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| why is the US not Metric |
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| stefan_trekkie:
And again - Not exactly. Machines that are build using metric only uses millimeters and kilos .. For example .. Bridge crane that is 22.5 meters LK is 22500mm in documentation .. And even most of the time is not specified .. Just digits and they are always milometers .. And kilograms too for the weight .. If something is in inches on the drawing (99% is some tread) is noted for example .. ½" 12 tpi .. Most of the metal piping here is in inches. Only the wood workers are using cm (centi meters :-DD) It is not very known but the base unit for the KG is "grav" (that means count) and the gram is 1/1000 of it .. but after the French revolution they won't have that kind of ruler's title for unit and changed using gram .. kilogram - kg .. Witch is cube with side 100mm full of pure water on the sea level at the time. I thing that the system that only uses 10ts as multiplier is very natural and simple to use. It is like capacitance on caps X.10‾⁶ or MΩs X.10⁶ in practical calculations. Just moving the decimal point or adding 0s It will be confusing to have 4-5 units with different names and they are close in ratios to one-another |
| KL27x:
--- Quote ---It will be confusing to have 4-5 units with different names and they are close in ratios to one-another --- End quote --- To an American, it isn't confusing, because Americans have had all these units since ever. It is consistently everywhere and it gets continuous usage and practice. Learning and using metric, in addition to our USC, is completely trivial. Americans have already built a ton of culture, experience, tooling, tech, test equipment, engineering standards/practices, verbal and written communication/protocol/procedures/lingo around many of these english units. Accidentally losing any of this base of knowledge or tech/processes, as well as time/money lost in converting, is what should be scarier to a community/culture moreso than the fear of "I'm so confused, and now I need a calculator." |
| GlennSprigg:
To date, there are 1017 Replies & 33469 Views to this post!! :) I can't absorb that many replies, so I'll just start with this... Yes, the USA is big. They are entrenched in their ways. Will be a huge job to change! However, they seem to forget their 'roots' !! Unless I'm mistaken, it is the British who first occupied their land. (Talking about real foreign influence, not the 'locals' at the time). Since then, they have certainly gone off on their own 'tangent', as we have in Australia. However, while they have become 'comfortable' in their own right, they keep re-inventing the wheel!! And decided to have THEIR OWN version of the likes of a Ton, Gallon etc etc. THAT has caused the most trouble when aligning themselves with the rest of the World. Like it or not, the rest of the World has now gone Metric, and for a REASON. Standardization. Most Americans don't realize that THEIR so-called weights-&-measures do NOT relate today to standard physical entities that they think of. They are now scientifically related to METRIC units! I understand their desire to 'hold-on' to what they know & like, mainly due to the difficulty of change, but in the year 2020, in a Global environment, it makes no sense!! :-// What could be simpler than DECIMAL, like your Dollars & Cents now !? Where 1000 litres of water is a metric Ton. And is also equal to a cubic Metre?? And 1 Ltr is 1 Kg???... This crosses paths with some WORDS that a lot of the USA likes to use, when they RE-Invent how English words are sounded!! (I'm just being pedantic & tongue in cheek here!!)... The worst of the worst is... 'SOLDER'. If Americans invented the process, and gave it a name, then GREAT. But they didn't! The English did, in regards to your carry-over use of the word. The word is 'SOLder'. Not 'SODDer' with an invented silent 'L' ^-^ (Colder, folder, holder, bolder, etc. No other exceptions). And the Japanese cars are 'NISSan'. Not 'NEEsaan'. And Aussies are 'OZZies', not 'USies' :) Oh!! And our Aussie model 'Elle McPherson' is 'McFERson', not 'McFEARson' :phew: People that know me, will understand my humor/digging in the last paragraph... However, USA, you need to change. If not this decade, then WHEN !! :phew: |
| GeorgeOfTheJungle:
--- Quote from: GlennSprigg on January 05, 2020, 01:42:11 pm ---Unless I'm mistaken, it is the British who first occupied their land. (Talking about real foreign influence, not the 'locals' at the time). --- End quote --- Yes, you're mistaken... :o https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Spain |
| CatalinaWOW:
--- Quote from: GlennSprigg on January 05, 2020, 01:42:11 pm --- Where 1000 litres of water is a metric Ton. And is also equal to a cubic Metre?? And 1 Ltr is 1 Kg???... --- End quote --- This relationship, which may have been repeated 100 times in this thread, is really useful. When you are shipping fresh water or building fresh water tanks. Which is hardly the key activity for this forum or in much of the rest of life. And again gets to the point. Other than standardization, which is a really big deal, and the elimination of the confusion between force and mass, the benefits of metric are minor. Dwellers in smaller markets feel the standardization pull more strongly than those in large markets. The US remains (for the moment) the largest single market and so it is fairly obvious why the pull of standardization has been felt less strongly. |
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