Metric System

[big-papa]

Someone should sell 10mm sockets by the gross.

Seems everything you buy at Ikea comes with a 13mm wrench. I now have a bunch of 13mm wrenches.

 

[EarlyandLate]

Born and raised in the USA, career long chemist, love to cook, still am totally confused by the American measures. When I lived in Europe years ago, I adapted like a fish to water.

 

[Ronstar]

After dealing with US survey feet, international feet, inches, poles, rods, links, yards, chains, fathoms, acres, varas, hectares, and numerous other measurement types, the metric system is easiest and makes the most sense.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I wish we could just get with the the rest of the world and go metric. I drive up to BC Canada a lot and those 110 KM highways signs are challenging. "sorry officer, I was only going 120". And, buying grams of lunch meat at the deli is a challenge too. "500 grams please".

Unfortunately, we seem to be digressing back in time instead of moving forward. It appears to be a trend in more ways than one.

 

[punkinhead]

When it comes to cooking, not only does the US use goofy measures, but we tend to use volume instead of weight. That's why two people can make the same recipe with drastically different results. Making bread using volumes just plain doesn't work.

 

[Samsung4321]

When it comes to cooking, not only does the US use goofy measures, but we tend to use volume instead of weight. That's why two people can make the same recipe with drastically different results. Making bread using volumes just plain doesn't work.

Fluid ounce. Like which weighs more: a tonne of feathers or a tonne of lead?


I grew up with Imperial measures before Metrication in 1971 so I do sympathise.

 

[Gumby]

No reason a person can't be fluent in both systems.

 

[Music Lover]

No reason a person can't be fluent in both systems.

Or all 3 systems when you factor in the difference between US and Imperial measurements...

 

[Out of Steam]

No reason a person can't be fluent in both systems.

I've been working on this over the past couple of years. Among other things, I've tried to use dual dimensions in online posts with a substantial international audience.

 

[Telly]

I'm fine with our US units of measure... except one. We need to get rid of this "below zero" temperature concept. Metric is even worse. I propose we change to the Rankine temperature scale, and always stay positive.

A cold front has come through and is bringing rain. I just looked at the outside temp, and it's dropped to 510 R here.

 

[Ronstar]

No reason a person can't be fluent in both systems.

Nope, and many people have to be fluent in both systems.

 

[ncbill]

No reason a person can't be fluent in both systems.

These guys thought they were:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

$300+ million dollar loss in current dollars.

Had we in the USA switched back in the 1970s when Canada did the above wouldn't have happened.

At least for the reason it did.

 

[Music Lover]

I'm fine with our US units of measure... except one. We need to get rid of this "below zero" temperature concept. Metric is even worse.

Having used both, I prefer metric temperatures.

 

[ERD50]

No reason a person can't be fluent in both systems.

I am making an effort to "think" in metric. It is a far superior system, but growing up with the "American" system (not to be confused with some "Imperial" measurements), I just tend to "think" in my native units, and do mental conversions to metric in my head.

It's similar to reading ones native language, versus reading a foreign language that you may know a bit of, but have to convert to English to make sense of it. You can't "think" in that other language, you are still translating.

So I'm making more of an effort to measure things in metric and think that way, rather than convert. I'm getting a little better. I'm really making a point of it in my various projects - so much easier to find the center point of 1100 mm than it is for 3' 7 9/16". For a recent project, I needed to create a 3D drawing (SketchUp online), and I did it all in mm. I need to make a table of "1 by 2,3,4,6" boards, etc, (which are really .75" x 1.5", 2.5", 3,5", 5.5") to get those in my head.

Occasionally, cutting recipes down is a bit simpler with 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8th cups, when you get into odd numbers with metric (250 ml, 125 ml, 62.5 ml, 31.25 ml) but that's rare and rounding is usually close enough (I'm sure that 1/4 Cup in most recipes was rounded anyhow).

-ERD50

 

[braumeister]

I enjoy speed, so my speedometer is calibrated in furlongs per fortnight.
Makes me feel like I'm really moving!

