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If we entirely disregard the number of subdivisions in a measurement, then for example what's the definition of a metre (meter)? Well it was the length of a pendulum with a 1/2 period of one second, it's evolved since that time, and now it's the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
Which of course leads us to an interesting conclusion... How do we define a second? It's 1/60 of a minute, which is 1/60 of an hour, which is 1/24 of a day, only it's not... because a second is actually 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the Caesium 133 atom. Which is not really a nice round number and it's kind of forcing 1/(24x60x60) of a day into some physically enforced standard.
Of course if we look at Kilograms, well they've got a pretty checkered past too, it was initially defined as 1000 times the weight of 1 cubic centimeter of pure water at the temperature of the melting point of ice, which is pretty savvy given that densities vary according to temp. Currently one kilogram is defined as the IPK standard a 90% platinum 10% iridium right circular cylinder of 39.17mm (height=diameter on right circular cylinders).
Which is of course clear as mud. We have length which is defined by a subunit of the rotation of the earth, and mass defined by the number of an arbitrary molecule that can be contained in a volume defined by a subunit of the rotation of the earth at that units triple point. Interestingly too, is 1kg "weighs" 1kg in earths gravity and with the common mix of isotopes found on earth (for both water, platinum and iridium) however change any of these and its weight varies, which is why weight isn't mass, and vice versa, more curiously though is that if you vary the isotopes compositions you DO vary the mass.
Now most "Imperial" measurements are anthropic, which coincidentally so is time (1day=24hours 1 hour=60 minutes 1 minute= 60 seconds), which directly relates back to Metric.
So which one is better?
Neither, a meter is 3.28 feet, a foot is 0.3048 meters. A Pound is 0.45359237kg or a Kilo is 2.2046lbs. At the end of the day a second is a second regardless of the system, and that is flawed since why is 1 day made of 24 hours and why is there 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute, and the Metric system form of distance measurement is based on time. A foot may relate to the measure of a human body part, but is that any less scientific than relating a meter to a distance travelled by light in some arbitrary time period defined by a sub unit of a sub unit of a sub unit of the rotation of the earth?
It's hardly 21st century because one has a base 10 system, the other has other number bases (3, 8, 12, 16). If you want to have real 21st century it should be Binary (but then as I say there are 10 types of people in the world, those that understand binary, and those that do not).
Take a look at your Ontario Provincial drivers licence, and you will see that YOUR height is measured in centimetres. Think about the daily use of Metric in Windsor, Ontario. Every city street is measured in metres, not yards, and the water that you use in your home is measured in cubic litres, on your monthly city water bill. So is the natural gas for your furnace and water heater.
Buy a bottle of beer or a bottle of liquor, its measured in ml or liters.
Jim B
Toronto.
I know my licence gives my height in centimeters, Jim. However, I would not even think about describing my height in centimeters, nor has anyone else I've talked to who lives on this continent. The only difference I've noticed between people in Windsor and the rest of Canada is the use of celsius. When I went out to BC in the summer I asked my buddy's wife how hot it was outside, and she said "it's 32".
You know what face I made? This one: lol
I said "Soooooooo, what's that? About 90?" She replied with "I have no idea".
Otherwise, when I asked how tall the mountain was behind their house, she said "1550 feet", not "472 meters".
The CFL still uses yards to measure the field, people still cook based off of fahrenheit, the news here reports temperatures in both farenheit and celsius, people in the county still say "the store is X miles down the road", Canadian railways still measure trackage in miles, and still report speed in MPH, TV sets are measured in inches, etc....
What I was saying, is that in everyday use, I know of noone who will give me their height in centimeters, or their weight in kilos. Nobody I know will drop a tape measure from the peak of a roof, and say "Ah, 14 meters. Just as I thought". They say "Ah, 45 feet. Just as I thought". When I was restoring a Lancaster Bomber, nobody said it had a wingspan of 31 meters. It was always 101 feet.
My guess is that the reason is it's simply hasn't been made mandatory. When we started to convert from Imperial Measurements to Metric in Canada it became basically law. You had to use the new official measurements in business or risk being fined.
Oddly, the only old imperial measurement allowed to stay was an imperial liquid pint, beer is important here
I buy things like lunch meat by 100 gram increments, not pounds. You'll never hear anyone say "Give me half a pound of roast turkey breast". Not here, anyways.
I remember back in the late 60's in school they told us that in 5yrs we would be using the metric system for everything, so they started to teach us in it.
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My bathroom scale is in kilos. I weigh 54.2 kilos. No idea otherwise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weltschmerz
I buy things like lunch meat by 100 gram increments, not pounds. You'll never hear anyone say "Give me half a pound of roast turkey breast". Not here, anyways.
Huh...okay then. Windsor is bizzaro world I suppose. My bathroom scale says 160 lbs.
When I go to the deli, I ask for a half pound of whatever. Not 226 grams lol
Huh...okay then. Windsor is bizzaro world I suppose. My bathroom scale says 160 lbs.
When I go to the deli, I ask for a half pound of whatever. Not 226 grams lol
This is .....very strange.
Not so strange. I find it tends to be generational. I use grams for ordering food, but still think in pounds for body weight. I use kilometres and metres but think of my height in feet. I use celsius for weather but fahrenheit for cooking.
Younger people I know only use metric for everything.
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lol 
