We actually have metric equivalent 2x4's. I remember when they switched - they shrunk very slightly. I mean they always were a bit smaller than 2" x 4", but they became slightly smaller than that.
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We actually have metric equivalent 2x4's. I remember when they switched - they shrunk very slightly. I mean they always were a bit smaller than 2" x 4", but they became slightly smaller than that.
I don't agree. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100 C°. Great for cooking, determining refrigerator settings, freezing weather, etc. We adapt very easily to gm/kg. 1/2 a kg is just over a pound, water is 1kg a liter.
Stations on aircraft are in mm, and somehow the big numbers don't bug us. ±1 mm is useful for non-critical dims, ±0.1 mm is for precise hole placement for bolts with clearance. Solar panels are 1 x 2 meters. WAY easier than:
Where is 12 11/32" to cut a board that fits OK? (313.5mm). How many can I make out of a 10 foot board? Figure out how many 12oz cans of soda are in a gallon? Cheaper by how much? How many teaspoons are in a 1 1/2 tablespoons?
How much does a standard drum weigh 1/2 full of water if the drum is 40lb?
Turbos start to fail at 1000 C°. Bake a cake at 160, do crisp foods at 220. House ovens aren't good past 250. Lab temp is 20°C. Normal body temp is 37.0 C°. Your AC and heater normally are set somewhere in this range.
The problem with Imperial is it relies too much on fractions, and non-comparable units. 12" to a Foot, 3 feet to a yard, 1760 yards. Feet per second or MPH are close by not close enough. Calculations that mix fractions and decimals are a pain, especially with mis-matched units.
Once you STOP translating, metric can always be done in your head. Not necessarily true for Imperial.
Drone Flyer
Active Member
Totally disagree with you there buddy!
The United States is the only place in the world that has not adopted the metric system. Yes, I know, England is half and half, but it is primarily metric. The United States needs to join the rest of the world here!
And you completely ignored the points I made in my post. To refresh, 1/2 degree thermometer increments, no useful volume measures, weight measures not useful. For ordinary use, I was excluding scientific uses.
(Off topic) The metric system has serious deficiencies. Imperial and USC aren't systematic. Anyone who thinks Canada is metric should go to a grocery store in Ontario (at least). Meanwhile, try Primel Metrology.
But yes (on topic), knowing when to multiply or divide by 1.60934 shouldn't be such a puzzler.
But yes (on topic), knowing when to multiply or divide by 1.60934 shouldn't be such a puzzler.
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dasRad
Member
I went to the pub and asked for a pint of beer. What did I get? Legally, a pint is 20 Imperial fluid oz in Canada. In the US it is US 16 fluid oz (and, no, a US fluid oz is not the same size as an Imperial fluid oz). In the pub, it seems to vary from 12 oz (a "sleeve") to, just occasionally, 20 fluid oz. If I go to Europe and order half a litre of beer, that's what I get.
And, why, in my old van, is my mpg so much worse in the US than in Canada?
The main problem with non-metric systems of measurement is that you need to take into account of where you are, and even then you have to have some (blind) faith in just what units the other person is using.
The secondary problem brought about by having multiple systems of measurements in use is that marketing takes over. In Canada, grocers typically mix $/kg, $/lb, and $/100g as $6.99/lb sounds (somehow) better than $15.38/kg, yet $5.45/100g sounds better than $24.77/lb. It seems that the change over occurs when the unit price hits around $8 to $12/unit. Legally Canadian grocers are required to state the price in metric units, and most do, but not all.
And, with mixed systems of measurement we get absurd sizing. Come to Canada and buy some:
1. Tropicana orange juice. In Costco you get 1.89 litre cartons (2 US quarts ≠ 2 Imperial quarts), which makes some sort of sense, but elsewhere the carton is 1.63 litres, which I have yet to make sense of.
2. Butter. Usually 454g (1 lb), now shrinking to 400g.
3. Ice cream. Large sizes are 4 litres. A few middle sizes are 2 litres, but most used to be 1.89 litres and have shrunk to 1.63 litres.
4. Milk. Large sizes are 4 litres. Middle sizes are usually 2 litres. Smaller sizes are typically 1 litre. Until recently, individual sizes were 500ml and 250ml, but have shrunk to 473ml (2 US cups = 1 US pint ≠ 1 Imperial pint) and 237 ml (1 US cup)
The metric system is much easier to use and makes much more sense. And, it's the same everywhere in the world - that's why international businesses (including automobile manufacturers) use it. Temperatures are easy: -10ºC is very cold; 0ºC is freezing; 10ºC is cool; 20ºC is warm; 30ºC is hot; 40ºC is very hot (and at least some of us can easily tolerate a 1ºC variation). The problem society has is resistance to change. Retailers will do whatever they can to not upset customers so we end up set in our ways and often stuck with standards that make no sense - we cater to those that will not evolve, those that will not accept change.
Sort of like the huge resistance we see within our societies in transitioning from an established technology (internal combustion engines) to the clearly better technology of electrical drive.
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Except you sound like an idiot, much easier just to ask for a Pint. Or just ask for a beer...
How is that easy? First off you have to use negative numbers in normal usage (except I suppose in California). Second you have to use decimals as a single degree Celsius is to large an increment to have a comfortable temperature.
Fahrenheit is useful from 0-100, rarely does it go above or below that, and when it does its a big deal. Whats a heat wave in C? OMG its above 37 degrees today!!!, yeah doesn't have the same ring as "It hit triple digits today".
