The Metric System

[SomeWelshGuy]

In the UK we use a mixture of both. Schools are usually taught in metric, and the temperature is metric, with every weather forecast using centigrade as opposed to Fahrenheit. But most things are still in imperial, roadsigns use miles, milk is in pints, weight is in stones and pounds, height is in feet, so most everyday things use imperial measurements. For example, I have no idea how long a kilometre is, how much I weight in kilograms or how tall I am in metres, but I know how long a mile is, how much I weight in stones and pounds, and how tall I am in feet.

[Lenin64]

Yes, it should definitely be changed.Imperial units aren't even in multiple of 12, that's just inches-feet. Then there's 5600(?) feet per mile, 3 feet per yard, Emperor knows how many yards per mile. But 1000 meters per kilometer, 100 centimeters per meter, 1000 millimeters per meter 's all good.

 

 

 

And don't even get me started on liquid measurements.

[ThurinEthir]

Yes, it should definitely be changed.Imperial units aren't even in multiple of 12, that's just inches-feet. Then there's 5600(?) feet per mile, 3 feet per yard, Emperor knows how many yards per mile. But 1000 meters per kilometer, 100 centimeters per meter, 1000 millimeters per meter 's all good.

 

 

 

And don't even get me started on liquid measurements.

 

5280 feet in a mile. I think.

 

I have no idea which I learned first. But I know I prefer metric. I don't even know what a gallon is. Or a quart. Or a pint.

[Da_Latios]

I think America tried converting to the metric system before, but the citizens were too stupid to learn increments of 10 or something.

[Cup Lion]

Well, I know the conversions from imperial to metric, so it doesn't bother me much. I'd say no. It's easy to learn, and it would cost quite a bit of money to change all road signs into metric units.

[Lenin64]

Yes, it should definitely be changed.Imperial units aren't even in multiple of 12, that's just inches-feet. Then there's 5600(?) feet per mile, 3 feet per yard, Emperor knows how many yards per mile. But 1000 meters per kilometer, 100 centimeters per meter, 1000 millimeters per meter 's all good.

 

 

 

And don't even get me started on liquid measurements.

 

5280 feet in a mile. I think.

 

I have no idea which I learned first. But I know I prefer metric. I don't even know what a gallon is. Or a quart. Or a pint.

 

Pints are for alcohol only.

[Makoto_the_Phoenix]

Force the mixture of both. Get us exposed to it so that we're not entirely dependent on one type of measurement. IIRC, the kind of work that I'll probably go into (Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, NASA, etc) will be exclusively using the metric system, so we'd better know it.

[warren211]

Getting metric units is easy. It's all intervals of 10. The hard part is knowing whether a certain amount is big, small, hot, cold, heavy, etc. If I'm not mistaken, One of the presidents had a failed attempt at bringing the U.S. over to the metric system.

 

 

 

The only way we Americans can get comfortable with metric is if we were deeply exposed to it. Translating metric measures to customary don't help, it just wastes time. You have to actually be immersed in the system. After a few years of science class I've grown accustomed to using gram and kilogram. But everything else? I've got a long way to go...

[The Dark Lord]

Excuse my ignorance, but I didn't know that the Brits used the same system as the US. I always thought that the UK officially used signs in metres for some reason...

[warri0r45]

I'm a big fan of the metric system and the few countries that haven't converted from Imperial should. It makes much more sense with everyone running on the same system, hence why American scientists use metric these days anyway.

[killerbeer0]

I'm a big fan of the metric system and the few countries that haven't converted from Imperial should. It makes much more sense with everyone running on the same system, hence why American scientists use metric these days anyway.

 

 

 

Yeah it makes more sense. My mind doesn't work in it but I could get used to it. It really is the only logical system.

[Will H]

Us Brits use a mixture of both, with the younger generations being more likely to be familiar with metric and less familiar with imperial. I reckon that in most cases the metric system works better, and we should learn to use them more, but imperial provides some useful units that are difficult to measure otherwise. For example, a pint is a good amount of beer, but can be held in a strong glass that you can easily hold in your hand.

