| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 9/2/2007 10:26:36 AM | truckerman666: Converting to the metric system is an incredibly stupid idea... Hey, blame your* guy...
The metric system, and metre was first fully described by Englishman John Wilkins in 1668 in a treatise presented to the Royal Society some 120 years before the French adopted the system. It is believed that the system was transmitted to France from England via the likes of Benjamin Franklin...
GE&H
* Well, he's on your $100 bill anyway: Benjamin Franklin was one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat. As a political writer and activist he, more than anyone, invented the idea of an American nation, and as a diplomat during the American Revolution, he secured the French alliance that helped to make independence possible.
[wikipedia] | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 9/2/2007 12:36:12 PM | As I grew up in the society where metric system was the way to measure, I was more than happy when the metric was introduced to the UK. I used to read in papers that especially tradesmen on the markets refused to follow the metric but as time passed on now one can ask in imperial or metric measurements. Well, I do stick to grams and kilos, litres etc but talking about ham I prefer slices  | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 9/2/2007 1:46:09 PM | I wish they would of taught Metric when I was in grade school . All them eighths , sixteenths,thirtyseconds , were way to many fractions to figure out..We still use Imperial Measurements alot in Construction, but always having to convert inches into feet really suck. Think about it...6 inches is half a foot...so in your calculation 6 is actually .5 of a foot?
So when figuring out square footage you always gotta covert 6 inches to .5. It becomes a bit more tricky when you got 5/8 and 3/16 and 7/8 all the time...your constantly having to convert anyways...8 inches is .75...and so on the only close one is 3/8 , which is I think .38 of a foot...Metric is a lot easier, just because it is the power of 10, half is .5 , quarter is .25.
Not saying I'm a metric whiz or nothing but, for future use I think it will be more useful .
My little trick for weather is 0c x2+32=32f....10cx2+32=52f.......you got to add a bit more as you get higher20cx2+32=72f+a bit ...30cx2+32=freakin hot | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 9/2/2007 2:12:52 PM | | I'm one of those that go back and forth. During school,after about 7 years of being taught the Imperial system suddenly we had to switch to metric. For some of us it just didn't take. The younger generation seem to have an easier time with metric. My 13 yr niece doesn't know what a gallon is,for instance,but knows how much 4 liters would be. I measure distance in feet,inches,and miles,but I prefer to think of temperatures in Celsius. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/8/2008 8:31:42 PM | I am curious for the Canadians..how do you feel about metric, now that your country has officially used it for over 30 years?
As post2 said, Canadians use both systems. Mainly feet/inches for height and pounds for weight. I would guess that it's easier to understand by the general population. I prefer metric simply because it's multiples of 10 with a base measurement (meters/grams for example) and a prefix (kilo, milli, micro, nano, etc). The "English" system (aka Imperial) can't use such prefixes and must rely on weird and unconventional terms for very large or very small measurements. I can visualize a liter, but have trouble with what a pint or quart looks like.
Also, I have never heard of radio frequencies express in the "English" system. The base measurement is in Hertz (Hz) but it always carries an SI prefix (MHz or GHz). The same can be said of "Bytes" expression in computer lingo.
I understand celsius but it still sounds a bit funny about a hot summer day when the temperature is 32..
Conversely, in the "English" system, water freeze at 32 degrees Fahrenheit which is Zero degree Celsius. I think it's more appropriate to think of water freezing at Zero than at 32.
I have no problem knowing my weight in kilos or pounds
Government authorities have fooled everyone into thinking that Kilograms is a measure of weight. It isn't. Kilograms is a measure of mass which is independent of gravity. Weight (in metric) is really measured in Newtons.  | |
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NERO1
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Joined: 3/8/2008
Msg: 32 | |
| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/8/2008 9:33:39 PM | | America should convert finally to metric, yes. It's ridiculous....another area where they / we are so awkward (for lack of better word) or out of touch in a way with the rest of the world.... I think it's only America, Liberia, and Myanmar/Burma that have never gone metric. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/8/2008 9:40:53 PM | I only use metric when I'm driving- i use pounds for my weight; feet and inches for my height- inches when I sew. I also don't use metric for cooking- tsp. and cups are so much easier! I'm going to be taking a carpentry course in sept; I was told I have to have a metric tape measure- I have one that has both and thats what I'm going to use
We switched when I was in grade 7- my teacher had to keep checking the text book; she didn't really know it either. It didn't make sense to me when we switched; when we are right next to a country that didn't. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/9/2008 2:14:05 AM | I waiver. Personal heights/weights I still think in feet/inches and pounds, but at the grocery store I think in kilos. Temperatures I think in Celsius, except in cooking. For short distances I think in kilometres, for long distances I tend to do the Canadian thing - in time. How far is it to the airport from my place? Oh, about 45 minutes in the summer, an hour and a bit in the winter. How far to Toronto? Between 16 and 20 hours, depending on how many Timmies breaks we're going to take.
I'm pretty much the same. Measuring distance in time, really is a Canadian thing. It's 280km to Edmonton from my place, but we just say it's "two and a half hours" and then it's "six hours to Calgary" from there.
