Zephyr66

but the metric system is a billion times easier than that, you can't get much easier than multiples of ten. for example, even with your "easy" conversions, it would still take too much calculation to convert... say... oz to gallons. with the metric system, you would just need to divide it by a multiple of 10

Tophat665

Now don't be silly. Beer is to be dispensed in Pints. There is not other civilized way to drink a beer (no, litre steins are not civilized). If I had a scale that did Lbs, Oz, and Grains, then I wouln't bother with Grams at all.

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piesen

I grew up in a country that uses the Metric system and when i came to the USA I had a few problems, but they are all gone and foot and inches are not that bad at all, allthough weight is a different issue all together the temps I have down pretty good even on the freezing side -40C is -40F lol


Easier
Read this

meter

The meter (abbreviation, m; the British spelling is metre) is the International System of Units (SI) unit of displacement or length. One meter is the distance traveled by a ray of electromagnetic (EM) energy through a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 (3.33564095 x 10-9) of a second. The meter was originally defined as one ten-millionth (0.0000001 or 10-7) of the distance, as measured over the earth's surface in a great circle passing through Paris, France, from the geographic north pole to the equator.

One meter is a little more than three English feet, or about 39.37 inches. One foot is approximately 0.3048 meter. There are about 1609 meters in a statute mile. The official span was at one time formally defined as the separation between two scratches on a platinum bar in Paris. This was, of course, intended mainly for show, and not for use in the laboratory.

Power-of-10 prefix multipliers facilitate the derivation of other, often more convenient, distance units from the meter. One centimeter (cm) is equal to 0.01 m, one millimeter (mm) is equal to 0.001 m, and one kilometer (km) is equal to 1000 m. These units are found in nonscientific as well as scientific literature. Smaller units are the realm of the scientist and engineer. One micrometer (symbolized ?m or ?), also called a micron, is equal to 0.000001 (10-6) m. One nanometer (nm) is equal to 10-9 m. One Angström unit (symbolized Ä) is equal to 10-10 m, or 0.1 nm.

The meter and its kin are used to specify the wavelengths of EM fields. The so-called radio spectrum occupies an informally defined range of wavelengths from roughly a millimeter (microwaves) to several tens of kilometers (myriametric waves). A 3-m radio wave falls near the middle of the standard FM (frequency modulation) broadcast band; a 300-m radio wave is near the middle of the standard AM (amplitude-modulation) broadcast band. The range of visible light wavelengths is from approximately 390 nm (violet) to 770 nm (red). The speed of EM-field propagation in a vacuum, to nine significant figures, is 2.99792458 x 108 meters per second. In this sense, the meter can be derived from the second if the latter unit has been previously defined in absolute terms; one meter is the distance a ray of light travels through a vacuum in 3.33564095 x 10-9 second.

In engineering applications, and also in an everyday sense, the term meter refers to any instrument used to measure the magnitude of a quantity. Examples include the volume-unit (VU) meter in home audio systems, the ammeter to measure electric current, and the kilowatt-hour meter to measure electrical energy consumed over a period of time.

derektor

we made a mess we can not clean up ourselves. it's very american in a way that we are very individualistic.

sashime76

Does anyone know in terms of ratio, what percentage of countries (in the world) use Metric vs Standard? It's just plain dumb to have two sets of tools, units when you work on something. Don't US scientists and engineers also use Metric?

Metric bases on 10-increment, Standard - anything goes???? 2 pints to a quart (2), 4 quarts to a gallon (4), 12 inches to a foot (12), 3 feet to a yard (3), 5280 feet to a mile (5280!). Now for currency, it's a perfect 10-increment!?

Thermopyle

I think they do. But it's sad that you have to be a rocket scientist to understand the benifits of the metric system

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Pip

It's Å actually, as in Ångström.

kulrblind

Not here. That's short-sleeve weather, baby! Woohooo!

sashime76

Rocket scientist??? Perhaps not, ANY engineer should know how to measure in Metric, and the technicians. Don't think we are too old to learn new tricks, are we?

Thermopyle

I dont know, are you?

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SaltPork

How very ethno/geocentric of you.

It would make commerce easier, cut down costs of manufacturing because everyone would be using the same units of measure (think speedometers, bolts, plans, etc.). I'm sure there would be other benefits too, but I'm not an economist. You can't just say, "My house, my rules" anymore. The world is a much smaller place now more than ever and it's only going to get smaller.

