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

[Hehehe]

There's really not a lot to trig except "hey, we can have angles greater than 90 degrees!". (I mean pi/2 radians, of course).

Lol wut? If that's all there is to trigonometry in the UK then you guys are not really studying trigonometry at all. I studied trigonometry in high school, I was 16 or 17 years old if I remember correctly. While trigonometry was by no means impossible, I can see why some people would have trouble with it (I got the highest grade from trigonometry btw)

Also what's happened to Formaldehyde? I swear I've never ever ever seen him actually defend America?!?

 

[GhostWriter16]

There's really not a lot to trig except "hey, we can have angles greater than 90 degrees!"

OK THIS I already knew, obviously.

 

[Rashiminos]

Also what's happened to Formaldehyde? I swear I've never ever ever seen him actually defend America?!?

I would suggest you have not been paying enough attention to his posts. He has both good and bad things to say about "America" depending on the topic. For example: freedom of speech, the war in Iraq

 

[Formaldehyde]

Also what's happened to Formaldehyde? I swear I've never ever ever seen him actually defend America?!?

Only I'm not actually "defending America" in this particular case. I am a staunch advocate of metricizing. I am merely pointing out that the problem does impact a great number of people outside the US. That there are clear reasons to finally end this nonsense once and for all.

But I have defended the US many times before in this forum. For all the faults of the federal government and their clearly inept foreign policy, as well as the general level of bigotry, racism, and provincialism, this is also a great country in many regards. The First Amendment as well as the rest of the Bill of Rights sets us apart from most other countries. The mere fact that I can openly criticize its elected leaders in this forum speaks volumes, much less the ability of the WBC to spew their hatred near soldiers' funerals.

I am even largely protected from the excesses of the CIA and other federal agencies which can mainly only operate against non-US citizens in foreign countries. If I was a citizen anyplace else, I could one day be the victim of extraordinary rendition to a backward country.

 

[Hehehe]

I would suggest you have not been paying enough attention to his posts. He has both good and bad things to say about "America" depending on the topic. For example: freedom of speech, the war in Iraq

This may very well be the case. But in almost all of the threads I've read he has criticized America. I guess I've just happened to read the wrong threads.

Only I'm not actually "defending America" in this particular case. I am a staunch advocate of metricizing. I am merely pointing out that the problem does impact a great number of people outside the US. That there are clear reasons to finally end this nonsense once and for all.

Ah, ok. I misjudged you as you were arguing against Onedreamer.

But I have defended the US many times before in this forum. For all the faults of the federal government and their clearly inept foreign policy, as well as the general level of bigotry, racism, and provincialism, this is also a great country in many regards. The First Amendment as well as the rest of the Bill of Rights sets us apart from most other countries. The mere fact that I can openly criticize its elected leaders in this forum speaks volumes, much less the ability of the WBC to spew their hatred near soldiers' funerals.

You mean the right to bear arms?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Yep. Even that. But the risks associated with that right can also be largely countered by more education.

 

[MobBoss]

If I was a citizen anyplace else, I could one day be the victim of extraordinary rendition to a backward country.

Sorry, I just gotta ask. Which backward country would that be?

 

[Rashiminos]

More inline with the original topic: Having a system of measurement system may be more important than which system we use.

 

[SuperJay]

I learned the metric system in college. 3.5 grams, 7 grams, 14 grams, 32 grams...

 

[Arakhor]

Sorry, I just gotta ask. Which backward country would that be?

Well, if I was going to do a Domination special and use unnecessarily emotive language, I'd mention phrases like "kidnap of foreign nationals", "illegal imprisonment", "torture", "contravention of the Geneva Convention" and so on. Any country that would sanction such methods is morally backwards at the very least.

 

[uppi]

Tools and screws are high tech equipment? I am not extraterrestrial, I live outside the US and UK and don't give a damn about the imperial system because there is absolutely NOTHING that comes from the US that requires me to know of give a damn about the imperial system, so is for the vast majority of inhabitants of the planet. If you really want to support this theory bring examples that make mathematically sense, which means something of common usage, not aircraft fighters or some electronic equipment that one person on thousands manages.

Of course tools and screws are not high-tech equipment. You just need to keep a supply of them, if a piece of equipment comes with imperial threads. And with high-tech I obviously do not mean stuff that is commonly used, but special equipment. For example, if you order laser optics from a US company (even if sold from the European subdivision), you will usually get optics with a diameter 1 inch or 1/2 inch. And then you need holders for these optics, witch need to match those dimensions (at least you can get those with metric threads, leading to devices that use imperial and metric units...).
Another example is, if I want to coat surfaces with extremely good coating and there are only two companies in the world who can do this and both are American, I have to use imperial units to design the holder because it has to match their equipment.

