Would the USA ever adopt the metric system, realisticly?

[shropshire 0]

In the U.K plasterboard comes in sheets that are 2700 x 1200mm (8.8ft x 47.244")

if that helps ya

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Andy9o8 2]

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Biggest gain would be in cooking, where you could replace the ridiculous volume sizes teaspoon, tablespoon, peck, smidge, "measure", etc, though I believe the better cooks do it more by feel than by exact sizing.

My Grandmother was a crack expert at marvelous home baking. Did everything by instinct. My mom's a fine enough cook, but she does everything by exact measurements. Here's how it usually went when Mom would help Grandma bake something:

Grandma: OK, now add a little more flour and salt.
Mom: How much?
Grandma: As much as it takes.

[shropshire 0]

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My Grandmother was a crack expert

Now, that just isn't right

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[JerryBaumchen 1,441]

Hi Capt. Slog,

We have a winner.

SI is not 'the' metric system. There are/were numerous metric systems throughout Europe ( and maybe other parts of the world ). SI which is International System ( Systeme Internationale ) combined all of them ( some outfit/people/organization; maybe some folks from the UN, I do not recall who actually came up with it ).

It makes it's jumps by 1000's; as in millimeter, meter, kilometer. There is no centimeter, decimeter, etc in SI.

For those who don't want to change/can't figure out how to use it; I say, Go live in it for a very short period time. It will become very easy for you.

When Australia made the conversion, the nation was given two years to convert/use a dual-system. After two years, no more lbs, ounces, etc. Canada ( IMO ) still cannot get it right.

I was fortunate to spend 15 months in France in the early '60's, nearly immersed in the metric system, and found it to be very easy once you get used to it.

I also spent 3 1/2 yrs on a committee to come up with a plan to convert my employer ( an agency of the US gov't ) to SI. At the end of the day, they are still on the antiquated English system.

Yes, house repairs & remodels will be difficult; but we will get passed that problem. I've actually built some stuff ( buildings type of 'stuff' ) using the metric system ( just to see how it would go ) and found it very simple.

Just my thoughts,

JerryBaumchen

PS) I would suggest that anyone going to the SI system not try to 'convert', just learn what it is. You can today buy Coke by the 1/2 liter & liter, is that a problem for you?

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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Uh huh . . . please divide a meter into exactly 3 equal parts.



1/3 a millimeter = .0131233333333333 in inches and a meter is 13.123333333333333 inches
one reason we haven't switched, Is our machinery still have in cremates in inches .the modern machines are doing both. slow is best way to do this.

I agree, slow is the best way. People would get along with the metric system much better if they stopped trying to convert everything to imperial.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[billvon 3,072]

>And how would building trades deal with this?

Same way they deal with the fact that 2x4's aren't 2 inches by 4 inches, I imagine.

> If I'm doing repairs on my old farm house will I have to buy metric sized
>materials and cut them down? Studs will go to half a meter on center?

Probably. Of course, your old farmhouse doesn't use 4 by 8 sheets of plywood either; you'll have to cut them down anyway.

Times change and materials move on. If you want to repair your old post-and-conductor wiring in your old farmhouse, for example, you can't. You have to put in Romex instead.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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They assumed the earth was perfectly round, which it isn't, and they were off on the length of a metre by 1/5 of a millimeter. That's .0002% of a metre. I did the calculation for you since it is so hard.

BTW, your math is wrong here.

Well, you're right about something anyway. 1/5 mm=.0002 metre=.02% of a metre. I neglected to convert from decimal to percent. Thank you for pointing that out.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[billvon 3,072]

>But for daily life, the gains are minimal.

Right. And that will always be true; for daily life, use whatever you like. But for things that matter (weights of people on aircraft, fuel levels, thrust of space probe engines, dimensions of bridges) best settle on something that works. A lot of money has been lost (and even a few lives) because we have two incompatible systems.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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You didn't do the research, did you?
Like I said before, if it was arbitrary there would have been no reason whatsoever for having chosen 1/10,000,00 the distance from the NP to the equator. But there was. There were lots of reasons and the decision wasn't made by one man, it was made by a group of scientists. The decision was not made lightly.

