The metric system

[Sagittarius83]

I am constantly amazed at the devotion to the imperial system of measurements.
Gallons, tablespoons, miles, pounds…wtf?
Even Fahrenheit makes no sense and had to be tweaked due to poor instruments at it’s inception.
Is the metric system just unfamiliar?
I will admit that Celsius should be replaced with Kelvin but…you know…baby steps.

 

[Fabiusbile]

I am constantly amazed at the devotion to the imperial system of measurements.
Gallons, tablespoons, miles, pounds…wtf?

A matter of habit. They have been trained on these dimensions since childhood, and for them our dimensions seem just as uncomfortable.
I'm afraid this question is unsolvable

 

[Sagittarius83]

Y

A matter of habit. They have been trained on these dimensions since childhood, and for them our dimensions seem just as uncomfortable.
I'm afraid this question is unsolvable

Yes, people get caught up in complacency.

 

[calamity]

I am constantly amazed at the devotion to the imperial system of measurements.
Gallons, tablespoons, miles, pounds…wtf?
Even Fahrenheit makes no sense and had to be tweaked due to poor instruments at it’s inception.
Is the metric system just unfamiliar?
I will admit that Celsius should be replaced with Kelvin but…you know…baby steps.

Few people in the US even know what a Kelvin is. They prefer yards to meters and pounds to Kilograms, even though their weight would sound less daunting in Kg.

Truth of F versus C: 100 and 0 in the F-scale are good values for temperature extremes outside. Who the hell can relate to 38 and minus 18?

 

[rickc]

My industry is construction. The Federal government tried building drawings in metric. Problem is our measuring tools are all imperial. You lose that intuitive knowledge of distance. You know what 30' looks like but 9.14 meters?

Anyway we wound up converting all the drawings to inches and feet for field use.

As a trained engineer metric is much easier to work with.

 

[Sagittarius83]

I

My industry is construction. The Federal government tried building drawings in metric. Problem is our measuring tools are all imperial. You lose that intuitive knowledge of distance. You know what 30' looks like but 9.14 meters?

Anyway we wound up converting all the drawings to inches and feet for field use.

As a trained engineer metric is much easier to work with.

I grew up in the US and I would have no sense of the metric system had I not studied chemistry at University. But I now constantly have to do conversions with my American friends. They say what’s the temperature and I tell them in Celsius and they say what is the temperature in real numbers!!!

It is interesting though that I recall that most liquids in the states, excepting milk, are usually sold by the liter or two liter.

I had problems even back when I was in the states remembering how many ounces in a pound and teaspoons in a tablespoon.

 

[Loulit01]

We did try. When I was in 7th or 8th grade in 1974 or 75, my grammar school science classes went all metric all the time. It was a nationwide initiative.

Metric Conversion Act - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[calamity]

I

I grew up in the US and I would have no sense of the metric system had I not studied chemistry at University. But I now constantly have to do conversions with my American friends. They say what’s the temperature and I tell them in Celsius and they say what is the temperature in real numbers!!!

Conversions are easy. Every 10 deg C is 18 in F. So +10 is 50F and -10 is 14. Also, let them know that at -40, they are both the same.

 

[Sagittarius83]

Few people in the US even know what a Kelvin is. They prefer yards to meters and pounds to Kilograms, even though their weight would sound less daunting in Kg.

Truth of F versus C: 100 and 0 in the F-scale are good values for temperature extremes outside. Who the hell can relate to 38 and minus 18?

0 kelvin is absolute zero and nothing can be colder so zero means something. 0 Celsius is the freezing point of water but lab tests show that totally pure water freezes at a much lower temperature. 0 Fahrenheit is the freezing point of a saturated saline solution. But 100 F was supposed to be body temperature but the thermometers at the time were too primitive to get this right so this had to be fixed.

A mile is a very long distance and a km is easier for people to visualize. A gallon is a very large amount of liquid and a liter is easier to think about. So the metric equivalents are easier.

 

[Manc Skipper]

Few people in the US even know what a Kelvin is. They prefer yards to meters and pounds to Kilograms, even though their weight would sound less daunting in Kg.

