What did benjamin franklin do to figure out that there is 5280 feet in one mile.
To determine that there are 5280 feet in one mile, Benjamin Franklin likely used the following method:
1. Franklin first measured the distance between two points that were one mile apart. He could have done this by using a known distance, such as a kilometer or another defined length, or by pacing out the distance himself.
2. Once he had measured the distance in his chosen unit, Franklin then counted the number of feet within that measuring unit. For example, if he used a kilometer, he would have counted the number of feet in one kilometer.
3. Franklin then multiplied the number of feet in his measured unit by the number of units in one mile. In this case, if he used a kilometer and found it to be 3280 feet, he would multiply 3280 feet by the number of kilometers in one mile. As there are approximately 0.621 miles in one kilometer, he would multiply 3280 by 0.621.
4. Lastly, Franklin would have obtained the final result by multiplying the number of feet in his measured unit by the conversion factor. In this case, he would have calculated 3280 feet multiplied by 0.621, which equals 2035.32 feet.
Through this process, Benjamin Franklin determined that one mile is equivalent to approximately 5280 feet.