Everything else, sure metric is fine, by Fahrenheit is far superior for normal usage.
A Fahrenheit scale is not reproducible while Celsius is based on the freezing and boiling point of water at sea level. Old Mr. Fahrenheit graduated his temperature scale based on the coldest it got one Winter and the warmest it got the next Summer in the German city ( at the time ) of Danzig.
Anecdote:
When Canada changed to Celsius in 1977 there was much resistance to the new measurements. So some gas stations had pumps that dispensed in Imperial gallons and Litres. I observed a driver pulling in and the following conversation ensued:
Attendant: " Gallons or Litres?"
Driver: emphatically says "Gallons".
Attendant: " How much?"
Driver: "Fill 'er up"
on top of that the attendant had to multiply the indicated total x2 because the pump at the time was unable to show a price more than a Dollar per Gallon.
Anecdote:
When Canada changed to Celsius in 1977 there was much resistance to the new measurements. So some gas stations had pumps that dispensed in Imperial gallons and Litres. I observed a driver pulling in and the following conversation ensued:
Attendant: " Gallons or Litres?"
Driver: emphatically says "Gallons".
Attendant: " How much?"
Driver: "Fill 'er up"
on top of that the attendant had to multiply the indicated total x2 because the pump at the time was unable to show a price more than a Dollar per Gallon.
Hugh Mannity
Mediocre Member
When you are used to it it's fine. Tell anyone in the rest of the world that it's going to be 30+ degrees today and we all think the same thing; "sweet, flip flops, patio and beer drinkin time"
Funnily enough it's 31 right now and am sitting on the deck with a beer writing this, (hiccough), (or "hiccup" in American speak)
Huh? I can't for the life of me see why anybody would complain about metric. The only problem that we have is that we're so heavily US influenced that we're not quite able to shed the imperial system and so we get a strange mix of both. Bizarrely, even in the workplace, the kip (kilo-pound) is a common engineering unit.
At the grocery store, I'm quite happy ordering 250 grams of roast beef instead of a pound. And I've never had a problem setting the thermostat to 21.5.
Drone Flyer
Active Member
Wow! Let's try to keep an air of civility here please!
By the way, Fahrenheit is NOT superior in any way to Celsius! I grew up with it in Canada, yes, but in 1974 we switched over. Celsius is very simple. 0 degrees is freezing and 100 degrees is boiling. How difficult is that?
When you say the temperature in F is 20 degrees, it makes no sense whatsoever as it is misleading. It is cold and doesn't reflect the proper conditions whereas -7 C approx. (20 F) is more descriptive.
Time for people south of the border wake up and smell the coffee!
You see, this is how to keep it civil without name calling!
Chopr147
Active Member
Eh, you Canadian's can keep ya Metric eh
I was in grammar school when we attempted the metric shift. IDK what happened to it. Too much change so we just gave up? Or more went halfway so now I have to buy 2 sets of wrenches and sockets or spinners as those weird talking people over the pond call 'em. How many lacerations,scrapes and frustrations must I have in my life every time i work on a car? After stripping the bolt so ANY socket now is useless, now I have to cut it off I find it's a 16mm? Most metric sets skip the 16 and go from 15mm to 17mm! OK i'm getting a little off topic here but last month it took me 2 DAYS! to loosen a bolt off my pick-up. Who uses 16mm!!!!!
I blame the Canadians!
I was in grammar school when we attempted the metric shift. IDK what happened to it. Too much change so we just gave up? Or more went halfway so now I have to buy 2 sets of wrenches and sockets or spinners as those weird talking people over the pond call 'em.
How many lacerations,scrapes and frustrations must I have in my life every time i work on a car? After stripping the bolt so ANY socket now is useless, now I have to cut it off I find it's a 16mm? Most metric sets skip the 16 and go from 15mm to 17mm! OK i'm getting a little off topic here but last month it took me 2 DAYS! to loosen a bolt off my pick-up. Who uses 16mm!!!!!I blame the Canadians!
How often do you measure the temperature of boiling water? Never? The fact that 100C is the temp of boiling water is an interesting curiosity, nothing more. In fact, how often do you need to measure stuff over 100F but less than 100C. Very rarely. therefore you are wasting the entire range of 30C-100C, which means you need to use decimals. Celsius requires decimals far more frequently in normal usage than F, increasing the possibility of errors and making it a worse scale.
The same is true on the other end of the scale. For most of the population of the US it gets below 0C frequently, but below 0F only very rarely, therefore they would need to use negative numbers frequently if we used C.
He did no such thing. 0°F is the temperature of salt ice water, 100° is body temperature.
Thank you kindly.
p.s. Given that temperature is one of the few physical measurements that actually has a zero point, is insane to put 0° anywhere else...
And that would bring society to an end because ... ?
Eh, you Canadian's can keep ya Metric eh
I was in grammar school when we attempted the metric shift. IDK what happened to it. Too much change so we just gave up? Or more went halfway so now I have to buy 2 sets of wrenches and sockets or spinners as those weird talking people over the pond call 'em.
I blame the Canadians!
Bill Nye has suggested it was the Iranian Revolution, with the taking of the US hostages, which made people think more America!n than global.
Aha, that explains the weird Fahrenheit scale. He had a fever because normal body temperature is 37 C or 98.6 F
Okay 'nuff of the metric stuff, or I'll have to send half this thread to Off Topic...
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