Cups, quarts, pints, feet, inches, 32f, 212f....bah, I'll take the metric system any day. It's so much easier.

If I'm not mistaken, Star Trek uses the metric system, so get used to it because you guys will change one day. ;)

If I'm not mistaken the UK didn't convert to the metric system until the early 80s.

The English system is much easier for approximations because its core measurements are based on amounts that are useful for everyday life.

A Gallon is the amount of water a person should drink a day, whereas a liter ain't enough. An ounce is about a mouthful, and a milliliter is but a drop on the tongue. A quart is a quarter of a gallon (duh?), and is the perfect amount of milk to buy and drink before it goes sour. A pint is the perfect size for a beer, whereas a liter would lose its head before you could finish it. A foot is about (duh!) the length of a male's foot and a yard is your average pace (2 steps), thus you can estimate the length of something much easier than in meters. A pound is the weight at which you have to strain slightly to hold it in your outstretched hand, whereas a gram can be blown away by a slight breeze.

The metric system just isn't convenient for everyday measures. The US uses metrics for everything that requires precise measurements, though.

You aren't serious, are you? The Europeans brought it with the when the came.

:thumbsup: ahh, thank you. I knew there was a reason that I thought our system was pretty easy, you just were able to put it into words for me. I wonder if the best system would be a combination, for some reason theare are some measurements in our system I just dont want to give up

I'm sure that people who grew up with the metric system have just as many "rule of thumb"s as you do.

me too, i would be greatly confused especially with temperature seeing as how there is so much distance inbetween a single farenheight and celcius

Once we crash enough multi-billion dollar satelites and space chips they'll start changing. Just gotta teach them youngins good and right.

I used to think we should switch but now I really don't care. The costs of changing the signs on the freeways alone would be astronomical.

By the way...

Not all engineers use metric. I work in the air quality field and I've NEVER used metric measurements at work. Every once in a while the measurement for a fan will be in standard m3/min but usually it is in both with the English system in bold and on top. Everything is expressed in feet, miles, tons, pounds, etc.

English units aren't that difficult. My engineering school was very good at making sure we were comfortable using either one.

Remember, A cm is the width of your pinkie.

Hahaha, I love that answer and completly agree with it. At the heart I am very rebellious and do not like being told that I have to do something, to a point. But to be told that now in my adult life that i have to learn metric when all my life I have known and used imperial would just about send me over the edge. I may infact, out of spite, measure everything possible thing i can get ahold of and document it in Imperial...ahhh the joy of spite......

What about people who have sausage fingers?

quite easy
it's called a dm - decimeter
10 cm or .1 m

To be quite honest the whole metric system gives me a headache. The weight and distance I pretty much get. But I cannot not seem to grasp the temperature conversion thing. I know the 0c is the temp at which water freezes. and 100c is the temp and which it boils. But when they say that's it 30c outside. I'm putting up my jacket. Because (logically) it should be about 64f. (30+32=62). But the conversion doesn't work like that at all. So if it's 30c out side. I need to on a....dang...I need an aspirin.

temp was hardest to get used to (me = american lived in europe past 2 years).

what helps, aside from boil/freeze, is to remember that body temp is ~36 degrees.

Thanks SiN. I'll keep that in mind. But it still blows me away. Because if ~36 is body temp. That means the US conversion would be 98'F.

Now try to follow me here (yeah, let's let the blind guy lead for awhile. no wonder we're lost). On the Fahrenheit scale, water boils at 212'. And the difference in between normal body temp boiling water is 114 points (212-98=114). Now on the Metric scale the difference in between the two is a mere 64 points (100-36=64). This means I need more aspirin.

OK. I'm an average US person. With education level equal to the average US citizen. Keeping that in mind, I think the above formula answer the thread as to why we are not on the metric system. (But I'm sure if we did, it would be a boom for aspirin sales)

:crazy: Uh, yeah, just like I said right after his original post. :rolleyes:

As for the temp, its a 9/5 conversion factor. Its hard to calculate 9/5 in your head, but its close enough to do a 2:1 factor (like 10/5) to get you in the ball park, and dont forget to add 32 degrees to it.

Good one. Now all I have to do is double the celsius and subtract a few degrees. Good enough to choose a coat, anyway. :)

So. if its 10c outside. Useing your conversion method it would be in the ballpark of 52' (10+10+32=52)) or jacket weather.

Exactly. Thats exactly what I do. Its the "subtract a few degrees" that makes it a lot closer. And remember, the bigger the number, the more you have to subtract.


Yep. The real conversion would make 10 deg c = 50 deg f, but its not like the 2 degrees is going to make a difference in what you wear. It works great for weather type converstions, but if you are talking oven temps, it can be way off.

I think the Federal government already uses the metric system, but states have a choice. For instance, food regulation and labels are federal laws. Hence, grams, liters, calories, etc... Gasoline inspection done on state level, as is highway control. U.S. army, 5.56 mm round, 120 mm shells, 6 clicks to target, etc... Medication (federal controlled) measured in metric. 200 mg pills, 10 ccs fluid, one liter of plasma.

I do remember as a small child seeing kph signs on the highway in Massachusetts.

Ah, sorry.
Reading through the thread I have no idea how I completely missed your post. Many pardons.

