South Carolina Real Estate Broker Practice Exam

To understand why there are 640 acres in a mile, it's important to know how both miles and acres are defined in terms of area measurement. A mile is defined as 5,280 feet. When converting miles into acres, it's useful to consider that an acre is equal to 43,560 square feet.

To calculate the number of acres in a square mile, you start with the area of a square that measures 1 mile on each side. The area of a square is found by multiplying the length of one side by itself. Therefore, the area of a square mile is:

1 mile x 1 mile = 5,280 feet x 5,280 feet = 27,878,400 square feet.

Next, to find out how many acres are in this area, you divide the total square footage by the square footage of one acre:

27,878,400 square feet ÷ 43,560 square feet per acre = 640 acres.

This calculation effectively shows how 1 square mile equals 640 acres, making the correct answer valid and backed by precise measurement conversions in land area. Thus, recognizing that a square mile is the product of its length, and knowing the conversion rates, leads to the understanding that there