 

[6miths]

Or all 3 systems when you factor in the difference between US and Imperial measurements...

Or all four systems... in medicine, even though essentially all countries use the metric system, there is a divide between those that use weight per volume measurements (such as the U.S. e.g. mg/dL) and those that use moles per volume (such as the UK and Canada e.g. mmol/L).

 

[Samsung4321]

mg/dL ... mmol/L

mg is SI; dL, cm are not; 100 mL, 10 mm are (thousands).


mole is SI unit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units

Cholesterol molecular weight 386.7 Daltons

 

[JoeWras]

And then there is meteorology. Inches or mm of mercury, or how about standard atmospheres? Bars? Millibars? Pascal's? Hectopascals?

It's a bit of a mess, but really, the inches of mercury should be thrown away. Nobody cares anyway. During hurricane season, you now exclusively hear pressure in millibars. Sneaky metric invasion.

When I was in meteorology class, we mostly focused on thickness, which is a really geeky way to track pressure. Even in 1983, this was expressed in meters .

 

[Samsung4321]

exclusively hear pressure in millibars. Sneaky metric invasion.

mBar might be metric but SI is Pascal with hectoPascal hPa = 100 * Pa not quite a proper SI but accepted because 1 mBar == 1 hPa because 1 Bar == 100,000 Pascal.

 

[Music Lover]

This thread reminds me of a discussion we had a few months back regarding beer and pint size. The technical definition of a pint was far more complicated than I ever imagined!!

 

[Sunset]

I'll disagree. Canada went metric when I was in grade school. My parents and all the other adults didn't have much of a problem with it.

It's not even close to learning another language. All you're doing is changing the unit number for a few measurements. Once you know what 30C feels like you don't need to know that it's 86F. Once you've bought 200 grams of lunch meat 2 or 3 times you don't need to know that it's a little under a half pound, you know that 200 grams gets you a certain amount.

I guess some Canadians had trouble learning it, as they went backwards on the conversion for some things like grocery stores. Putting lbs and kilo prices on things. This is in Ottawa Ontario, but I've seen the same in Quebec.

 

[SecondAttempt]

And then there is meteorology. Inches or mm of mercury, or how about standard atmospheres? Bars? Millibars? Pascal's? Hectopascals?

It's a bit of a mess, but really, the inches of mercury should be thrown away. Nobody cares anyway. During hurricane season, you now exclusively hear pressure in millibars. Sneaky metric invasion.

When I was in meteorology class, we mostly focused on thickness, which is a really geeky way to track pressure. Even in 1983, this was expressed in meters .

Not too mention that the report pressure is usually not the actual pressure. It is corrected for what would be "normal" at the specific altitude or location.

 

[JoeWras]

mBar might be metric but SI is Pascal with hectoPascal hPa = 100 * Pa not quite a proper SI but accepted because 1 mBar == 1 hPa because 1 Bar == 100,000 Pascal.

Even the "flavors" of metric can be vexing.

Not too mention that the report pressure is usually not the actual pressure. It is corrected for what would be "normal" at the specific altitude or location.

Yep. My weather station reports both.

 

[Music Lover]

I guess some Canadians had trouble learning it, as they went backwards on the conversion for some things like grocery stores. Putting lbs and kilo prices on things. This is in Ottawa Ontario, but I've seen the same in Quebec.

I've seen that too. Is it because people can't adapt or is it just marketing?

 

[Koolau]

And then there is meteorology. Inches or mm of mercury, or how about standard atmospheres? Bars? Millibars? Pascal's? Hectopascals?

It's a bit of a mess, but really, the inches of mercury should be thrown away. Nobody cares anyway. During hurricane season, you now exclusively hear pressure in millibars. Sneaky metric invasion.

When I was in meteorology class, we mostly focused on thickness, which is a really geeky way to track pressure. Even in 1983, this was expressed in meters .

Don't know if they've changed it but every aircraft I've ever seen uses inches of mercury to set altimeters. Since most aircraft still flying use this, I assume they still state the BP that way but YMMV.