And what length is the diagonal of your monitor? Do you shop for 24 inches or 60.96cm?

 

[Racsoviale]

If I was a citizen anyplace else, I could one day be the victim of extraordinary rendition to a backward country.

*cough*Europe*cough*



.....oh I think see what you did there, and if you did what I think you did, it was awesome

 

[Bill3000]

In the US, Trig and pre-calc are typically taught in the 12th Grade - one semester of each. It is optional so those who don't plan to study math/science/enginnering in college don't have to struggle through it.

Twelfth grade? Maybe in your backwards state.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Twelfth grade? Maybe in your backwards state.

That's right for the non-honors students.

For honors:

8th Grade - Algebra
9th - Geometery
10th - Algebra II
11th - Trig and Algebra III
12th - Calculus or pre-calc

Regular classes were a year later.

What year did your high school teach trig? Was it required or optional.

 

[Bill3000]

That's right. Honors classes were in the 11th Grade.

What year did your high school teach trig? Was it required or optional.

As I said earlier in this thread, 10th grade, required as part of the regents curriculum.

Well, you're from Florida, and it's ranked as one of the states with the lowest quality public education, so I guess that makes sense that it's that far back.

 

[Formaldehyde]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_education_in_the_United_States

A typical pre-college sequence of mathematics courses in the United States would include some of the following, especially Geometry and Algebra I and II:

Pre-algebra: ages 11–13 (pre-algebra is taught in schools as early as 6th grade as an honor course, although algebraic reasoning can be taught in elementary school)
Algebra I (basic algebra): ages 12+ (Algebra I is taught at 9th grade in general, or as early as 7th or 8th grade for an honors course, although California is embroiled in a legal battle over whether or not to require all 8th grade students to take this class) [1]
Geometry: ages 13+ (Geometry taught at 10th grade on average, or as early as 8th grade as an honors course)
Algebra II (sometimes called Advanced Algebra): ages 14+ (usually includes powers and roots, polynomials, quadratic functions, coordinate geometry, exponential and logarithmic functions, probability, matrices, and basic trigonometry)
Trigonometry or Algebra 3 or Pre-Calculus: ages 15+Statistics: ages 15+ (Probability and statistics topics are taught throughout the curriculum from early elementary grades, but may form a special course in high school)
Calculus: ages 16+ (usually seen in 12th grade, if at all; some honors students may see it earlier).

It appears that you state is the oddball one.

AFAIK trig is still not required to graduate in most public school systems - just through Algebra II. It certainly isn't a requirement to get into college in a non-science/engineering curriculum.

 

[GhostWriter16]

@Form- What state are you in? Its Florida isn't it?

I'm guessing New York is tougher on it, but I'm not sure what NYS laws are on it.

I took, according to the homeschool program I used, Algebra I in 9th, however my mom was teaching me and she said she thinks its actually Algebra II, since she knows she did Algebra I in 9th and my work was far more difficult (Of course, there could be a different explanation.)

I'm in 10th and taking Geometry.

IIRC Algebra III and Calculus aren't even required at all (Correct me if I'm wrong.) In fact, I'm not 100% certain Trig is required at all (Though it probably is.)

 

[Disgustipated]

I believe only 3 years of math. But if you aren't good at it, then even pre-algebra is as high as you need. I did Algebra in 8th grade, Geometry in 9th grade, Algebra 2 in 10th grade, Trigonometry and pre-calculus in 11th grade, and Calculus AP in 12 grade. I had an excellent Calc teacher, although he pretty much taught everything that was on the exam, so I got a 5 (out of 5) on the AP exam. But my point is if you take remedial math, it doesn't matter what you get up to as long as you take 3 years (although they may have risen it to 4 years since I got out)

 

[GhostWriter16]

Its 3 in NYS (Its PROBABLY 3 in FL as well), I've had a feeling for some time you don't really NEED Math for much outside of school (Aside from professions that obviously need Math) but if I'm wrong please correct me.

 

[Cynovolans]

Its 3 in NYS (Its PROBABLY 3 in FL as well), I've had a feeling for some time you don't really NEED Math for much outside of school (Aside from professions that obviously need Math) but if I'm wrong please correct me.

Making cakes, especially for creating certain designs. My math teacher does that in her spare time.