Didn't NASA crash a VERY expensive satellite into Mars some years ago because of a transition mistake? That's fucked up.
I think it's a question of proud or something for the americans and brittish. Saw on the news several years ago about the fact that the brittish had passed a law were all foodpackages had to be marked with both kg and pound or whatever. Some old bloak was interview and didn't like it at all. He wondered why they had to adapt, after all "we won the war" he said. Which war??!

Not to clear on the details of the crash, But I do know that NASA is on the metric system.

pick one, Egland has won quite a few, thanks to the help of a few friends

The metric system is wonderful for any application that requires math. Otherwise, it doesn't matter WHAT system you use. A number is a number. In fact, for most measurements (at least the ones the average American actually uses), the imperial number is easier to understand than the metric number. For example, the meter is a horrible distance to judge by. A foot is much easier to judge for a human. Same with temperature - 100 degrees is very close to body temperature, which is much easier to judge by than the boiling point of water.

If I ask what the temperature is outside, I just want to be able to know if I should put on a sweater. For that use, Imperial may actually be better (though ANY other system would work just as well with use). For anything related to math, such as scientific experiments or construction, most people, including Americans, will use metric. Sometimes they'll later convert back to imperial simply to be able to judge the result based on their experience. There's just no reason to spend all the time, money, and effort to convert over to metric, when there really isn't a problem using the current system.

You're right, but if I recal it correctly, it was another company who made a part of the satellite or something that use the brittish/american system an didn't bohter to tell NASA. :hmm:


I guess he meant WWII but that wasn't my point, England may win as many war as they want! It's still a obsolete system...right?

Edit: For the record, a couple of hundred years ago the UK promised the french to start using the metric system if the french agreed on placing the zero median in Greenwich... ;)

I'm a born and raised American, and I'm not really familier with the metric system. I would definately be willing to convert if I thought it would be benifitial to me/us. If the metric system is far superior to our system, then why wouldn't I want to convert? I love trying new things and I'm not afraid of putting a little more work into it, if it will be better for me in the long run.

That being said, many many people (not just Americans) do no like change. If the change requires any amount of effort, then you can forget it. It's quite sad that people are not willing to put forth a little effort to better themselves and the country they live in.

Again, I don't know if the metric system really is better for us or not. I'm really just commenting on why the US won't addapt the metric system.

GeePee S'r, what a great history lesson! Thanks for sharing.

I'm a fan of the metric system, but at the same time I see the current American system as a more natural format. Metric seems so harsh and mathematical. I can't guage a centimeter, but I know that the distance between my finger knuckles is about an inch. I have no concept of a meter, but I know a foot and a yard. And what simple unit in the metric system is equivalent to a foot? Americans would change as soon as foreign trade dictates some essential need, but in the meantime I'll cherish the basic foot and inch while I've got them.

This story is sad, too, considering how the meter is no longer defined by a steel bar but by some fundamental properties of the universe...

Hehe. Yeah! Star Trek can't be wrong, can it? :D

Well the USofA is slowly kind of sinking into the metric system: we have two liter bottles!

Additionally, in and around the small hamlet of corvallis, oregon the road mileage signs now come in both miles and kilometers. I suppose that in the future, there will come a point where both are displayed next to each other, and then one day the Imperial system will just fade away.

Man it's a pain in the ass. I hate having metric units in physics and having to convert to metric. The americans have such a huge pull on the air industry that I'm stuck using imperial in the air too. I can't escape it! It would make research and the likes a lot easier if the world were on the same page.

Yep! One meter is about the length between my (left) shoulder and the fingertips of my (right) outstretched hand or the height from the floor to my waist. My foot is a decimeter (0.1 meter) wide, and one cubic decimeter is exactly one liter. Our milk comes in one liter cartons by the way. One liter of water weighs one kilogram. One kilometer takes ten to fifteen minutes to walk, depending on the terrain and how much in a hurry you are.

The world of sports is already using the metric system. 400 meters is one lap around the arena, 50 meters is the length of the pool. If you can jump 236 centimeters high you win the gold. The goal in handball is two meters high and three meters wide.

I hate not being meteric. Life would be much simpler.

Not quite. Think about American sports. A football field is 100 yards long. Ten yards per down. Baseball is measured in feet. Its a conspiracy!!!! :eek: Pro sports are the real reason the US hasnt switched to the metric system. J/K :D

I refuse to acknowledge non-metric sports.

I know some of the metric system ,but i still perfer the america system.The only part I hate about metric or america system is when i have to convert one number into the other.I have to pull out a paper and check out the formulas.America system is pretty easy though

8oz=1 cup
2 cups=1 pint
2 pints=1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon

16oz=one pound
2000 pounds = 1 ton

Now, the only time I ever use the metric system in practice is, when I am brewing, I weigh my hops in grams. The only reason for this is that my scale will measure to eighths of an ouce in English, but to the gram in metric. With 28 grams to the ounce, it's just more sensitive. I really can't envision every having to weight more than about 4 oz of hops at once, so the precision is nice. The way I am using it amounts to making the gram another English unit with a typically oddball conversion ratio.

If beer needs the metric system then it is without question the right way of measuring.

Americans just have to be different to the rest of the world anyway.

For example, Who else in the world writes dates as month/day/year ?

Also, Ameirca's "imperial" system isn't the same as the imperial system used by the rest of the world when going nostalgic for pre-metrication.

For example, US pints are smaller than the 568ml pints used everywhere else. That makes a glass of beer smaller and that is serious ;)