Question

Fathom is the unit to measure the: -
A. ${\text{ speed of ship}}$
B. ${\text{ depth of sea}}$
C. ${\text{ distance of the ship}}$
D. ${\text{ speed of cyclone}}$

Answer 1

Hint:in order to find the solution to the question we need to know that Fathom is the unit of length. Fathoms have been used since ancient times but still now it is not the SI unit. SI units are the International standard unit which is accepted in the whole world but fathom has been used in some parts of the world so it is a local unit of measurement.

Complete step by step answer:
Fathom is a unit of length which is used to measure the depth of the water and it is equal to 6 feet. It is mainly used in the imperial and the US customary system and 6 feet is basically two yards. Originally Fathom was the span of the man's open arm but this was denied as various men have varied sizes of man arm. The name Fathom is derived from the old English word. The ancient Greek called Fathom orguia.

Uses of Fathom:
Water depth: Fathom points are used by the boatman to measure the depth of shallow water; these fathom points are generally called deeps. For measuring the depths, a mechanical device is used which is known as a fathometer and a fathogram is the record made by this device.

Line length: fathom is also used by the commercial fishermen. They basically use a fathom for measuring their rope which is known as the ground line. Fishermen in pacific called the ground line as skates.

On land: In the early 20th century, fathom was used to measure the depth of the mines in the United Kingdom.

Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Note: As we know fathom was measured by the outstretch of man’s arm but after that fathom was around $5\dfrac{1}{2}\,feet$ but later it was changed to $6\,feet$ and now it is widely measured as $6\,feet$ around the globe. In different measuring units, fathom is 1.8 meters ,72 inches, 2 yards and 18 hands. and a quarter meant one quarter of a fathom.