General > General Technical Chat
why is the US not Metric
rdl:
--- Quote from: bsfeechannel on February 26, 2020, 05:44:59 pm ---First of all, the US went officially "metric" in the 19th century, not in the seventies.
--- End quote ---
No, not really.
In the 19th century, the Metric Act permitted metric units of measurement to be used legally.
Metric units did not become the preferred system until the Metric Conversion Act was signed into law at the end of 1975.
angrybird:
--- Quote from: rstofer on February 26, 2020, 07:11:49 pm ---We'll know when there is a movement to convert: You will see people in the streets wearing "Make America Metric" T-shirts and baseball caps. Or, if you don't want to wander our streets, look up in the sky. Do you see pigs flying? That would be a sign!
--- End quote ---
I suspect that hell would also freeze over at the same time that the flying pigs were spotted.
Simon:
--- Quote from: rstofer on February 26, 2020, 06:13:27 pm ---
Here is an article that claims THE international standard for the kg is kept in an underground vault in Paris. I'm been to Paris but I wasn't searching for the vault. Maybe the article is wrong, I wouldn't know.
https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/mathematics/el-sistema-metrico-la-medida-de-todo/
There are dozens of 'identical' copies but these are, at best, secondary standards.
The meter used to be a metal bar kept in, you guessed it, Paris! Now it is defined based on the wavelength of a certain frequency of light. This is easier to duplicate around the world.
I just know what I have read and I have to believe the article is based on some facts. But, it's the Internet, facts are not in abundance.
--- End quote ---
Correct. They are also trying to redefine the kg because as the item slowly losses some atoms it's weight (mass) is drifting. They did the same for the metre changing it's definition from a sample held somewhere to the distance traveled by light in a certain time.
Tepe:
--- Quote from: Simon on February 26, 2020, 07:25:45 pm ---
--- Quote from: rstofer on February 26, 2020, 06:13:27 pm ---
Here is an article that claims THE international standard for the kg is kept in an underground vault in Paris. I'm been to Paris but I wasn't searching for the vault. Maybe the article is wrong, I wouldn't know.
https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/mathematics/el-sistema-metrico-la-medida-de-todo/
There are dozens of 'identical' copies but these are, at best, secondary standards.
The meter used to be a metal bar kept in, you guessed it, Paris! Now it is defined based on the wavelength of a certain frequency of light. This is easier to duplicate around the world.
I just know what I have read and I have to believe the article is based on some facts. But, it's the Internet, facts are not in abundance.
--- End quote ---
Correct. They are also trying to redefine the kg because as the item slowly losses some atoms it's weight (mass) is drifting. They did the same for the metre changing it's definition from a sample held somewhere to the distance traveled by light in a certain time.
--- End quote ---
Not correct anymore because it has already happened: Now the definition is based on Planck's constant and the meter and the second.
rstofer:
--- Quote from: angrybird on February 26, 2020, 07:21:39 pm ---
--- Quote from: rstofer on February 26, 2020, 07:11:49 pm ---We'll know when there is a movement to convert: You will see people in the streets wearing "Make America Metric" T-shirts and baseball caps. Or, if you don't want to wander our streets, look up in the sky. Do you see pigs flying? That would be a sign!
--- End quote ---
I suspect that hell would also freeze over at the same time that the flying pigs were spotted.
--- End quote ---
Then we would have to change from temperature in Rankine to Kelvin.
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