Question: Kitchen Counters

Is there a typical height of a kitchen counter? Is there an optimal height?

Just looked it up and apparently, yes, three feet is the standard height of kitchen counter. This is supposed to be a compromise between tall people and short people.

[1] http://ergonomics.about.com/od/kitchen/f/counter_height.htm
[2] http://www.houzz.com/discussions/28971/Is-there-a-standard-kitchen-counter-height----

Your Reach Is More Than You Think

A person an inch taller than another can reach up one and a half inches higher.

A person two inches taller than another can reach up three inches higher.

On average.

For purposes of this post, people's arm-spans are exactly the same as their height (I know it can vary a few inches).

So, when a person is 2 inches taller, they also have 2 inches to give to the length of their arms, approximately 1 inch would go to each arm (assuming that each person's torso is the same width).