Are you still imperial?

[H2OHead]

Our kids (American that is) walk around wearing pants 9 sizes too big for them, speak as if they were raised by gangster-wolves, and struggle to get out “fries with that?”. When they get their checkbook balance correct it’s a life changing event so I seriously doubt we’ll see the day when more of the population actually understands scientific notation, powers of ten, and the dreaded metric system. Sad but true.

 

[DrSteve]

As someone said 1 inch = 2.54 cm. That is exact - no approximation. Thus it is just as accurate to say 1 inch or 2.54 cm. Accuracy being defined in this case as measured versus actual. Precision being defined as the repeatability of measurements if my memory serves.

But...30 years ago my dad took up diving in the UK. He dove in metres, measured temperature in celsius, but had a 75 cubic foot tank. Go figure!

 

[sheck33]

DrSteve once bubbled...
As someone said 1 inch = 2.54 cm. That is exact - no approximation. Thus it is just as accurate to say 1 inch or 2.54 cm. Accuracy being defined in this case as measured versus actual. Precision being defined as the repeatability of measurements if my memory serves.

But...30 years ago my dad took up diving in the UK. He dove in metres, measured temperature in celsius, but had a 75 cubic foot tank. Go figure!

your definitions of accuracy and precision are correct.
however your example is not.

the statements:

'this object has a length of 1 inch' and 'this object has a length of 2.54 cm' are NOT identical.

another example:

this football field is 100 m long versus it's 10000 cm long, these are 2 different statements.

H2OHead:

scientific notation & powers of ten have really little to do with metric versus imperial, it is just a useful way of writing numbers.

Knavey:

too bad you dont see or refuse to see the clear advantages of the metric system. It makes pretty much everything a lot easier. Dont you think there is a good reason most of the world uses metric? As i said earlier, the scientific community wouldnt even think about using imperial anymore. The imperial system is the stone age one. But the analogy stands, a lot of anti DIR people are anti about something they have little or no understanding of, the same is true for people that oppose the metric system.

 

[DrSteve]

>the statements:

>'this object has a length of 1 inch' and 'this object has a length of 2.54 cm' are NOT identical.

>another example:

>this football field is 100 m long versus it's 10000 cm long, these are 2 different statements.

No they are not identical but they convey exactly the same information. 100 m implies 100.000000000000 m, and that's the same as 10000.00000000000 cm as accepted by convention in scientific reporting.

I always thought a football field was 100 yards long, not 100 m - now that's not identical!

 

[sheck33]

DrSteve once bubbled...

No they are not identical but they convey exactly the same information. 100 m implies 100.000000000000 m, and that's the same as 10000.00000000000 cm as accepted by convention in scientific reporting.

I always thought a football field was 100 yards long, not 100 m - now that's not identical! [/B]

This is hairsplitting here but,
No, they do not convey the same information.
first 100 m does not imply 100.000000000000 m, and it does not imply 10000.00000000000 cm. And no they are not the same.
What i am getting at is implied errors in the measurement. That is were these statements differ.

EDIT: of course if one just states the dimension of something without measuring anything the two are the same.

whatever a yard is....sigh.

metric rocks

 

[KrisB]

Knavey once bubbled...
Stone age? You have GOT to be kidding me! You are living on this planet right?

Yup... and it isn't run by the US Gov't. (Praise God!)

Prevelance? Cite a few examples please. I gave you mine. Still have a ton of metric wrences in a tool box that rarely see the light of day.

That's obviously because you are driving an american vehicle and living in the US. I feel bad for you.

PHDs make you bright? IMOH, its just another piece of paper. I know a couple of PHDs, and I know several janitors. Sometimes its a tossup on who lives in the real world, but my gut feeling is that I would rather have a janitor for my wingman than a PHD (although their are exceptions).

Well, a PhD typically shows that a person has the faculties to research and recognize good and right things. They also typically know when to use the word 'there' and when to use the word 'their'.

Name the "right person that had the vision" and converted the rest of the world to the metric system.

It was likely one person in each country. Seeing as Canada officially went this route in 1970, I do not know who that would have been... a bit before my time.

For info on the US's conversion, see http://slisweb.lis.wisc.edu/~gometric/history.htm

My point is...yes, my Honda Accord uses metric crap. And I take it to the dealer for repairs. My good old fashioned Ford and my Jeep, use standard and I work on them myself (sometimes the Ford goes to the shop, but that a computer issue that I don't want to pay for the equipment to diagnose stuff).

