Isn't it about time the US joined the world's metric system?

Mike said:
Another change during my life, was temperature scale,
from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

Temperatures are the easiest to convert, roughly, I find:-

Celsius, double the number and add 30 = Fahrenheit.

Fahrenheit, subtract 30 from the number, then half the
remainder = Celsius.

Mike.
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yes and in my mind I still do that every day... . I actually prefer Fahrenheit... and use it most of the time.. but when I say to my daughter who is 46.. that it's 85 today, she will say..'I have no idea what you mean, what's that in celcius ''? so I have to do the mental maths ( yes US citizens we say MathS not Math)
 

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Geezerette said:
I feel like I’m learning metric sort of by osmosis because these days so many things in lbs or oz , pts or qts have a metric equivalent printed right next to it.
And medicines are going metric too. I just got used to figuring CCs and now have to figure milliliters.
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For liquid measurements cc (cubic centimetre) and ml (millilitre) are essentially the same.

1000 cc = 1000 ml = 1 litre = 1 3/4 pints (approx)
 
I used to be convinced starting back in the 1970’s that the U.S. was soon to convert to the metric system. It made sense, it was what the rest of the world used, and most schools taught units on it. Metrics were supposed to be phased in over a several year period, and the government seemed to be backing the change. It could have been a relatively painless conversion.

Unfortunately, this never happened beyond the most token efforts. Engrained in many people is a resistance to change that can become fierce at times if they feel it’s imposed on them. The Imperial System is what they grew up with, and what makes sense to them. So we continue to measure by archaic and irrational standards referenced in part to portions of a king’s anatomy… 🤪
 

Fyrefox said:
I used to be convinced starting back in the 1970’s that the U.S. was soon to convert to the metric system. It made sense, it was what the rest of the world used, and most schools taught units on it. Metrics were supposed to be phased in over a several year period, and the government seemed to be backing the change. It could have been a relatively painless conversion.

Unfortunately, this never happened beyond the most token efforts. Engrained in many people is a resistance to change that can become fierce at times if they feel it’s imposed on them. The Imperial System is what they grew up with, and what makes sense to them. So we continue to measure by archaic and irrational standards referenced in part to portions of a king’s anatomy… 🤪
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well no-one had the Imperial system ingrained in them more than the British... and despite a lot of kicking and screaming ( I must get that under control :LOL: )... the politicians were having none of it..and we we were dragged into the future...
trouble with the USA.. they have too many chiefs and no enough Indians..so no-one in government can agree.
 
NO, NO, I can't adjust, spent to many years working our system. I learned to
cook this way. I spent my whole working life in the printing industry where things had to be exactly precise. This for a girl who was horrible in math at school. Got into that industry, being around all those presses, plates, negatives, artwork, it finally clicked in my brain.
 
Blessed said:
NO, NO, I can't adjust, spent to many years working our system. I learned to
cook this way. I spent my whole working life in the printing industry where things had to be exactly precise. This for a girl who was horrible in math at school. Got into that industry, being around all those presses, plates, negatives, artwork, it finally clicked in my brain.
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are you actually saying that you're not capable of doing what Brits achieved successfully ?>... :sneaky:..I don't believe it..:LOL:
 
The problem with the metric system in the US is that people have to learn it. We've already been soured on metrics by those conversion formulas we had to learn in grade school. If we just learned it by using it, it wouldn't be that hard. It's odd that shade tree mechanics have no problem with metrics. They just grab a 10mm wrench when they need it, and get 'er done.

It's also odd that Skiers in the US buy skis listed in centimeters rather than feet an inches, and all skiers understand what length ski to buy. I buy my soda in two liter bottles and a half gallon of ice cream is now less than half a gallon. Cars define their allure by expressing their engine size in liters. A 2.5 liter engine is bigger than a 2 liter engine. And people just like to say things like, "My car has a 3.5 liter engine," whether they know what that is or not.

So we are getting there slowly. Maybe in a hundred years, but we've got to get rid of everyone over 12 years old if it's really going to happen.
 
JustDave said:
So we are getting there slowly. Maybe in a hundred years, but we've got to get rid of everyone over 12 years old if it's really going to happen.
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LOL, yep it is a slow process and for us older folks it could never be complete. However until we officially start it things will just drag on...

Time to do that! As you say for the next generation, if not ourselves.

And I am irritated by the English vs metric wrench thing. On most stuff you just have to guess which one to use, lots of trial and error. Maybe someday folks will be able to throw away all those non-metric wrenches...
 
