Metric measurements?
- Thread starter John Bantin
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I don't know, these days if I am standing with all the bags and the distance to destination is written on a road sign, it may as well be pi^e*sqrt(-1) of US miles: I'm calling a cab.
Next time I'm at my parents' I have to remember to ask if they still have our old Reaumur thermometer. Maybe I'll bum it off them and hang it next to our Fahrenheit mercury-switch thermostat...
Next time I'm at my parents' I have to remember to ask if they still have our old Reaumur thermometer. Maybe I'll bum it off them and hang it next to our Fahrenheit mercury-switch thermostat...
I saw a chart that looked something like this:
100 Fahrenheit: Hot
100 Celsius: Dead
100 Kelvin: Dead
25 Fahrenheit: Cold
25 Celsius: Pleasantly warm.
25 Kelvin: Dead
0 Fahrenheit: Really cold.
0 Celsius: Cold.
0 Kelvin: Dead
100 Fahrenheit: Hot
100 Celsius: Dead
100 Kelvin: Dead
25 Fahrenheit: Cold
25 Celsius: Pleasantly warm.
25 Kelvin: Dead
0 Fahrenheit: Really cold.
0 Celsius: Cold.
0 Kelvin: Dead
A little light reading on notable (and even historic) conversion errors. I really like #6 on the list, first time I have heard it described like this.
The Quick 6: Six Unit Conversion Disasters
And I think I have at least one significant category where the conversions are easily visualized...
The Quick 6: Six Unit Conversion Disasters
And I think I have at least one significant category where the conversions are easily visualized...
- An imperial "fifth" is comparable to 750ml.
- An imperial "quart" is comparable to a liter.
- An imperial "half gallon" is comparable to 1.75 liters. Or you can just call that bottle a "handle."
broncobowsher
Contributor
-40° doesn't need to be specified as C or F.
David Wilson
Contributor
The following appeared on the back of many British school exercise books during the 1950s and 1960s:
Even back then, "rods" were already obsolete and "furlongs" confined to horse-racing circles. As others have indicated, however, science lessons firmly established familiarity with the metric system and I'm sure the latter helped when the UK decimalised currency in 1971, introducing 100 new pence to the pound and abandoning the previous concept of pounds sterling divided into 20 shillings subdivided in turn into 12 pence. The only downside to the change I know is the decline in modern British children's ability to do the mental arithmetic of multiplying by 12, which their counterparts in the mid twentieth century could do with comparative ease.
It should also be remembered that figures aren't always written the same way around the world. I've had several arguments with continental Europeans about their use of the decimal comma, which they think is universally applied. So three and three-quarters is equivalent to "3.75" in the English-speaking world, while its counterpart elsewhere is "3,75". And when it comes to larger numbers, we Anglo-Saxons write one thousand as 1,000 while others write "1.000". Confusing or what?
What concerns me more than the relative merits and understanding of the metric and imperial systems of weights and measures is the continuing failure of certain diving equipment manufacturers to provide consumers with the basic imperial or metric dimensions of their products in the interests of achieving a good fit. The greatest offenders may be makers of swimming fins who neglect to supply the inner lengths and widths of foot pockets in millimetres that would help consumers select the right size. Back in 1980, the German Standards Institute issued DIN 7876, which encouraged fin makers to emboss foot pocket length and width in millimetres on their products. Some fin makers responded by marking their products as DIN 7876 compliant while omitting these two key measurements, which defeated the whole purpose of the exercise. So we have to soldier on regardless, putting up with fin manufacturers who mark their products with US, UK or European shoe sizes that frequently have little or no basis in reality.
Even back then, "rods" were already obsolete and "furlongs" confined to horse-racing circles. As others have indicated, however, science lessons firmly established familiarity with the metric system and I'm sure the latter helped when the UK decimalised currency in 1971, introducing 100 new pence to the pound and abandoning the previous concept of pounds sterling divided into 20 shillings subdivided in turn into 12 pence. The only downside to the change I know is the decline in modern British children's ability to do the mental arithmetic of multiplying by 12, which their counterparts in the mid twentieth century could do with comparative ease.
It should also be remembered that figures aren't always written the same way around the world. I've had several arguments with continental Europeans about their use of the decimal comma, which they think is universally applied. So three and three-quarters is equivalent to "3.75" in the English-speaking world, while its counterpart elsewhere is "3,75". And when it comes to larger numbers, we Anglo-Saxons write one thousand as 1,000 while others write "1.000". Confusing or what?
What concerns me more than the relative merits and understanding of the metric and imperial systems of weights and measures is the continuing failure of certain diving equipment manufacturers to provide consumers with the basic imperial or metric dimensions of their products in the interests of achieving a good fit. The greatest offenders may be makers of swimming fins who neglect to supply the inner lengths and widths of foot pockets in millimetres that would help consumers select the right size. Back in 1980, the German Standards Institute issued DIN 7876, which encouraged fin makers to emboss foot pocket length and width in millimetres on their products. Some fin makers responded by marking their products as DIN 7876 compliant while omitting these two key measurements, which defeated the whole purpose of the exercise. So we have to soldier on regardless, putting up with fin manufacturers who mark their products with US, UK or European shoe sizes that frequently have little or no basis in reality.
Being an enginerd I am pretty comfortable in both. Most everyone I come into contact with prefers imperial so that is what I am usually using. Personally I mix the two without really thinking about it. When talking about atmospheres I always think of that in metric. When talking about gas usage I go with psi. No real reason to do one over the other in those cases, it's just what I'm use to. I actually prefer metric overall but a lot of us colonists do not so I go with the flow.
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Some countries also allow you to write one thousand as "1 000". I prefer that, because I avoid the ambiguity of point or comma as the thousands separator.
Then there's the Continental European vs Anglo billion/trillion/quadrillion debacle. Is a billion a thousand millions (10^9), or is it a million millions (10^12)?
Long and short scales - Wikipedia
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