In physics, particularly in the field of nuclear and particle physics, a "barn" is a unit of area used to describe the likelihood of nuclear reactions or scattering events. The name "barn" comes from the idea that it's a very large target area, as if hitting the broad side of a barn were an easy task.
The barn is not part of the International System of Units (SI), but it's a widely recognized unit in nuclear physics. One barn is equal to 1 square femtometer (fm²), which is an incredibly small area. Specifically:
1 barn (b) = 1 square femtometer (fm²) = 10^(-28) square meters (m²)
To put it in perspective, a barn is used to describe the effective target area for nuclear reactions. Nuclear cross-sections, which describe the likelihood of nuclear interactions occurring, are often measured in barns. It's a unit that allows scientists to quantify the probability of certain atomic and subatomic processes taking place.
A square pole, also known as a square perch, is an obsolete unit of land area measurement that was historically used in some English-speaking countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. It is part of the older system of land measurement.
One square pole is equivalent to one square perch. In terms of modern measurements, one square pole is approximately equal to 25.29285264 square meters (m²) or 0.00625 acres.
As with other outdated units of land area measurement, the square pole is no longer commonly used in modern land transactions or legal documents. More standardized systems of measurement, such as square meters and square feet, have largely replaced these units.