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why is the US not Metric
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CatalinaWOW:

--- Quote from: Tepe on November 09, 2019, 09:48:35 pm ---
--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on November 09, 2019, 07:18:37 pm ---The meter being nominally a specific ratio to the earths diameter is of almost zero practical significance

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It is of no significance, practical or otherwise, because that's not the definition of the meter.

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Dance around it all you want to.  The original meter was proposed that way.  I am not sure enough of the history to know how it was adjusted so that the density of water is 1.  The original platinum rod in Europe was nominally marked at that adjusted value.  The current definition of the meter is intended to be equal to the nominal length of that platinum rod's marks.  And the comment relates to those who tout the superiority of metric system due to the physical relationships of the basic units.  You know 100 units between freezing and boiling of water, density of water is 1 and the size of the earth comes out in whole units.  It is also convenient that the speed of light to engineering precision is a whole number as is the gravitational acceleration at the surface of the earth. 

There are similar convenient relationships in the traditional system.  A pint's a pound the world around is one I picked up in grade school.  And Grace Hopper's famous "A nanosecond is a foot."

I will repeat for those who need it.  The metric system is superior.  Primarily because it does not confuse mass and force, even though users of the metric system sometimes do.  There are other minor benefits.  And benefits similar to the minor benefits of metric could be achieved by switching from decimal to octal.  Everywhere, not just in measurements.  But the average person worldwide sees no benefit to octal sufficient to overcome the pain of learning a new system and changing all of the existing records.  The same as the average American finds no benefit in switching to metric.
themadhippy:

--- Quote ---A pint's a pound the world around i
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Is the american pound lighter than a british pound ?
Tepe:

--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on November 09, 2019, 10:15:56 pm ---density of water is 1

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Not quite...
Zero999:
An imperial pint is different to a US customary pint and so are fluid ounces.

The density of water depends on the temperature and pressure, but 1 litre of water near as damn it weighs 1kg, for most practical purposes.

Although I often curse when I get an enclosure with imperial measurements, I can work with them once I realise it's not metric. The only time I really hate imperial is when it's for torque and cubic inched, which is when I tend to convert to metric.
Cerebus:

--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on November 09, 2019, 10:15:56 pm ---[snip]A pint's a pound the world around is one I picked up in grade school[/snip]

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Except it isn't, anywhere, let alone the world around.

The, naturally superior, British pint of water (at 568.26125ml exactly) is ≈ 1 1/4 lb, the weedy American pint (at 473.176473 ml exactly) is ≈ 1 lb 0.69 oz*. Which all goes to show that you should not trust school teachers.  :) The British school teacher's dictum, that a gallon (eight proper, full strength, Imperial pints) weighs 10 lb is much closer to the truth, being only 0.22% in error.

[The 1959 international pound of 0.453 592 37 kg has been used in all cases, which is the current lb in the US and was the current lb in the UK from 1963 until lbs ceased to be an official unit.]

* I could have used drachms (1/16 oz) and/or grains (1/7000 lb) instead of decimal ounces, but nobody, even those using ounces on a daily basis know what the heck those are (except possibly for people who deal with bullets day in and day out, which for some reason are still regularly referred to by their weight in grains even when the calibre in use is inherently metric. e.g. I have shot 7.62mm Lapua 168 gn target rounds.). Just for the record it's 1 lb 0 oz 11 dm 1.45 gr  for the 'merkin pint and the British pint weighs in at 1 lb 4 oz 0 dm 19.61 gn.
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