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| UK back to "imperial" measurements ? |
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| PlainName:
--- Quote ---I remember having to do far too many LSD[1] calculations in school arithmetic lessons. Life's too short for that crap. --- End quote --- But it did help to stave off a sedentary mind. |
| tggzzz:
--- Quote from: Zero999 on June 02, 2022, 11:56:56 am --- --- Quote from: tggzzz on June 02, 2022, 11:13:46 am --- --- Quote from: Zero999 on June 02, 2022, 09:14:21 am --- --- Quote from: IanB on June 01, 2022, 07:09:14 pm --- --- 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. --- End quote --- Why not use ounces? I personally fine 1.25lb more confusing than 1lb 4oz or even 20oz. I'm pretty sure things were sold in pounds, as well as ounces before the UK went metric. --- End quote --- Because I always forget whether I should be using base 14 or base 16 arithmetic. --- End quote --- Then why not simply go metric instead of using decimal imperial, which is more confusing? --- End quote --- I do normally use metric, especially where arithmetic is necessary. I don't use metric when checking my weight daily, although I do for other purposes. I still tend to think in terms of a portion of meat being 4oz, but anywhere from 100-150g is an acceptable approximation. |
| tggzzz:
--- Quote from: dunkemhigh on June 02, 2022, 12:12:09 pm --- --- Quote ---I remember having to do far too many LSD[1] calculations in school arithmetic lessons. Life's too short for that crap. --- End quote --- But it did help to stave off a sedentary mind. --- End quote --- Only if you have an indolent mind that lies dormant until necessary! Back then I was far too interested in cyphers, electronics, making things to have an indolent mind :) |
| IanB:
--- Quote from: f4eru on June 02, 2022, 11:19:07 am ---Hmm, nope. In Engineering, weights are in Newton (N), lengths are in meters (m) Even in the USA. --- End quote --- You are being funny, of course. But while it is true that a mix of units is in use, depending on discipline, and while it is true that engineers understand SI units, it does not mean that SI units are in any way standard across disciplines. It is also the case that "weight" is a common synonym for mass, and will be used as such even in professional exams where the context is clear. Here's one example among many you can find where customary units are in use: https://www.pegenius.com/civil-pe-review-daily-questions (I just learned to my amusement that while "Mlb" is a common abbreviation for one thousand pounds mass, "kip" is an abbreviation for one thousand pounds force.) Here's an example (attached) from an FE practice paper. It shows that even today students are being taught to deal with these kinds of units. From a European perspective this feels rather strange. |
| Kleinstein:
The simple imperial units are relatively easy, but I really don't like BUT/sq. ft * inch / °F for thermal conductivity. I don't think the UK would really more back to the imperial system, maybe a slight slow down in finally getting rid of the rests of the imperial system. |
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