It's comical seeing you continue to try to come up with reasons that this definition is meaningful. You said yourself, there was nothing special about 39.3 inches.

And it's not exactly the most useful definition out there - the marks on the platinum bar were much more convenient than having to remeasure from the pole to the equator (huge potential for error here)

Where do you think the measurement for the platinum bar came from? I'll give you a hint...it has to do with the north pole and the equator.
I have also said that there does not have to be anything "special" about it for it to not be arbitrary.

What is comical is reading you two redefining the word to suit your argument.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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>But for daily life, the gains are minimal.

Right. And that will always be true; for daily life, use whatever you like. But for things that matter (weights of people on aircraft, fuel levels, thrust of space probe engines, dimensions of bridges) best settle on something that works. A lot of money has been lost (and even a few lives) because we have two incompatible systems.

I remember an airliner that ran out of fuel several miles high because of confusion caused by the two systems. Luckily the pilot was very experienced in gliders and sailplanes, enabling them to make it to an old airfield.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[billvon 3,072]

>I remember an airliner that ran out of fuel several miles high because
>of confusion caused by the two systems.

Yep, that would be the Gimli Glider, and was not bigger news primarily because of some truly amazing flying on the part of the pilot (who was also a glider pilot, fortunately.) We also lost the Mars Climate Orbiter ($125 million) because of confusion over metric/imperial unit conversions. The old imperial unit "minim" is often confused with "milliliter" and that has led to several deaths of patients when they are given 16 times too much medication.

[kelpdiver 2]

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I have also said that there does not have to be anything "special" about it for it to not be arbitrary.

What is comical is reading you two redefining the word to suit your argument.

Perhaps you should stop using a french definition of the word. In english, nothing special means arbitrary.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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I have also said that there does not have to be anything "special" about it for it to not be arbitrary.

What is comical is reading you two redefining the word to suit your argument.

Perhaps you should stop using a french definition of the word. In english, nothing special means arbitrary.

Say WHAT???

From Merriam-Webster...

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arbitrary
One entry found.





Main Entry: ar·bi·trary
Pronunciation: \ˈär-bə-ˌtrer-ē, -ˌtre-rē\
Function: adjective
Date: 15th century
1: depending on individual discretion (as of a judge) and not fixed by law
2 a: not restrained or limited in the exercise of power : ruling by absolute authority b: marked by or resulting from the unrestrained and often tyrannical exercise of power
3 a: based on or determined by individual preference or convenience rather than by necessity or the intrinsic nature of something b: existing or coming about seemingly at random or by chance or as a capricious and unreasonable act of will
— ar·bi·trari·ly \ˌär-bə-ˈtrer-ə-lē, -ˈtre-rə-\ adverb
— ar·bi·trar·i·ness \ˈär-bə-ˌtrer-ē-nəs, -ˌtre-rē-\ noun

From the Cambridge Dictionary...

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arbitrary
[Show phonetics]
adjective
based on a desire or idea or chance rather than reason
Her outfit was an arbitrary choice but was just perfect.

arbitrarily
[Show phonetics]
adverb
We didn't think much about it, just arbitrarily decided to go to Italy.

arbitrariness
[Show phonetics]
noun [U]
DISAPPROVING
The arbitrariness of human nature infuriates me.

(from Cambridge Dictionary of American English)

I also posted a definition earlier from yet another online dictionary. None of them are French. None use the word "special" anywhere in their definition.

Instead of trying to disprove my argument, you could say why you feel the metre is arbitrary. Thus far all arguments you have made can only be backed up by your opinion, not evidence.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[kelpdiver 2]

definition 3a is quite clear on the subject. The example is good too - we arbitrarily decided to use the meridan passing through Paris.

The evidence has been presented, and acknowledged by everyone else but you. There is nothing special about 1/10millionth of 1/4 of the earths circumference, passing through Paris. As I said, a meter could be twice as long or half as long. I think it would be more useful if it were half as long, myself.

The gram is not arbitrary - it relies on the meter such that 1cc of water is 1g.

[quade 4]

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The gram is not arbitrary - it relies on the meter such that 1cc of water is 1g.

