US going metric?

"Mike O'sullivan" wrote in message
...

"Me" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"jj" wrote:

I'm curious, has there ever been an attempt at going metric in the US?
e.g.
using Celsius? How do people feel about it?

I believe there was a half-hearted attempt to go metric in the '70's.
Other than for scientific purposes, I don't ever expect the United
States to officially adopt the metric system, although it would
definitely benefit from doing so.

Except for the currency of course. US was one of the first.

Your "quarters" worth? Ah, the decimal fraction. Actually the 70's changed
the face of high school and university track and field forever....ah, er
perhaps the track and not so much the field. Interesting. s

Mark Hewitt wrote:

Personally, living in the UK they've been trying to introduce metric here
for decades, and it's largely suceeded. However there are still many shops
selling fruit etc by the pound, even though it's actually illegal, they get
away with it. My view is that it isn't because of what customers want,
rather than if they price in KG their prices would look a lot higher!

Also, beer is still sold in pints.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain
or freed a human soul. --Mark Twain

"Mark Hewitt" wrote in message ...
[snip][
Each to their own, I guess it's what you are used to. But I find the
fahrenheit scale makes no sense at all! Zero for freezing, one hundred for
boiling point. Makes much more sense than 32 for the freezing point!

I do understand the desire to have the freezing point of water to
be zero, but in practicaly reality it is fairly meaningless number.
40F is considered the "danger point" around here for opening up emergency
shelters for the homeless (higher if it's raining). We get frost
warnings for anything below about 36F. Most freezers are around 20F
(I heard the poultry industry considers "fresh" meat to be anything
never stored below 20F as well).

Alternately, 100C/212F isn't fairly useful either. Once you
start to get over 95F, it's potentially dangerous to many folks.
Water much below 80F will be considered "cool" to a bather, and
it has to get below about 60 before most drinkers will consider it
"cool". The typical fridge is about 40F. Truth is, boiling point
of water, or anything else really, is a strong function of absolute
content and atmosphere.

The degree F however is a smaller increment than celcius and
in most of the applications I need the scales for, I prefer that
finer division.

That is generally my complaint about many metric units, they're
just a darn inconvienent size. The centimeter is too small, but
the meter is too large. Feet is nice for alot of what I use
those dimensions for.

I will admit that the kilometer is probably a more convienent
unit than the mile for a whole variety of reasons. The pound is a
nicer size than the kilogram but even that one is messed up which
is why I find myself buying a quarter pound of stuff all the time.
Probably a good defense of the gram.


And another point not related to your post. I usually see Americans calling
the system of measurment English, as opposed to Metric. Well we mostly don't
use that system so much so it's not 'English' any more, the correct term is
Imperial.

Actually, since there is no singular system, there really is no singular
correct name. I see various references to "US Standard", which is kind of
a misnomer since there isn't much of one. I'm sure the commerce department
has rules on all these things though. I'm pretty sure though that no
one is using the imperial system. So they probably aren't referring to
what "you" used.

On 5 Jan 2004 07:28:55 -0800, (me)
wrote:

That is generally my complaint about many metric units, they're
just a darn inconvienent size. The centimeter is too small, but
the meter is too large. Feet is nice for alot of what I use
those dimensions for.

What do you have against the decimeter?


And another point not related to your post. I usually see Americans calling
the system of measurment English, as opposed to Metric. Well we mostly don't
use that system so much so it's not 'English' any more, the correct term is
Imperial.

Actually, since there is no singular system, there really is no singular
correct name. I see various references to "US Standard", which is kind of
a misnomer since there isn't much of one. I'm sure the commerce department
has rules on all these things though. I'm pretty sure though that no
one is using the imperial system. So they probably aren't referring to
what "you" used.

I avoid using Imperial as a name for the US system because of the
differences in liquid measure.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

"jj" wrote in message
...
what about high school math/science? would kids be taught in Metric
measurements? Would most young people know how big a metre, or a kilogram
is?

In the UK I went to school in the 80's and we were taught exclusively in
metric. No mention of imperial measurments whatsoever. In preparation for
coming out of school and the metric system having been introduced. Of course
it didn't happen that way. Everyone was getting taught one system in school
and having to use another in real life.

