Does it have to be a Choice of metric or Imperial?

Remind me what's detrimental about the metric system.

What he said.

The only problem with the metric system is that most Americans are unfamiliar with it, except in the most general terms.

Yes.

And you could add a couple of Britons to the amount of Americans.

The real frustration today, Walter, is not metric or English. It's finding a mixture of the two on the same piece of machinery. Metric is easy. Just use metric measuring tools and quit trying to convert.

I find metric easier to use for most things, but I was educated in the the imperial/US customary system, so there are some things I still need to do in imperial. Every now and then I get out my old CRC handbook and try to get a handle on newtons, pascals, teslas and some of the other new names in both imperial and metric. Typically, I give up. Where I am confident of the conversion, I often type 68 degrees f = 20 degrees c. Neil

If you'd ever been in an (amphibious) execise with European and British (okay, European, too, but tied up in the Imperial system) ... as someone, who was used to measure in nautical miles and fathoms (Navy) ... I mean, we weren't landing on the wrong island, but ... :wink:

Metric disadvantages


What is 1/3 metre? Show me a centimetre without using a ruler. Show me the approximate length of a standard housebrick and tell me roughly what size it is in any system of measures.

The metric system is based on a radix of 10. Is this the best basis for calculation and therefore the foundation of a system of metrology or would another number base have significant advantages over 10?

Quite separate from the above questions intended to prompt some serious thought, can someone tell me how people ask for different sizes of draught beer in different metric countries including European countries, Canada, OZ, NZ etc?

a) I've rarely if ever heard that someone needed to measure 1/3 meter, but nevertheless, 33 centimeters would do.

b) in Germany, you ask for a 0.3 l glass, for half a liter, a liter, in some regions for a small, a medium or a big glas - that's all on the menu. Where do you see the difficulties?

Scientifically speaking, Imperial is absolutely useless.

The fahrenheit scale is based on a system made by the man after which it is named. To obtain the zero point for this scale, you need to mix equal parts of water, ice and salt, which really has no scientific meaning or relvance at all.

The zero point of the Celsius scale and the 100 point are based on properties of water with zero being freezing/melting point and 100 being boiling point. Isn't that easier to remember than 32 degrees and 212 degrees?

On the Fahrenheit scale, there are 180 equal divisions between the boiling point of water and the freezing point, whilst there are only 100 on Celsius.

For obvious reasons, it is easier to remember the freezing and boiling temperatures of water using the Celsius scale.

Is it not easier for you to work out denominations of money what with each dollar/pound/euro etc. being divisible by 100? Would you prefer 1 cent equaling 15 nickels and 8 nickels equalling one dollar?

Metric is just simplistic. Base 10 makes for easy calculations. All you have to do is move the demical point if you want to convert into lower units of the same measurement.

Let's not forget that the metric system has now been set in such a way that all values are based on scientific absolutes (with the exception of a kilogram, which is based on a prototype kilogram sealed underneath a glass jar sealed inside a vault). That way, you can always calibrate any measurements as long as you have the right material available.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_base_unit.

Yes, the Celsius scale is not one of the SI Base Units, but can directly be converted to Kelvin (the actual SI Base Unit for temperature) by the addition of 273.16 to your temperature.

Imperial is frankly confusing, although I still talk about large distances in terms of miles (though I never bother about fractions of miles).

Re: Metric disadvantages


First Imperial's and after metric :

Re: Metric disadvantages


1/3 of a meter is... 1/3 of a meter.

If your point here is to try to express this in decimals and say that this is a detriment of the metric system then note that this is something that the imperial system can't do either.

This is due to mathematics, not the measuring systems. You are pointing out a difficulty in converting some fractions into decimals and this is unrelated to metric systems.



This is not a problem for people familiar with a centimeter.



This has nothing to do with the metric system. It is, however, a scathing indictment of the average person's lacking familiarity with a standard housebrick and as such is better suited for the "shouldn't everyone be a bricklayer" debate.



First question = yes

Second question = no

Confession: I am unfamiliar with brick dimensions in metric. Also, any other system of measures.

I can't speak for all of science, but these are the only two measurement systems prevalent in physics.