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| UK back to "imperial" measurements ? |
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| Zero999:
--- Quote from: IanB on June 01, 2022, 05:53:57 pm --- --- Quote from: Zero999 on June 01, 2022, 05:38:42 pm ---Decimal imperial units are quite common, but I've not known a scale like that. If it was for weighing large objects, up to hundreds of pounds that would be fair enough. It would make more sense to just use ounces. I have some kitchen scales which a resolution of 0.05oz, when set to ounces. I normally have it set to grams, which is slightly more precision, although I imagine it doesn't make any difference, since 0.05oz is probably the limit to its repeatability. --- End quote --- All the deli counters I use here have a scale that weighs and prices in decimal pounds. Aint nobody got time to program point of sale devices in pounds and ounces. It will compute "0.53 lb at $8.99/lb is $4.76" If you want 0.6 lb when ordering, you can just say "a bit over half a pound", or "can you add another couple of slices to that?" --- End quote --- I must be an American thing. It's such an easy thing to program. My kitchen scales can even be set for pounds and ounces, although the resolution drops from 0.05oz to 0.1oz on the pounds setting, because the display doesn't have room for the extra decimal place. |
| tooki:
--- Quote from: coppice on June 01, 2022, 05:46:13 pm --- --- Quote from: tooki on June 01, 2022, 05:26:25 pm ---Oh my. I would question whether anyone who can't convert a spoken "zero point 6" to 0.6 in their head should be allowed anywhere near food, money, or anything else of consequence!! --- End quote --- A considerable percentage of the population struggles massively with simple decimal fractions. You'll find plenty of people in well paid middle class jobs who struggle with equating zero point six to 0.6 --- End quote --- :::sigh::: I know. It just baffles me. And that even though I've listened to the entirety of the Verizon Math spectacle. |
| tooki:
--- Quote from: Zero999 on June 01, 2022, 06:37:23 pm ---I must be an American thing. It's such an easy thing to program. My kitchen scales can even be set for pounds and ounces, although the resolution drops from 0.05oz to 0.1oz on the pounds setting, because the display doesn't have room for the extra decimal place. --- End quote --- I could swear I've seen digital point of sale scales in lbs and oz in USA. I'd be shocked if it's not something that can be set in software. |
| IanB:
--- Quote from: Zero999 on June 01, 2022, 06:37:23 pm ---I must be an American thing. It's such an easy thing to program. My kitchen scales can even be set for pounds and ounces, although the resolution drops from 0.05oz to 0.1oz on the pounds setting, because the display doesn't have room for the extra decimal place. --- End quote --- I don't think it's entirely about programming. It would be so confusing. Suppose your receipt said this: "0 lb 8.5 oz at $8.99/lb thus $4.76" Can you imagine the confusion? How could you ever check whether you had been charged the correct amount without a calculator? The reality is that America is decimal, and has been for quite some time. In engineering, weights are in pounds (lb), thousands of pounds (Mlb), or millions of pounds (MMlb). Distances are in feet, hundreds of feet, or thousands of feet. Road signs will say "500 ft" when giving a distance to a hazard. Also in engineering, measurements are in inches and thousandths of an inch (mils). The dimension of a part will be given as 2.351 inches. Pins on ICs or headers are 0.1 inches apart. It makes sense. Decimal is the only sensible way to make measurements and do calculations. |
| TimFox:
Obviously, there's no technical reason why the scale could not read in lb and oz, but I have not seen a grocery-store scale in the US with a digital readout other than decimal. As mentioned above, this works well with decimal currency to give a decimal price. Small electronic scales from lab supply companies can be set to all kinds of units, including taels, but usually have a programmable choice of g, kg, lb, lb:oz, or oz in the US. Here is an example of a very flexible small unit (see last page for full list of units): https://dmx.ohaus.com/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=4294974299 |
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