Truth of F versus C: 100 and 0 in the F-scale are good values for temperature extremes outside. Who the hell can relate to 38 and minus 18?

The British have done it. (although the more rabid brexiters might want to go back!) You learn that a meter is a little bigger than a yard, which is based on a dead King's arm length, hence "Imperial") And you discover from experience that 20c is comfortable t-shirt weather!

 

[calamity]

0 kelvin is absolute zero and nothing can be colder so zero means something. 0 Celsius is the freezing point of water but lab tests show that totally pure water freezes at a much lower temperature. 0 Fahrenheit is the freezing point of a saturated saline solution. But 100 F was supposed to be body temperature but the thermometers at the time were too primitive to get this right so this had to be fixed.

A mile is a very long distance and a km is easier for people to visualize. A gallon is a very large amount of liquid and a liter is easier to think about. So the metric equivalents are easier.

Yeah, of course. A 1000 meters makes sense whereas 5280 feet does not, especially since each foot contains 12 inches.

 

[calamity]

The British have done it. (although the more rabid brexiters might want to go back!) You learn that a meter is a little bigger than a yard, which is based on a dead King's arm length, hence "Imperial") And you discover from experience that 20c is comfortable t-shirt weather!

Yep, and minus 20 is damned cold. But much colder in F.

 

[Sagittarius83]

The British have done it. (although the more rabid brexiters might want to go back!) You learn that a meter is a little bigger than a yard, which is based on a dead King's arm length, hence "Imperial") And you discover from experience that 20c is comfortable t-shirt weather!

I fully support Brexit and what is coming to be called Nexit but I think that metric should stay in the UK.

 

[Loulit01]

I vote for furlongs, fathoms, farthings, and wee drams. Temperature values should be in witches' tits for cold, and number of peckers on a billy goat for hot.

 

[Sagittarius83]

Conversions are easy. Every 10 deg C is 18 in F. So +10 is 50F and -10 is 14. Also, let them know that at -40, they are both the same.

C is 5/9 + 32 to get to F . C is -32 times 9/5 to get to F. Better to scrap F altogether. Better yet to scrap C for K

 

[calamity]

C is 5/9 + 32 to get to F . C is -32 times 9/5 to get to F. ...

It's easier to just add or subtract 18 to or from a known number for each 10 deg C.

For example: -40 equals -40 in both systems. So, -30C is gonna be -22F, -20 is -4, etc. Also, I know off the top of my head that 50F is 10c. So, 68F is 20C. And 86 is 30.

I guess my brain prefers working with patterns over formulas.

 

[Sagittarius83]

It's easier to just add or subtract 18 to or from a known number for each 10 deg C.

For example: -40 equals -40 in both systems. So, -30C is gonna be -22F, -20 is -4, etc. Also, I know off the top of my head that 50F is 10c. So, 68F is 20C. And 86 is 30.

I guess my brain prefers working with patterns over formulas.

Sure if approximations are important and for most people that is fine.

For me 5c to 25 c is acceptable temperature wise. So about 40 F to 78 C approximately.

Scientists generally prefer Fahrenheit if they are biologists because there are more gradations in their fields of interests. They tend to prefer Celsius otherwise unless they are hard core physicists who like the rigidity of Kelvin.

I prefer Kelvin because I like uniform systems and the conversions from C to K are so simple.

 

[calamity]

Sure if approximations are important and for most people that is fine.

For me 5c to 25 c is acceptable temperature wise. So about 40 F to 78 C approximately.

Scientists generally prefer Fahrenheit if they are biologists because there are more gradations in their fields of interests. They tend to prefer Celsius otherwise unless they are hard core physicists who like the rigidity of Kelvin.

I prefer Kelvin because I like uniform systems and the conversions from C to K are so simple.

No argument on K. It's absolute.

Now that I am in management, I'm all about rapid approximations that can easily be visualized in my head. A mm is roughly 40 thousandths of an inch. So, a meter is about 40 inches. I love making those kinds of estimations. Hence a dude standing 6' tall, 72 inches, is a penis size (about 8 inches) shy of two meters but measures exactly two yards.