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Metric or traditional inch system?
- Thread starter TerpDaddy
- Start date
We were told we were switching over completely in the 1970's and it was mandatory to teach the metric system in schools. We ended up with some cars that were 1/2 metric and 1/2 imperial, and never did complete the changeover. But the space program, science, medicine, and vehicles all changed over. Most machinery is convertible.
It would actually be cheaper at this point to complete the changeover. But people don't like change, no matter how much they say otherwise. And there are some units that I don't think can be changed emotionally, like horsepower.
Objective fact ( Although with Trump in charge that notion isn't really followed anymore lol)
Conversion is much easier between different units
832 km to 832000 meters to 83200000 CMS
How quickly can you do that with miles, feet and inches . The relationship between each is easier to work with and visualize.
832 miles to feet ?? To inches ?? Omg it's so random !
How about temperature . 100 degrees to boiling and 0 to freezing . Much more linear representation which also translates to easier to understand and work with . Over to you !
Something can’t really be objectively better because good and bad are inherently subjective. That’s my whole point.
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
That statement is on a level I expect from trump's twitter feed
But if you need an accurate or scientific measurement you MUST use metric since it is an absolute with defined measurements while Imperial isn't. Imperial uses metric to define its measurements so that in and of itself means it is inferior and metric is superior, much less the complexities and randomness of divisions (1 mile = 5280' or 128 oz = 1 gallon).
Also Salmon is superior since it contains more Omega-3 fat. While Tuna does have more Protein we generally don't need more Protein but do need more Omega-3 fat.
What the heck did we do before the Scientist used metric? .00045 of an inch is a measurement, isn't it? Tolerances used to be in bits of inches. The fact that one is equitable with another sort of equalizes them. Or did fifty years ago.
There is a certain romantic flair to miles, and feet and inches. It evolved from real things humans used in their day to day lives. Similar to having 360 degrees in a circle. A degree being about a thumbs width at arms reach ( or some such). A lot of it started out as English law.
Maybe read Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.
Oh and being from Europe I very much enjoyed the discussions so far. Go metric
Ivan Abundance
Member
The metric countries are not without fault. Measure batteries. If it say 2032, it's 20mm dia x 3.2mm thk. Grab several different sizes and you'll find they altered the spec and still use the metric nomenclature. And wheels/tires are curious. We want to believe the metric values are correct, but all they are is translations of inches at best. 114.3mm bolt circle (Tesla Model 3) is one of the oldest patterns. It's 4.5 inches. They were worried about somebody taking the number literally so they still use a full 4 digit mantissa.
And FL250 (aviation) is understood globally for international flights. That's not meters its feet / 100.
And FL250 (aviation) is understood globally for international flights. That's not meters its feet / 100.
iwannam3
Active Member
Gerald Ford started metrification in 1975, The metrification board was abolished in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan, thanks Ronnie! If we were metric now, Trump would be for returning to the the system that made 'Merica great.
Actually not quit true. The Metric Act was signed into law in 1866 by President Andrew Johnson.
H.R. 596, 39th Congress – US Metric Association
ralph142
Member
both are equal in accuracy, which is more or less dependent on the trueness of the measurement unit (is it a real inch thats being used, and with what precision), and the process and instrument used. if what you're asking is which it is easier to be more accurate with, then its a question of habit. Unless you want to argue that its somehow easier to define a 100th of an inch vs a 100th of a cm for example, but neither are easy to measure with a ruler.
Actually, an inch is 2.54 cm or 25.4 mm, not 254 mm.
Your definition is off by a factor of 10.
We tried to convert to metric (Civil Engineer designing public infrastructure) in the mid to late 90's for about 4 or 5 years in Oregon. It failed miserably. Everyone just converted the measurements to metric but none of the supply industries re-tooled anything. For example, we had to call out 305 mm pipe (which is 12 inch pipe since that's what was available). Nobody wanted to pay the cost to really convert... and the first thing the contractors would do is mark up all our plans with imperial measurements so they could understand it. A lot of manufacturers of pipe, valves, etc. are still using equipment made in the 50's and 60's that would be astronomically expensive to re-tool if you wanted to make parts that were nice, even metric dimensions. We'd try pushing them to adjust sizes and they would just say no thanks, we have plenty of work elsewhere and we can pay a lobbyist to fight against anything you try and require us to do.
PACEMD
Active Member
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
Tesla used for the Model S the same suppliers as Mercedes, in particular for the steering wheel.
Note: Tesla like so much some of those suppliers that
Since most of the car suppliers are located oversea, which explain the use of metric.
However, the tires industry still use 'inches' to measure wheel diameters, but millimeters for the width!
The issue with 'inch' is it;s legacy:
NASA criticised for sticking to imperial units (2009 06 22)
NASA’s decision to engineer its replacement for the space shuttle
using imperial measurement units rather than metric
could derail efforts to develop a globalized civilian space industry,
says a leading light in the nascent commercial spaceflight sector.
using imperial measurement units rather than metric
could derail efforts to develop a globalized civilian space industry,
says a leading light in the nascent commercial spaceflight sector.
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Did you know a Performance model 3 will do the 402.336 meter run in 2.8 seconds with a 2.54cm rollout?