the metric system... should it be universal?
- Thread starter wcwbf
- Start date
Your comment is snide Albert. Not appreciated.
Pam
Well-known Member
- Location
- Cumbria, England.
I already live in a country that has gone metric. It's just my mindset that hasn't.
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
Warrigal
SF VIP
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
In 1960 I was studying physics and we had to be able to solve problems using measurement from three systems of units. There was the Imperial system known as the fps system. The standard units were the foot for length, pound for mass (weight) and second for time. Non standard units were pints and gallons for volume, miles per hour instead of feet per second and horsepower. Those problems involved a lot of calculations without a calculator and it was a nightmare. The other two systems were alternate version of metrification. The cgs (centimetre, gram and second) later became the standard for science and engineering and the MKS (metre, kilogram, second) version was dropped.
It all sounds very confusing and it was, but today metric units for everyday use is very easy. For people with recipes in non metric units there are conversion tables in the back of every modern recipe book and digital scales can be switched from one to the other very easily. And they can be printed out from the internet. It doesn't take too long to make the mental adjustment.
Builders had more difficulty with measurement of lengths. Our house was built before conversion to metric weights and measures and the doors are all now non standard height and width. We would have to have a new door custom built if we wanted an update.
The biggest problem is not being able to picture the new units eg How tall is someone whose height is 155 cm ?( ans - quite short, think about 5 ft 2 in) how heavy is someone who weighs 90 kilograms? (Ans A bit on the heavy side, especially for a woman just 155 cm tall - 14 Stone, 2 pounds, 6.7 oz, or 198.4 pounds). It took me long time to remember my own height in cm because I was so used to feet and inches. However, converting to a decimal system is well worth the uncertainty of the transition phase. No American would ever want to revert to pounds, shillings and pence for the currency with the extra complications of florins, crowns, half crowns and guineas thrown in.
It all sounds very confusing and it was, but today metric units for everyday use is very easy. For people with recipes in non metric units there are conversion tables in the back of every modern recipe book and digital scales can be switched from one to the other very easily. And they can be printed out from the internet. It doesn't take too long to make the mental adjustment.
Builders had more difficulty with measurement of lengths. Our house was built before conversion to metric weights and measures and the doors are all now non standard height and width. We would have to have a new door custom built if we wanted an update.
The biggest problem is not being able to picture the new units eg How tall is someone whose height is 155 cm ?( ans - quite short, think about 5 ft 2 in) how heavy is someone who weighs 90 kilograms? (Ans A bit on the heavy side, especially for a woman just 155 cm tall - 14 Stone, 2 pounds, 6.7 oz, or 198.4 pounds). It took me long time to remember my own height in cm because I was so used to feet and inches. However, converting to a decimal system is well worth the uncertainty of the transition phase. No American would ever want to revert to pounds, shillings and pence for the currency with the extra complications of florins, crowns, half crowns and guineas thrown in.
Oooooooh, those halcyon days when there were 4 US dollars to the Pound.
If you had half a crown (2s-6p) in your hand, it was also half a dollar, and, a pint of beer was a few pennies over a shilling..........then they had to comp......compli......complimicate it by making everything decadent.
Hmmm.......for some reason, I always feel lighter in stones and pounds.
"Erm........could you just run me through that again?"
Two Zonkonians in their space ship looking down on Earth......
"You know what, Ikweldram, they're a right funny lot down there", said Frommygommy.
"You're so right, Frommy Lad", replied Ikweldram, "I couldn't live there, 10 times this and 10 times that, we're so much more civilized having 473 zonkies to every 13 zonkoos."
"You know what, Ikweldram, they're a right funny lot down there", said Frommygommy.
"You're so right, Frommy Lad", replied Ikweldram, "I couldn't live there, 10 times this and 10 times that, we're so much more civilized having 473 zonkies to every 13 zonkoos."
mike4lorie
SF VIP
- Location
- Brockville, Ontario, Canada
I think Canada should have never made the change, and one of the big reasons being its main trader USA is not metric... Just my two bits