Why is the U.S. still not using the metric system?

So the insistence on using multiples of 1/64 inch is an admission that they really would like to have a unit like the millimeter, but because they do not have such a unit and refuse to use sensible units they have to use weird fractions.

And then they go ahead and make up 0.05" (1/20") next?

I would have no problem if there was a unit system which followed a different philosophy than the metric system, if there was any semblance of consistency to it. As a physicist I use all kinds of strange units if they are useful. But those American units are neither consistent nor useful (Except for maybe the speed of light being roughly 1ft/ns, but then nanosecond is from SI).

That's one of the big problems with imperial - the system does not line up with the decimal system we use.

7.4 feet does NOT equal to 7 feet and 4 inches. It's.. 7 feet and.. 40% of a foot, which is.. 12*.4 = 4.8 inches

So when you're measuring stuff in feet, you ALSO have to measure in inches. You gotta go 7 feet x inches, instead of 7.y feet, making measuring stuff a whole a of a lot annoying.

This is why you see all those fractions in imperial, they gotta do that because the system doesn't line up with the decimal system all of humanity (i think!) has decided to go with.
 
Interesting. Another thing the English gave us... the size of the space shuttle boosters.

Heh, that was pretty interesting. Where'd you get that?

Driving on the left > driving on the right.

Not according to the rest of the world :smug:

Britain was supposed to have gone metric 40 years ago and it still hasn't really happened (except for money). One example I can think of where it can get confusing is fuel for cars. It's sold by the litre, but people measure their cars' fuel by miles per gallon.

Could care less about you guys using metric, I just want you to conform to the world standard in driving.

However by a very similar logic it is safer to keep your right hand on the wheel and use the left to operate the gears, stereo etc

For lefty people... by that logic the right handed people would've used their right hand on the reins, and their left hand to do stuff. But they didn't (according to Wikishmedia)

Since we've moved on from horses, and generally no longer need to hold a sword and battle passerybyers, it's better to be seated on the left (i.e. drive on the right side of the road) so you have your left hand constantly on the wheel and your right hand free to change the radio, or climate controls, etc.
 
Geometry: why 360 degrees in a circle and not 100?
Time: 10 hours/day; 100 minutes/hour; 100 seconds/minute ...
Calendar is tougher because we can't adjust the length of the year, but it can still be optimised.

There's some solutions to the calendar problem.

1. We move Earth's orbit out to where there would be 1000 complete rotations of the Earth per each revolution around the sun.
2. We move Earth's orbit in to where there would be 100 complete rotations of the Earth per each revolution around the sun.
3. We speed up the earth's rotation to where we complete 1000 rotations each revolution around the sun.
4. We slow down the earth's rotation to where we complete 100 rotations each revolution around the sun.

I've also though maybe we could build giant rockets and try using those to either speed up or slow down the Earth's revolution around the sun, but that might cause the orbit of the Earth to shrink or expand, so I don't think that's feasible.

I don't know if there is any solution to make pi nicely metric.
 
Heh, that was pretty interesting. Where'd you get that?



Not according to the rest of the world :smug:



Could care less about you guys using metric, I just want you to conform to the world standard in driving.



For lefty people... by that logic the right handed people would've used their right hand on the reins, and their left hand to do stuff. But they didn't (according to Wikishmedia)

Since we've moved on from horses, and generally no longer need to hold a sword and battle passerybyers, it's better to be seated on the left (i.e. drive on the right side of the road) so you have your left hand constantly on the wheel and your right hand free to change the radio, or climate controls, etc.

the side of the road doesnt really matter for islands, whereas if say germany drove on the left and france drove on the right that would cause chaos

and its hardly a world standard, japan and australia are on the same side as us
 
the side of the road doesnt really matter for islands, whereas if say germany drove on the left and france drove on the right that would cause chaos

and its hardly a world standard, japan and australia are on the same side as us

Who cares if you're on an island or not, it's still backwards and barbaric and you should conform to the rest of the world on this (70% is pretty much the rest of the world).
 
Next, most of the same people who are so resistent to changing to conform with the rest of the world will explain why they think everybody should speak English.
I don't expect them to speak English, but if they expect me to converse with them, they should probably know it. I'm not going to be arsed to learn another language to accommodate others.

Heh, that was pretty interesting. Where'd you get that?
A friend of mine that lives in Devon somewhere sent me that back in 2000 (according to the date stamp on the file...may have been earlier) or so.
 
Who cares if you're on an island or not, it's still backwards and barbaric and you should conform to the rest of the world on this (70% is pretty much the rest of the world).
Why the intense hatred for driving on the left? It doesn't affect you and, given that we're an island, it doesn't affect anyone else, either.
 
How many inches to a mile?

how do you measure volume in imperial?

What small units are there? What are the smaller units? What is the one smaller than the inch?
Well there are 5,280 feet in a mile, so x 12 = 63,360, but who the heck ever needs to know that?

fluid volume, or what?

1/2 inch? 1/32nd inch? What fraction would you like?
 
Since we've moved on from horses, and generally no longer need to hold a sword and battle passerybyers, it's better to be seated on the left (i.e. drive on the right side of the road) so you have your left hand constantly on the wheel and your right hand free to change the radio, or climate controls, etc.

The right hand should take care of the important stuff. Steering being more important that the radio.
 
I know what I find easier to calculate.
Test: Measure how quickly you can calculate these sums:

Option 1: 6" and 7/8 MINUS 5" and 3/16
Option 2: 17,46 cm MINUS 13,18 cm

(You may read option 2 as 17.46 cm MINUS 13.18 cm is you so desire )

Both are pretty easy. 6" 14/16 - 5" 3/16 = 1" 11/16. It's more complicated if you use fractions that don't have a power of 2 in the denominator, but not much.
And 4.28 cm for the other one.
 
But VRCWAgent....fractions be hard....:lol:

How many inches in 17 13/32 feet?

How many centimetres in 17.48 metres?

Conversions in imperial can get a bit annoying, that's all. In metric, you just shift the decimal place.
 
How many inches in 17 13/32 feet?

How many centimetres in 17.48 metres?

Conversions in imperial can get a bit annoying, that's all. In metric, you just shift the decimal place.

Ah....a meter is more than 3 feet, so your example is a bit off. :mischief:

Maybe you should have used 'yards' in your first question.

And the answer is just as easy. Once you get the centimeter measurement just multiply that times 2.2 and you have your number of inches. :lol:
 
But VRCWAgent....fractions be hard....:lol:

Not sure why people get all bent out of shape over this issue. Makes me want to start measureing things in rods and cubits.
Planning to build an Arc or something?
 
Ah....a meter is more than 3 feet, so your example is a bit off. :mischief:

Maybe you should have used 'yards' in your first question.

And the answer is just as easy. Once you get the centimeter measurement just multiply that times 2.2 and you have your number of inches. :lol:

Wait, so your solution is to convert the feet to metres, then to centimetres, then to inches? That doesn't make any sense!
 
And the answer is just as easy. Once you get the centimeter measurement just multiply that times 2.2 and you have your number of inches. :lol:
2.2 is pounds to the kilogram. 2.54 is centimetres to the inch.
 
2.2 is pounds to the kilogram. 2.54 is centimetres to the inch.
See, that's where the metric system is flawed, in not allowing simple decimal conversions between it and other measuring systems. The metric system could use a fair number of revisions before it's ready for a world class country like the United States.
 
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