This was confusing as you might expect. Even now I couldn't really tell you
how many inches in a foot or ounces in a pound etc, I just never learned it,
so it's never stuck.

alohacyberian wrote:

The ease and convenience with the metric system is far superior to the
hodgepodge used in the United States, though I agree that the use of
Fahrenheit and feet instead of celsius temperatures and meters offers much
more exact measurements and I think for that reason most Americans will
prefer the current sytem over metric for a long, long time. And I think
Americans by and large prefer miles to kilometers for distance, though
personally, I think kilometers are probably a better way to measure distance,
but don't expect most Americans to agree with me. KM

Having worked with metric measurements for the last 26 years, I have to say that
I find it much easier to work with than the Imperial system. While one degree F
may be a finer measurement than one degree C, most people cannot detect the
difference. And when dealing with weather, humidity and wind can distort
temperature sensations so much that they would not be able to tell anyway. I find
it handy to have 0 degrees as the freezing point because it makes a significant
difference to the weather. Anything below that is freezing (water). If people
really want a finer measurement of temperature they can also use half degree C.
(.5).


Let's face it, the Imperial system is confusing. It is so much easier to deal
with units of ten. 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, 5,280 feet or 1,760
yards in a mile, 4,480 sq. ft. in an acre, 640 acres in a sq. mile. Where is the
sense in that? It comes as no surprise to me that many of those who are opposed
to converting to metric do not even know most of the Imperial system. They are
unaware of bushels, pecks rods, drams, noggins etc.

The biggest hang-up that people seem to have is in conversation. Once you make
the switch to metric you do not need to convert. You simple measure in metric.
If you are going to a city 60 miles away and the speed limit is 60 mph you do not
have to convert the 60 to (roughly) 100 and the speed to (roughly ) 100 kph. The
city is 100 km. away and doing 100 kph you will be there in an hour. If you
walk outside and the temperature is 0 C, you do not have to convert it to 32F.
It's cold. It's 0 degrees.

"Mark Hewitt" wrote in message
...

This was confusing as you might expect. Even now I couldn't really tell
you
how many inches in a foot or ounces in a pound etc, I just never learned
it,
so it's never stuck.



Don't worry - most kids in the U.S. couldn't tell you that, either, until
they need it for something practical. vbg

Chris

People in the UK still give their weight in "stones" too.

"Evelyn C. Leeper" wrote in message
et...
Mark Hewitt wrote:

Personally, living in the UK they've been trying to introduce metric
here
for decades, and it's largely suceeded. However there are still many
shops
selling fruit etc by the pound, even though it's actually illegal, they
get
away with it. My view is that it isn't because of what customers want,
rather than if they price in KG their prices would look a lot higher!

Also, beer is still sold in pints.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain
or freed a human soul. --Mark Twain

me wrote:

"Mark Hewitt" wrote in message ...
[snip][
Each to their own, I guess it's what you are used to. But I find the
fahrenheit scale makes no sense at all! Zero for freezing, one hundred for
boiling point. Makes much more sense than 32 for the freezing point!

I do understand the desire to have the freezing point of water to
be zero, but in practicaly reality it is fairly meaningless number.
40F is considered the "danger point" around here for opening up emergency
shelters for the homeless (higher if it's raining). We get frost
warnings for anything below about 36F. Most freezers are around 20F
(I heard the poultry industry considers "fresh" meat to be anything
never stored below 20F as well).

Alternately, 100C/212F isn't fairly useful either. Once you
start to get over 95F, it's potentially dangerous to many folks.
Water much below 80F will be considered "cool" to a bather, and
it has to get below about 60 before most drinkers will consider it
"cool". The typical fridge is about 40F. Truth is, boiling point
of water, or anything else really, is a strong function of absolute
content and atmosphere.

The degree F however is a smaller increment than celcius and
in most of the applications I need the scales for, I prefer that
finer division.

22.1°C, 22.2°C, 22.3°C... works for me.


DMW

If I remember correctly there was a movement in the mid 70's to go metric. I
think the reason people in the United States do not like metrics is that
schools spent most of their time teaching how to convert from feet and so
forth to metrics. You end up with unusual number results. If you used
metrics from scratch, it is much easier than the other methods. I learned
metrics in chemistry, and found the system easy.

Tom