chronicles. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 1-55584-018-3. H.W. Koch (1978). Medieval Warfare. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-573600-5.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pous

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pous claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pous before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pous ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pous

In research: Pous appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pous in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pous is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ancient Greek units of measurement, Human-based units of measurement, Units of length, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pous outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pous in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pous means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pous out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pous in simple terms?

Why does Pous matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pous?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pous.