I won't comment on the quality difference between a Ford/Jeep and a Honda.

Americans don't want the metric system. How many speed limit signs do you see with metric on them. Oh, I remember the HUGE push when the right person came along and was going to make all the US interstate highway system metric. 88 km/hr...those signs are REAL popular right now...as ANTIQUES.

Well, actually, I have yet to drive in an area where the speed limit was in mph. All the signs I see say one of 30km/h, 50km/h, 60km/h, 70km/h, 80km/h, 90km/h, 100km/h, 110km/h. The outer ring of my speedometer is in km/h (though mph is still there so that a driver doesn't have to figure out too much when they venture into the US). Sorry to disappoint... actually, not really. I'm proud to be in a metric country -- one where we aren't too stupid, stubborn or proud to admit when a better system comes along.

 

[Knavey]

KrisB once bubbled...


Yup... and it isn't run by the US Gov't. (Praise God!)



That's obviously because you are driving an american vehicle and living in the US. I feel bad for you.



Well, a PhD typically shows that a person has the faculties to research and recognize good and right things. They also typically know when to use the word 'there' and when to use the word 'their'.



It was likely one person in each country. Seeing as Canada officially went this route in 1970, I do not know who that would have been... a bit before my time.

For info on the US's conversion, see http://slisweb.lis.wisc.edu/~gometric/history.htm



I won't comment on the quality difference between a Ford/Jeep and a Honda.



Well, actually, I have yet to drive in an area where the speed limit was in mph. All the signs I see say one of 30km/h, 50km/h, 60km/h, 70km/h, 80km/h, 90km/h, 100km/h, 110km/h. The outer ring of my speedometer is in km/h (though mph is still there so that a driver doesn't have to figure out too much when they venture into the US). Sorry to disappoint... actually, not really. I'm proud to be in a metric country -- one where we aren't too stupid, stubborn or proud to admit when a better system comes along.

Best be careful who you joust with Kris...I may have 3 PHDs or I might be a janitor and you just might get 0wN3d. You also should adhere to the first rule of web posting...NEVER, EVER, criticize someone's spelling or punctuation.

Of course, if you were a little wiser, you might understand that. If you had travelled a few miles south, you would see that there are actually signs on the side of the road that are written in MPH.

And as for the sly comment on quality of cars...I have yet to see a Jeep in a junkyard...EVER. I have yet to figure out how to haul a half ton of stone or a load of muclch in my Accord. And you will never find my Accord going through the mud and rocks like my Jeep will.

You see Kris...everything I own is for a reason...its practical. It is also one of the reasons that you will NOT see metric in the US...not in my lifetime, or in yours.

I actually believe you will see the Canadian Providances become US states BEFORE we see the metric system take over the US way of measurement.

Nuff said...put it back on topic or take it to a PM with me.

 

[Knavey]

Oh,


Just wanted to point out that I have never claimed Imperial is better than Metric in any way...

I am simply stating that Metric will never gain a foothold over here. It has tried...and failed. I am sure there will be attempts again, and they will fail. Until you manage to get a generation of kids to use metric exclusively, then you will only see Imperial.

I understand that it's used in various spots here...I use it at work! Don't fall out of your chairs.

But I still stand on my previous statements...but not my spelling. If you REALLY want me to proof my posts (Kris) I have a lady with a degree in ENGLISH sitting on the couch right next to me reading a book. I could get her to go back and proofread all of the previous posts...I am sure she will come up with enough stuff to make your head spin.

 

[RichLockyer]

Arnaud once bubbled...
Yes, but one is simple and logical, the other one, well... Have you looked at the conversion formula? A 1°C difference is always 1°C. The same is not true for 1°F...

On top of it, if you need a measurement that has to be more precise than +/- 1°C, you probablly need to switch to another unit (kelvin or rankine).

The fraction in the conversion formula is to compensate for C/K being a larger unit of measure. The -32 is obvious.

Kelvin is hardly more precise than F or C... it is no more precise than C, it just has it's "0" at a different level.

I'm not familiar with Rankine.

 

[DrSteve]

Just as a side...make sure you always fill up your metric tank in litres and your imperial tank in cubic feet. Same goes for your car - Euro cars should always be filled in litres, they just don't run so well on gallons (English or US size).

Yours smart arsedly.

PS. Rankine is the farenheit equivalent of Kelvin from what I can make out.