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I must be noted that Britain got rid of Imperial Units nearly 4 decades ago. Brits still use units like the stone in parallel to the kilogram. Ask a Britain how much he weighs and he is likely to give you his weight in stones! Britain used to have quite a system for coinage like the pence, twopense, threepence, sixpence shillings soverigns and pounds but even that went decimal in 1970.
Britain's coinage went decimal in 1971. I was at school in the UK at the time and it was a great relief. Imagine performing calculations on monetary amounts when there are 240 pennies in a pound, 12 pennies in a shilling and twenty shillings in a pound Although some of the new coins had been introduced already (5p, 10p, 50p) I still remember the actual day of the switchover. In fact, I was the last year at school to learn the old system.
The metric system began to be introduced in the 1960s and was phased in over a period of about 25 years. For sentimental reasons some imperial measures like the pint, miles and stones are still used. Older people like my mother (aged 85) never really adapted to metric but, for most people, it really is not a problem. If they switched from miles to kilometers it would not be a problem either. But pints to half-liters (the nearest equivalent) would be a problem as there is less beer in a half-liter
Whether or not metric is adopted as the universal global system of weights and measures will largely be taken out of American hands. It will be decided by the nations doing most of the worlds manufacturing, technology deveopment and research. Hence that may be China or India or Brazil or Germanynot the United States. This is what loss of technical leadership means. The days when other nations will slavishly follow ANSI standards is ending.
I was in Home Depot yesterday and noticed that for things like spanners, etc., they sell both metric and Ansi. I assume a lot of tradesmen have to buy both.
Effective July 1, 1959, the United States and countries of the British Commonwealth defined the length of the international yard to be exactly 0.9144 metres.[1] Consequently, the international inch is defined to be equal to exactly 25.4 millimetres.
Yep. It's an inch. It's defined by the metric system. That's hilarious.
The U.S.A is one of three countries in the world that don't use the metric system. The other two are Burma and Liberia.
Mars Climate Orbiter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The MCO MIB has determined that the root cause for the loss of the MCO spacecraft was the failure to use metric units in the coding of a ground software file, “Small Forces,” used in trajectory models. Specifically, thruster performance data in English units instead of metric units was used in the software application code...
7.62 mm.
3 and 1/4 in shell.
2 liters. Makes sense, right?
Just like a gallon of milk makes sense, right?
I have always opposed the metric system in general usage. While, scientifically, it makes sense, for most users it is way too confusing because everything is a power of 10, or 100, or 1,000 from the other units of measure.
For example there are 1000 meters in a kilometer, and 100 centimeters in a meter and a millionth of a meter in a millimeter.... oops, not so simple is it.
It is too sterile and confusing. OTOH, nobody forgot that there are 3 feet in a yard, or 12 inches in a foot. All the numbers are distinct, so there is no confusion.
How many millimeters in a kilometer? Is it 10, or 100, or 1000 or 10,000.
Now, we know that there are 100 centimeters in a meter so you add two zeros onto the end to get the number of millimeters in a meter.
1 meter = 1,000 millimeters
We also know that there are 1000 meters in a kilometer so we add three zeros onto the end to get millimeters in a kilometer.
1 kilometer = 1,000,000 millimeters
Now, for the sake of the rest of the world, lets do the same for inches in a mile.
12 inches = 1 foot
And we know there are 3 feet in a yard so we just multiply 12 by 3 = 36
So one yard = 36 inches.
And we know that there are 1,760 yards in a mile so lets just add a couple of zeros ..... err no ... that doesn't work. Can someone pass me the calculator
Now, we know that there are 100 centimeters in a meter so you add two zeros onto the end to get the number of millimeters in a meter.
1 meter = 1,000 millimeters
We also know that there are 1000 meters in a kilometer so we add three zeros onto the end to get millimeters in a kilometer.
1 kilometer = 1,000,000 millimeters
Now, for the sake of the rest of the world, lets do the same for inches in a mile.
12 inches = 1 foot
And we know there are 3 feet in a yard so we just multiply 12 by 3 = 36
So one yard = 36 inches.
And we know that there are 1,760 yards in a mile so lets just add a couple of zeros ..... err no ... that doesn't work. Can someone pass me the calculator
Thanks for demonstrating how confusing it can be. Our system has soul, life. Metric is so, well, dull and unimaginative.
yes, soul is what we want in a measurement system. Never simplicity and uniformity
Metric is anything but simplicity. It's sameness is confusing. Every step is a factor of 10, so you don't know if it is 10, 100, 1000, or 10,000 bigger or smaller going from one to another. For example, how many millimeters in a kilometer.
The sameness of each step makes it confusing. Nobody wants it in the US, and since we set the standard for everything, well feet, yards and inches it is.
Metric is anything but simplicity. It's sameness is confusing. Every step is a factor of 10, so you don't know if it is 10, 100, 1000, or 10,000 bigger or smaller going from one to another. For example, how many millimeters in a kilometer.
The sameness of each step makes it confusing. Nobody wants it in the US, and since we set the standard for everything, well feet, yards and inches it is.
What a ridiculous argument
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Although some of the new coins had been introduced already (5p, 10p, 50p) I still remember the actual day of the switchover. In fact, I was the last year at school to learn the old system.
