Convert Square Chains to Barns
Convert Square Chains (ch²) to Barns (b) instantly and accurately.
Conversion Formula
b = ch² × 4.046856422e+30
About Square Chains
A square chain (ch²) is a surveying unit equal to the area of a square with sides of one Gunter's chain (66 feet or ~20.12 m), approximately 404.69 m². Ten square chains equal exactly one acre, making it the natural subdivision unit in traditional land surveying. The US Public Land Survey System used chains to lay out townships and sections, and square chains appear throughout old legal property descriptions and government land grants across North America. One square chain equals exactly 16 square rods.
About Barns
A barn (b) is a unit of area used in nuclear and particle physics to measure effective cross-sections of atomic nuclei and particle interaction probabilities. Equal to 10⁻²⁸ m² (10⁻²⁴ cm²), it was humorously named during the Manhattan Project - physicists joked that uranium nuclei were 'as big as a barn' at the subatomic scale. Particle physics experiments at accelerators like CERN report cross-sections in millibarns (mb), microbarns (μb), nanobarns (nb), and femtobarns (fb).
Quick Reference Table
| Square Chains (ch²) | Barns (b) |
|---|---|
| 1 ch² | 4.047 × 1030 b |
| 2 ch² | 8.094 × 1030 b |
| 5 ch² | 2.023 × 1031 b |
| 10 ch² | 4.047 × 1031 b |
| 25 ch² | 1.012 × 1032 b |
| 50 ch² | 2.023 × 1032 b |
| 100 ch² | 4.047 × 1032 b |