With regard to the money conversions, didn't 90% of Europe agree to merge all their currency?? You must have heard of the Euro. More and more countries over there want to be part of the European Union for one big reason, economic stability. Some would argue that there is a culture shift due to the money being changed resulting in some nationalistic identity loss, but those detractors aren't fervent, except maybe in the UK, which is still using the Pound.

I wish the US would convert to the metric system. It would make the traveling I do that much easier. Just going north to Canada is a challenge sometimes, let alone going to Europe. But I make do. Having those experiences has made me a stronger advocate for the metric system. I give it another 5-10 years before the matter is broached again. Remember that Ford attempted to convert the country back in the 70's, but the measure fell flat on it's face. As Americans become more global, they will embrace the idea of a change a little bit less hesitantly. Will the conversion be painful? Probably. But no one ever said that change was easy.

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It was like that when I got here....I swear.

Charlatan

As someone stated... the US already is a Metric nation... It just isn't being enforced.

__________________
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LLL2

Maybe I like the US system because it's easier to measure when you have measuring tape.Like alot of people been saying.

splck

Imperial might seem easier to you because you may not be used to the metric system. I use both and am comfortable with both. That said, the metric system is much simpler to use.
what's easier?
16mm + 23mm =?
or
13/16 of an inch + 9/32 of an inch =?

__________________
nice line eh?

LLL2

Damn you got me,yeah guess you guys are right.

let me give you the answers so people don't think i don't know.

39mm
35/32 = 1 3/32

AngelicVampire

Umm neither is much harder... its simple maths there...

LLL2

I know,but there more steps with the fraction.

splck

No one said they were hard, just that one is easier than the other.

__________________
nice line eh?

heccubusiv

as a pharmacuetical scientist in training, all i use is the metric system, no one wants a pint of medication or a gallon of fluid. Its just so much easier and less fool proof

__________________
Fuck Ohio

Tophat665

Beg to differ. All depends on what you're medicating....
<img src="http://ip.rhps.org/gallery/sn/01/ed-yelling.jpg">
and the prescription...
<img src="http://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/images/beers/8.jpg">
That should be prescribed by the pint or gallon. (Take 8 pints before bedtime.)

__________________
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Pip

Was that supposed to be an argument for or against the metric system?

Tophat665

It's a silly argument.

Look - the people who need metric, use metric. Folks who have to do a lot of quick math with measurements. Folks who have engineering tools instead of woodworking tools. This is a good thing. Folks who don't actually need to change the way they think use what they have always used - this is also a good thing because we don't have to spend a buttload of money (that would be two shitloads - two metric shitloads make nothing. A thousand make a Kiloshit, though.) changing signage and textbooks.

So why get worked up over this? It's really not very important.

__________________
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Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

Thermopyle

Life goes on with or without the metric system, but it's a hell a lot of easier with it....

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trib767

The Irish have just (20th January) changed all speed limits from Mph to Kph.

Tophat665

trib767, this is true. They also banned smoking in the whole country. There's a reason there are almost as many Irish jokes as Polish jokes.

__________________
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supersix2

In my engineering classes at school we use both English system units and metric units. Metric units are ALOT easier to work with because the conversion factor is simple a factor of 10.
Here is the unusual part though...
The English system uses pounds for weight, and a pound is actually a force measurement. Remember that there is a difference between weight and mass. Mass is always constant and weight depends on gravity.
As a result, a pound and a kilogram are not actually the same thing. Infact this is the one thing that really annoys me about the english system.
We have sort of a joke going about how the users of the metric system don't go into a store and buy a Newton of potatoes because that would be absurd. (The Newton being the SI unit of force and is 1 kg*m/s^2) A pound is 1 slug*ft/s^2 with a slug being the english system measurement of mass. This is of course in accordance with Newton's Second Law of F = ma.

To compensate for this the EE (English Engineering system) has developed two very odd units, the pound mass (lbm) and the pound force (lbf) I hate both of those units and I hate the EE system. Its a stupid hybrid between the old English System and the metric system. Its stupid and I hate it. Its very annoying to have to convert between its own units and metric units.

Unfortunatley we are forced to learn to use all sets of units because the industry in the US uses the English System units and when engineers do things for industry we need to be able to convert all of these units.

