Why doesn't the USA adopt officially the metric unit?

[Charlie99]

Chinese imperial system

li 1
yin 15
zhang 150
bu 300
chi 1 500
cun 15 000
fen 150 000
li (small) 1 500 000
hao 15 000 000
si 150 000 000
hu 1 500 000 000

Chinese, and Japanese since they borrowed much from the Chinese, divide large numbers into blocks of 4 digits rather than the 3 digit blocks westerners use. So while we use units, thousands, millions, billions; they use units, ten-thousands, 100 millions, and then billions.

I've always been impressed by how the simultaneous Japanese to English translators of the the various networks news programs in Japan are able to quickly convert something like 12,4321,000 (12 oku/100 millions, 4thousand 3hundred 21 ten-thousands/man) to 124 million 321 thousand, while at the same time converting year numbers (2007 year is Heisei 19; years 1925 to 1989 use a different system -- for example I was born in 1949 / Showa 24.)

 

[SnakeRiverPirate]

We won't use the Metric system because the French do. Whereas, the French don't use things that we do, sich as soap.

 

[Charlie99]

so does it take 4 million litres of gas to fill the tank of a honda civic?

Aaaaah. The old decimal point / comma swap. Different countries tend to use different formats.

After we hash out whether 1/4 = 0.25 or 0,25 then we can start in on the proper date format.
When worried about possible confusion between 5-1-2007 and 1/5/2007, I simply use the format of 5 JAN 2007

 

[Tomeck]

We won't use the Metric system because the French do. Whereas, the French don't use things that we do, sich as soap.

If French Fayette did not exist, the United States would not have gained against the English at the 18th century.

 

[rich2741]

Hello fellow frogs.

Saw this thread and just had to stick my 2 cents in. Although it doesn't address the thread topic per se, I have the answer to a undefined question posed as a result of various posts.

Some of you were on the right track when you started to inject temperature into the question of BAR versus psi (which by the way is EXACTLY 14.695948804 psi at STP; and there in lies the rub).

SCUBA cylindrical pressure vessels (incorrectly called "tanks" [technically "tanks" are not pressurized]; but I doubt that nomenclature will ever change at this point) are rated in bar by the manufacturer, and specifically the rating is specified at 100 degrees F.

If you look at a common 3,000 psi SCUBA vessel you will see the numbers "207" (meaning "207 bar"), but if you calculate 14.695948804 X 207 you will come up with 3,042.061402 psi... which of course is NOT 3,000 psi. So where is this going wrong? The reason is the common pressure of 14.695948804 psi is based on STP, but the 207 bar rating is based on a temperature of 100 degrees F. So recalculate at 14.50377377 psi and you come up with 3,002.28117101533 psi, which the manufacturer rounds down to 3,000 psi, affording the 'tank' a service pressure rating of 3,000 psi at 100 degrees F.

And why is it based on 100 degrees F? Because the 'tank' temperature may become hot during refill and/or sitting out in the sun. This is why 'hot fills' will always go down in psi as the 'tank' cools off. To get your Dive Shop to give you proper "full" fills have them cool the water to 50 degrees F.

Here is a little SCUBA excerpt from a electronic book I've been working on for a few years (DGT:TN) -


SCUBA Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus; the main component is the cylindrical pressure vessel (aka: SCUBA ‘tank’). These pressure vessels come in a myriad of cubic foot sizes. Some examples are:
Pony bottles – 2 to 19.99 cf (2.7, 6.1, 8.2, 13.2, 13.7, 16.2, 19.9)
Pony tanks – 20 to 39.99 cf (20, 23, 27.6, 30, 33.2)
Swing tanks – 40 to 59.99 cf (40, 43.3, 45, 46, 48.4, 58.4)
Small tanks – 60 to 79.99 cf (63, 66, 66.4, 69.6, 70, 71, 71.4, 77.4, 78.2)
Medium tanks – 80 to 99.99 cf (81, 83.8, 85, 89.8, 97, 98.9, 99.8)
Large tanks – 100 to 119.9 cf (100, 104, 105.2, 108, 119)
Extra Large tanks – 120 to 139.9 cf (120, 121, 131)
The pressure ratings of the various cylindrical pressure vessels (SCUBA ‘tanks’) are actually rated in bar at 100F, but most people describe them by the common psi group. A few examples of the 6 ranges, including burst disc figures of the valve are:
Low pressure vessel – (usually steel)
166 bar gas (2,407.62644632147 psi at 100F); service rated: 2,400 psi
burst disc ruptures at 2,640 psi
Standard pressure vessel – (aluminum or steel)
207 bar gas (3,002.28117101533 psi at 100F); service rated: 3,000 psi
burst disc ruptures at 3,300 psi
Extended pressure vessel – (aluminum or steel)
216 bar gas (3,132.81513497252 psi at 100F); service rated: 3,130 psi
burst disc ruptures at 3,443 psi
219 bar gas (3,176.32645629158 psi at 100F); service rated: 3,180 psi
burst disc ruptures at 3,498 psi
High pressure vessel – (usually steel)
228 bar gas (3,306.86042024877 psi at 100F); service rated: 3,300 psi
burst disc ruptures at 3,630 psi
237 bar gas (3,437.39438420596 psi at 100F); service rated: 3,442 psi
burst disc ruptures at 3,786 psi
Ultra high pressure vessel – (usually aluminum/carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite)
300 bar gas (4,351.13213190628 psi at 100F); service rated: 4,350 psi
burst disc ruptures at 4,785 psi
Max pressure vessel – (titanium, welded, no DOT approval; CPV for military use only)
414 bar gas (6,004.56234203066 psi at 100F); sevice rated : 6,000 psi
burst disc ruptures at 6,600 psi
note: When a service rated pressure has a “+” imprinted at the end, the vessel may be overfilled by 10%, but only for the duration of the original hydrostatic test period qualification (the first 5 years, max). Example: “2400+” allows filling to 2,640 psi, or “3130+” allows filling to 3,443 psi. If a ‘tank’ is “+” rated it will require a different burst disc (lower psi failure) in the valve assembly after the initial hydrostatic qualification has expired. A fully charged 3,000 psi cylindrical pressure vessel has roughly the stored energy of 2 grenades; now you know why they must be handled with great care.


And there you have it. (and yes, I'm a SCUBA diver since November 18, 1979)

 

[scubabeachboy]

last good frog was "joan of Arc".

 

[wardric]

If French Fayette did not exist, the United States would not have gained against the English at the 18th century.

lol, yep, they would all still be British and use metrics :laughing:

But it's OLD history.

 

[wardric]

last good frog was "joan of Arc".

you only say that because of Mila Jovovich

 

[Skull]

Tell me something when you take your tank in for a fill and they fill it hot does it matter if it is in bars or psi... when you paid full price... and got to the dive site and found out you were 15% short????

 

[Dan Gibson]

I beleive FHWA mandated metric during the 90s. All federal aid projects in Indiana (and almost certainly ever other state) were metric during a period in the 90s. We bailed on metric under Bill Clinton. Apparently moving decimals wasn't his strong suit This country has made at least two attempts in my lifetime and failed miserably to follow through. The system is easy; people are just to lazy to spend all of about one year getting used to it.

There have been attempts by various governmental agencies to switch.

for example, I know the Ohio Department of Transportation switched to requiring all plans be done in metric. Then a few years later, they switched back to having them done in Imperial measurements. It was what people were use to seeing and using.