Actually, water is pretty arbitrary too since it density varies quite a bit with temperature, so you have to put all sorts of other conditionals on it.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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The gram is not arbitrary - it relies on the meter such that 1cc of water is 1g.

Actually, water is pretty arbitrary too since it density varies quite a bit with temperature, so you have to put all sorts of other conditionals on it.

Which is why specific gravity and not density is used; it already has standard temperature and pressure built in.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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definition 3a is quite clear on the subject. The example is good too - we arbitrarily decided to use the meridan passing through Paris.

The evidence has been presented, and acknowledged by everyone else but you. There is nothing special about 1/10millionth of 1/4 of the earths circumference, passing through Paris. As I said, a meter could be twice as long or half as long. I think it would be more useful if it were half as long, myself.

The gram is not arbitrary - it relies on the meter such that 1cc of water is 1g.

Once again you attempt to change the definition.
I'm through arguing with you. If you think that an entire group of scientists discussing the issue of what to base a standard measurement on ends up in something just pulled out of thin air for no reason, than there is nothing I can say that will change your mind.
Good day.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Let's face it. The real resistance is nothing more than 'not invented here' syndrome. The yanks don't want to admit that anything invented by the French is in any way superior to what they are using now.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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The gram is not arbitrary - it relies on the meter such that 1cc of water is 1g.

Actually, water is pretty arbitrary too since it density varies quite a bit with temperature, so you have to put all sorts of other conditionals on it.

Hi Bill. I'm surprised you didn't already know that temp and purity were specified. From Wiki (no other reason tha it's easy to copy & paste)...

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Originally defined as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a metre, and at the temperature of melting ice"[1] (later 4 °C), a gram is now defined as one one-thousandth of the SI base unit, the kilogram, or 1×10-3 kg, which itself is defined as being equal to the mass of a physical prototype preserved by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

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Let's face it. The real resistance is nothing more than 'not invented here' syndrome. The yanks don't want to admit that anything invented by the French is in any way superior to what they are using now.

Yep. That and the "I don't understand it, i'm not comfortable with it, so I'm going to do anything I can to discredit it" syndrome.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[quade 4]

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Quote

Quote

The gram is not arbitrary - it relies on the meter such that 1cc of water is 1g.

Actually, water is pretty arbitrary too since it density varies quite a bit with temperature, so you have to put all sorts of other conditionals on it.

Hi Bill. I'm surprised you didn't already know that temp and purity were specified. From Wiki (no other reason tha it's easy to copy & paste)...

Who is Bill?

Anyway, yes of course temperature and purity are specified, that's not the point. The point is that in a "better" standard you wouldn't have to do that. THAT is among the issues I have with metric, it is not by any means any more precise or any in any real way "better" than what it would replace.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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Who is Bill?

You know how it is, green guys all look the same.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

Sorry, my bad. I saw the green screen name and thought it was Bill.

What would you suggest as a better standard? Pure water is easy to get, temperature is easy to control.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[Belgian_Draft 0]

Ya know what, i think I'm gonna join the "metrics suck" group. I mean, really, isn't it much simpler to convert inches to feet to yards to miles...than to convert millimetres to centimetres to metres to kilometres. All those tens give me a headache.
And volume! Ounces, pints, quarts, gallons is soooo much easier than much easier than those pesky liters. Heck, their just based on those stupid metre things anyway. And weights & mass...forget it! Grams are crackers, not units of mass.
Overall, it's just ridiculous to have 1000 cubic centimetres be called 1 liter, and have 1 liter of pure water at 4C be of 1 kilogram mass. It's just stupid.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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Ya know what, i think I'm gonna join the "metrics suck" group. I mean, really, isn't it much simpler to convert inches to feet to yards to miles...than to convert millimetres to centimetres to metres to kilometres. All those tens give me a headache.
And volume! Ounces, pints, quarts, gallons is soooo much easier than much easier than those pesky liters. Heck, their just based on those stupid metre things anyway. And weights & mass...forget it! Grams are crackers, not units of mass.
Overall, it's just ridiculous to have 1000 cubic centimetres be called 1 liter, and have 1 liter of pure water at 4C be of 1 kilogram mass. It's just stupid.

Pecks and acre-feet are two of my favorites.