General > General Technical Chat
why is the US not Metric
rsjsouza:
--- Quote from: soldar on November 02, 2019, 09:46:55 am ---Years ago I was visiting a family in California and they were measuring the windows for blinds. The whole family was around the kitchen table trying to solve problems such as: Window width is 4' 11" and 1/16. We want to leave 3/8" clearance on each side. What blind width do we need to order?
--- End quote ---
That's exactly the crap I had to adjust when I moved here but, as an engineer, that was a great mental exercise.
Things I still have trouble are with volumes and weight. Too many units depending on what you are doing (spoons, fl oz, pints, quarts, gallons, etc.). Add metric to the mix when you have a baby and the mess is complete! :scared:
Temperatures are fine, since I quickly learned the ranges where I needed a short sleeve, a long sleeve, a jacket, a coat, etc. That is the kind of resolution necessary for me. Ah, and the meat temperature on the grill. But the indicator is dual standard anyways.
bsfeechannel:
--- Quote from: soldar on November 02, 2019, 09:46:55 am ---Years ago I was visiting a family in California and they were measuring the windows for blinds. The whole family was around the kitchen table trying to solve problems such as: Window width is 4' 11" and 1/16. We want to leave 3/8" clearance on each side. What blind width do we need to order?
It was fun watching the whole family giving their opinions and guesses. And this for a whole set of different windows and measurements.
These are probably a good representation of Americans who do not want to change to metric because "we are already familiar with the American system".
They probably think that if the system they are familiar with is so difficult, just imagine having to learn a new, foreign, system!
--- End quote ---
4' 11" and 1/16 is exactly 1.5 m. 3/8" is approximately 10 cm. Piece of cake: 1.7 m - wide minimum blind.
They don't understand that each of those units are in a different numeric base and you have to convert from one base to another to make sense of the calculations.
Inches to a foot are in base 12. Each fraction of an inch is in the base determined by their denominator. So 1/2 is in base 2. 1/4 is in base 4, 1/8 is in base 8, and so on and so forth. And all of that has to be converted to base 10 in the end. And we're not even talking about the conversion to yards, miles and other deprecated units.
Metricated people don't have that problem. Everything is in the same numeric base. It's less one operation you have to take for each unit. Less margin for errors.
Hands down, metric is a superior well thought-out measuring system. Any five-year old kid can see that. I hope the next generations see the value of metrication and relegate this imperial rubbish to where it belongs: the museum.
Simon:
--- Quote from: bsfeechannel on November 02, 2019, 03:33:34 pm ---
--- Quote from: soldar on November 02, 2019, 09:46:55 am ---Years ago I was visiting a family in California and they were measuring the windows for blinds. The whole family was around the kitchen table trying to solve problems such as: Window width is 4' 11" and 1/16. We want to leave 3/8" clearance on each side. What blind width do we need to order?
It was fun watching the whole family giving their opinions and guesses. And this for a whole set of different windows and measurements.
These are probably a good representation of Americans who do not want to change to metric because "we are already familiar with the American system".
They probably think that if the system they are familiar with is so difficult, just imagine having to learn a new, foreign, system!
--- End quote ---
4' 11" and 1/16 is exactly 1.5 m. 3/8" is approximately 10 cm. Piece of cake: 1.7 m - wide minimum blind.
They don't understand that each of those units are in a different numeric base and you have to convert from one base to another to make sense of the calculations.
--- End quote ---
erm. Well now 3/8" is 10 mm not 10 cm. 1.5 m = 1500 mm, they wanted 10 mm clearance not added so that is 1500 - 10 x 2 = 1480mm
Simon:
In fact to be more precise 4' 11" is 1.499 m
bsfeechannel:
--- Quote ---
--- Quote from: KL27x on November 02, 2019, 04:40:39 am ---But when necessary they are given in metric
--- End quote ---
Same over here! So the problem has already been solved and we can all stop worrying about it!
--- End quote ---
I don't think so. When necessary, in the US units are also officially given in imperial, which, today, is just an odd way to count the SI units. As I showed in the previous post, imperial is not even consistent within itself.
As a curiosity, I roamed the net looking for cake recipes all over the world last night, and noted their ingredients.
Chinese
預備食材 Ingredients
4人份 4 servings
奶油(融化)65g Cream
香蕉2根(壓成蓉) Bananas
糖60g Sugar
蛋1只 Egg
低筋麵粉150g Flour
泡打粉1茶匙 Baking powder (1 teaspoon)
鹽半茶匙 Salt (half a teaspoon)
Arab
المكونات: 6 / 8 من الأشخاص
300 ز الطحين
300 ز السكر
البيض 3
300 مل من الحليب
1 ج. إلى ج. من مسحوق الخبز
3 إلى 4 قطرات من مستخلص الفانيليا
Ingredients: 6/8 persons
300 g flour
300 g sugar
Eggs 3
300 ml of milk
1 ??? of baking powder
3 to 4 drops of vanilla extract
Russian
Яйца - 4 шт.
Мука - 120 г
Сахар - 120 г + сахар для крема
Сахар ванильный - 1 ч.л.
Разрыхлитель - 1 ч.л.
Какао-порошок - 1,5 ст.л.
Бананы крупные - 3 шт.
Сметана (20% жирности и более) - 1 большая банка
Eggs - 4
Flour - 120 g
Sugar - 120 g + sugar for cream
Vanilla Sugar - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Cocoa powder - 1.5 tbsp.
Large bananas - 3 pcs.
Sour cream (20% fat and more) - 1 large jar
Hindi
मैदा_Flour – 250 ग्राम,
कंडेंस्ड मिल्क_Condensed milk – 200 ग्राम,
शक्कर_Sugar – 100 ग्राम (पिसी हुई),
मक्खन/घी_Butter/Ghee – 100 ग्राम, दूध-200 ग्राम,
कोको पाउडर_Cocoa powder- 50 ग्राम,
अखरोट_Walnut – 02 छोटे चम्मच (महीन कतरा हुआ),
बादाम_Almond – 02छोटे चम्मच (महीन-महीन कतर लें),
काजू_Cashew – 02 छोटे चम्मच (महीन कतर लें),
बेकिंग पाउडर_Baking powder – एक छोटा चम्मच,
बेकिंग सोडा_Baking soda – 1/2 छोटा चम्मच,
नमक_Salt – 1/4 छोटा चम्मच।
Flour - 250 grams,
Condensed milk - 200 grams,
Sugar - 100 grams (grounded),
Butter - 100 grams, milk - 200 grams,
Cocoa powder- 50 grams,
Walnuts - 02 teaspoons (finely chopped),
Almond - 02 teaspoons (take finely chopped),
Cashew - 02 teaspoons (finely chopped),
Baking powder - a small spoon,
Baking soda 1/2 tsp
Salt 1/4 tsp.
So, ballpark measures are given in spoons, cups, pinches, etc. The rest is in metric. No one uses pounds, ounces, pints, or whatever.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version