I think of the English System as the measurement system for the "common people" in the US and the metric system for math and science and of course...the rest of the world.

kutulu

No, they are the same thing. You are just getting lbf and lb mixed up. The imperial system just uses two different units for mass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force#I...force_and_mass

Good luck in engineering school. Make sure you know your imperial units. Chances are pretty good that you will almost always use imperial and rarely use SI. That's how it is for me and most of the people I know.

supersix2

Actually the pound that normal people use to measure things is a force measurement. You are correct that in the Imperial Engineering System or the English Engineering system there is a difference between a lbf and a lbm and I did say that in my topic.

However when you step on the scale and measure yourself in pounds you are finding your weight and not your mass and that means that pounds are a force measurement.

kutulu

And so is the kilogram measurement you see on the scales. The factor g/gc is equal to 1 kgf/kgm or 1 lbf/lbm. As a result, on Earth an object with a 1kg mass weighs 1kg force. The f subscript is just dropped because for common everyday applications it doesn't need to be there. Read to the bottom of the link I posted previously, they briefly touch on kgf as if it is rarely used but when was the last time you saw a scale give a reading in newtons? They all say kg (meaning kgf).

Therefore, your mass and weight both have the same numeric value, even if the units are different. Kgf is not an si unit but it is a unit derived from the metric system is used more often in everyday life. It really causes havoc when you have to remember when to add in the gc factor.

It all works because we all live on the same planet and even though the acceleration due to gravity is higher in Death Valley than it is at the top of Mount Everest, it's not enough of a difference to make it a gross inaccuracy.

I rememeber back in my lab days we had an instructor that liked to screw with us. He had pressure guages that represented all sorts of units and he'd switch them around too. There might be 4 guages and they'd all have different units (psi, lb/ft2, kg/m2, kg/cm2).

captanhero

Besides the United States, Liberia (Western Africa) and Burma (Southeast Asia) are the only other countries that have not officially converted to the metric system. So your ratio would be 190 to 3, depending on whose count of the number of countries on Earth you prefer.

jstory

I wish we would change to the metric system though.

howdydave

Howdy!

Maybe some night we should all just go out and change the speed limit signs to furlongs/fortnight (or sumthin' like that) and force the issue!

Other than that, guess we'll just have to wait for the baby boomers to die out (or at least retire) and try again.

Your mass v. weight for kg all depends on whether you are stepping onto a spring scale or a counterbalance scale.

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Reese

Trying to convert Imperial to metric is much harder when you don't know metric to begin with. That is the problem most people have - that is why the metric conversion act pretty much failed. How can you be expected to learn and know metric when you never have to practice metric measurements in everyday life. All of our companys make things in easy to remember imperial sizes like 1 gallon and 20oz and that leaves us with 4.5 liters, and 591ml which isnt as easy to remember and gives us more reasons not to use it. I'll just assume that metric using countries have nice rounded numbers on their products.

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stevie667

As the generation in the UK that is switching from imperial to metric (i went through school learning imperial measurments, with the odd bit of metric towards the end), i can say it's bloody confusing metric.

I have no idea how fast 100 kph is, or how far 100 meteres is, but i can do 100 mph and 100 yards.
Don't have a clue about volumes or areas, mainly because i'm bad with that type of thing, but for some reason little bitty scale (<1cm) i do in metric, but above in imperial.

Kind of a mish mash of everything, it's easier to go with imperial. It will take 2/3/4 generations for everything to fully convert from imperial to metric due to parents/grandparents passing on their sysem, and thats just too long for most governments these days.

Dyze

AFAIK there is no intention in the US to switch. Arco ones tried it and it ended up in a desaster. People wanted gallons of fuel and not liters. My bet is, that it will never change. Too late.

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Jay Francis

Whenever I have a project around the house, I always measure using metric units for precise accurate measurements.

And in the kitchen I use my digital metric scale for baking.

However, I still do my temperature read-outs in Fahrenheit.

sashime76

I agree with Jay Francis, I think it's more precise to use Metric when you are building a bookshelf or cutting floor boards. It's easier to add, subtract, multiply and divide using Metric as oppose to Standard. I know where to mark .3 cm or even mm, but 1/3 of 1/16" would have me guessing for a while.