Don't think total conversion likely to hsppen in what remsins of our lifetimes, except maybe our junior seniors who are under 60 for a couple of reasons. Though i for one think its a good idea.

Yes indeed too many ill-informed and educated 'leaders' here, as some have pointed out, who's priorities are not on the future of the counry and well-being of the citizens. What is more right now the USA has much more crucial problems we need to be addressing.

I've been trying to learn metrics and think once used to them metrics would make everyday uses of geometry simpler, figuring out area sizes and volume. Because of how it is structured there's less 'rules' (relationship between teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, pints, quarts, gallons; inches, feet, yards, miles) to remember about how many of smaller units make up a larger unit of distance or volume. With metrics going up or down in size you are multiplying or dividing by 10/100/1,000 etc. The name of various units tells you what fraction or multiple of the base unit it is.

I admit its like learning a new language your brain often has translate, but if we started kids on it early more would probably find using the basic math we need for practical uses much easier. Whenever possible i buy instruments of measurement that show both to help my brain grasp the relationship betwen what i was raised with and the metric system.
 
kburra said:
Everything is in 10s or 100s..so easy to learn!!
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That’s what they told us when we converted in the 70s. ’They’ were disappointed when some companies kept packaging things in the same sizes and converting the size to metric. That still happens because the customers can’t calculate the value quickly. Too bad.

Our grocery store flyers still show the price per pound for meat and vegetables in kgs in smaller print. In store, it’s all per kg for weighed items.

I recall a customer asking how much something was per kilogram and young clerk saying they only had it in ‘kay gees’.

The oddest thing last night, a news anchor gave someone’s height in cm and weight in pounds.
 
Jules said:
That’s what they told us when we converted in the 70s. ’They’ were disappointed when some companies kept packaging things in the same sizes and converting the size to metric. That still happens because the customers can’t calculate the value quickly. Too bad.

Our grocery store flyers still show the price per pound for meat and vegetables in kgs in smaller print. In store, it’s all per kg for weighed items.

I recall a customer asking how much something was per kilogram and young clerk saying they only had it in ‘kay gees’.

The oddest thing last night, a news anchor gave someone’s height in cm and weight in pounds.
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now we've left the European Union and got 'Brexit done''... there's a lot of talk about returning to Imperial weights and measures. I doubt if it would ever happen... but it does mean that merchants can now display their goods in Imperial and Metric..if they wish. However the vast majority of the public..certainly those under 50. don't understand imperial, so it seems a little pointless ..
 
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Because so much of our media comes from the US, the conversion for us older folks hasn’t been as smooth.

Most recipes that I get online have a built in conversion to metric.
 
hollydolly said:
One yard = 0.914 metres ( which is 91 centimetres... )... ...I still say a Yard of material... then measure it out in centimetres.
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For most purposes people think in rough terms anyway. We all deal with measurements over the course our lives so most Americans can easily imagine an inch, a foot, a yard, a mile, a pound, a quart and a gallon. We're familiar with how temperatures in Fahrenheit feel.

Over the years most - again I say "most" - Americans learned or figured out that there are about 2-1/2 centimeters to an inch, a meter is a bit smaller than a yard, a kilogram is 2.2 lbs, a kilometer is about 6/10 of a mile, and a liter is a little bigger than a quart.

Still have to stop and do the math in my head when it comes to °F to °C (using the easy formula Mike gave above, which is the same trick @hollydolly explained on this forum a while back). Close enough. From that I can deduce a day of 30°C temps will be toasty and 40°C, oppressively hot.

Metric weight measurements smaller than a KG usually send me to mental or internet conversion tables. Yes, I know 28 grams to an ounce of weight, but if I saw something with the weight of 325 grams I'd have to go through the thinking process: 280 g would be 10 oz, so an extra 45 left over, meaning 325 would be a little shy of 2 more ounces, so 325 g is just under 12 oz.)

Same with fluid oz and cc. I have to think about those.
 
And if you want to be confused about the gas consumption in your car, think about converting gallons.

1 imperial gallon = 1.20095 US gallons

We did the calculation for our gas consumption after long road vacations to see how efficient our vehicle was.
 
I had to take a metric math class back in 1975, because that was going to be the new US system, didn't happen. After highschool I went into the machining trades and spent the next forty years converting metric to imperial and imperial to metric every single day.

I am comfortable with either to tell the truth, I just wish it was one or the other. Except for currency, I like the US system of money best.
 
Kburra said it all, it is easy, so instead of talking about
the metric system, start talking about the "Decimal"
system, that will remind you that it is in tens, and parts
of tens then hundreds and thousands, all associated
with 10s.

Mike.
 

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