I'm a tradesman, and at work we use inches and feet all the time, instead of metric. I just find it easier to work with 6 5/8" say, as a measurement than in cm. The insulation we get is sold in lineal metres now, but I do my measurements in inches and fet still. The metal is still on a roll, 3' wide by 100' long. So yeah, we use the imperial system for work in our trade. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/9/2008 2:59:15 AM | All I really have to say in regards to the metric system is this:
http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3753/size/big/cat/
Have to wonder why a first-world nation is still using a system where the number of countries which also use it can be counted on one hand. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/9/2008 2:55:59 PM | | Please convert to the metric system soon! I absolutely hate working on residential projects in imperial, and then having to flip the ol' mental gear when working on commerical projects, while still incorporating some imperial for sheet goods (drywall, or plywood). Yeesh its enough to give a person an anurism. :p | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/9/2008 7:44:46 PM |
There will always be those who embrace change, and those who don't. Those that embrace it move ahead, while those who don't get left behind.
Metric is the simplest form of measurement period! Everything is in multiples of 10. How much simpler can it be.
2.8 billion people can't be wrong!!!
More than that! Almost the entire world uses the metric system with only the US being the lone holdout. I can't think of another country that only uses the English standards. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/10/2008 3:55:08 AM | i OP and the readers!
I am an Australian, where this country have been using the metric system and the Dollar currency from the olf Imperial since 1966.. or there abouts. I cannot remember, but it was way before my time.
Anyways, Metric system is part of our lives. We found that in everything, especially when it comes to measurements, Metric system is very accurate, as well as easier to mathematically use in any formula (can you do decimal places in fractions? :/)
The Use of Metric sys term on the Outback roads:
Kilometers is what we define the distances to and from any two points. Kph is what we define the speed. We know that if we travel 100 km's and hour, and travel for 200 kms, it will take us 2 hours, or tehre abouts, depending otn eh traffic of kangaroos on teh road! lmao
However, Weight, or mass, is a bit tricky for my mind. We still use the old imperial for cooking weight measurements, but for liquid, we use the metric system. Litres, kilolitres etc etc. Some times you find other areas of mass that uses the metric system, Grams, Kilo Grams. mm now that i remembered, i think i see BOTH Imperial and Metric in cooking instructions :/ sheesh! lol
We never use yards, unless we we see guys playing Gridiron (that is, American football) for the sake of the American Tradition. Not sure about our Football (AFL) but then again, i never watch football myself.
Metric systems is easily integrated into teh computer technology. We have storage spaces of the hard drives follow the same sort of system... Bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes and megabytes.
In all things, using the metric system, makes it easier to "visualize" or comprehend the idea of what size/length they are. Fractions, dont tell us much. I mean 3/4.. yes.. we know how much is 3/4 is.. but 3/4 of what? 100 grams? 1000 grams? lmao
Temperatures are in Celsius here..... I often get pple from USA say .. wot? 44 degrees. thats nothing!.. I say.. it is when its boiling hot here! and thats the average summer temp!.. lmao
The old imperial system still have its use, traditionally, but from our country uses of metric system, we find its the best thing to have. (not that we are trying to tell our motherland, glorious England and all, that we are rebellious about it ya know)
:P | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/10/2008 10:50:56 AM | As a person that grew up after the metric system was in place I was always confused by my elders talking in miles and Fahrenheits. When people ask me my height/weight I answered in cm and kilos, I could easily do the conversion but I like to see them squirm.
Metric is a nice base 10 system and has always made a whole lot more sense to me than imperial, but I suppose that in part it's because I am a scientist. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/10/2008 4:05:24 PM | I was a bit stumped when the metric system became the "norm" here in Canada. Now I find I can convert Celsius to Fahrenheit in my head, without having to figure it out on paper or by calculator. For example, 20 degrees Celsius is 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
80 kilometers per hour is 50 miles per hour.
If I need to buy material at the fabric store, I can ask for it in either yards or meters, as the measuring stick they use has both measuring styles on it. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/10/2008 7:09:04 PM | I live in the states and am use to both systems.
I've owned and driven grey-market cars, European cars not intended to come to the states, with speedometers printed only in kilometers. It's very easy to figure miles per hour from kph. Take the kph, divide by 2 and add 10. You'll be within 2 or 3 mph which is close enough. One car still owned has a trip computer that is in German. Took me a while to figure out that "biz tank leer" means kilometers till empty.
Instead of miles per gallon, they use litres per 100 kilometers. This gets really confusing because the lower the number, litres used, the better the fuel economy. Back-asswards!
Tools are another story. Ever hear of Wentworth? I think that's spelled correctly. Old English cars used different tool sizes. Really strange sizes. American cars always used tools based on inches. Current European and Japanese cars used metric tools that were 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 19mm. Then American decided that metric was a better way to go but started using 15, 16 and 18mm sizes. I never needed those sizes before.
Go figure. Or try to. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/11/2008 8:19:54 AM | One of the frustrations with metric vs imperial relates to my profession (I estimate building materials for construction projects). Materials are still purchased and sold in imperial measurements, however, many architectual drawings (Even ones from the US) are now rendered in metric measurement. It doubles the time to complete a project when I have to calculate millimetres to sq metres in order get an accurate overall area, volume, etc, then convert this number to imperial to order material from the supplier. 
Peace | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/11/2008 8:26:41 AM | Minus forty Fahrenheit is equal to minus forty Celsius.
I like to remember that. Never know when it will come in handy. | |
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| Metric system vs. English system
Posted: 7/11/2008 9:51:48 AM | | Metric is a more percision type of measurement. It simply takes time to get used to. Anyone arguing my point then how many sockets are in an average snap-on set of American sized sockets . Take the same snap-on set in Metric and there as many as 4 more sockets. AKA more precision. | |
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