 

 

 

But I think that it would be better to put in kilograms and kilometers, because it's makes more sense.

[fastortoise]

Us Brits use a mixture of both, with the younger generations being more likely to be familiar with metric and less familiar with imperial. I reckon that in most cases the metric system works better, and we should learn to use them more, but imperial provides some useful units that are difficult to measure otherwise. For example, a pint is a good amount of beer, but can be held in a strong glass that you can easily hold in your hand.

 

 

 

But I think that it would be better to put in kilograms and kilometers, because it's makes more sense.

 

A kilogram is a physical object too. You could hold it in your hands, but i'm sure a bunch of scientists and French officials would stop you first :)

[jemathonical]

Metric is the way to go. But America won't change over. Simple.

[Shinjula]

As to the cost, in Britain we started switching over in the 70s, with the whole decimalisation of money and then temperature a little later. Distances are still measured in miles and weights of food are usually given both scales. It doesnt have to be an enormous cost as is can be done in stages, and remnants of the old Imperial system can still be found when they are useful quantities, a pint of beer (as has been mentioned) is a convenient amount to drink.

 

 

 

But more need to be said about the usefulness of the decimal system. Particularly when it comes to science. The SI units as a standard are great, you have nice easy logical comparisons, 1 litre of water weighs 1 kilogram. 1 Watt is 1 Joule per second, 1 Joule is 1 newton of force moving 1 meter etc etc

 

 

 

Add to that the standardisation of prefixes to note size - milli is one thousandth, mega is one thousand times etc (and dont get me started on how annoying the computer version of mega is at 1024x - but there are understandable reason for it)

 

 

 

 

 

I can understand the rationalisation of the imperial units as being useful for dividing, being able to divide 60 minutes in so many ways is great, but that standard is not STANDARD, there's 14 pounds in a stone, which is only divisible by 1,2,7 and 14 (the same number of divisors as 10 - 1,2,5 & 10) not exactly useful.

[sphinxor86]

The metric system is part of a whole caboodle called the SI unit system, it stands for Sistéme Internationale (or something like that, its French). This is probably the reason why the Brits have been so resistant to it! :lol:

 

 

 

SI:

 

Time in seconds, length in meters, mass in kilograms, temperature in Kelvin (not centigrade/celsius!), amount of substance in moles (dammed chemistry!), current in Amp(ere)s light intensity in candela (not that anyone EVER uses that unit).

 

 

 

All other things that you can measure will be made up of a combination of those units, for example, speed is distance divided by time, so it will be measured in meters per second.

 

 

 

The metric system is the way to go. All proper science - with perhaps the exception of some American institutions - is done in metric.

 

 

 

Yes, the UK does use both, but look what using both does:

 

 

 

Beagle 2,

 

Mars Climate Orbiter.

 

 

 

Enough said.

 

 

 

The whole world should be SI, and sooner rather than later.

[transcript80]

The reason the above poster mentioned: 2 systems co-existing is more error-prone.

 

 

 

Metric is more logical. US will never convert, UK is slowly converting.

 

 

 

Best is to go cold-turkey-ish. Prepare long time in advance, set a date (e.g. 1-1-2010) and change it all. We had to change our entire currency from our former type to the euro. Yes, it was hell. Yes, older people still convert to our previous currency. (price inflation is not an issue going from imperial->metric, but is was heavy when we converted to the euro). But in the long tem (20years or so) everybody gets used to it, no harm done. Just stay put with it.

[sphinxor86]

Well said! :D

[dsavi]

Imagine how much the funding would be to change EVERY STREET SIGN IN THE UK/US to the metric system.

 

Ireland did it. And seriously, that's not too hard. Sweden switched sides of the road in 1963.

 

 

 

The metric system is far, far more logical. Don't forget that Liters are also part of it, which makes it even easier. (1l = 1 dm³)

 

 

Best is to go cold-turkey-ish. Prepare long time in advance, set a date (e.g. 1-1-2010) and change it all. We had to change our entire currency from our former type to the euro. Yes, it was hell. Yes, older people still convert to our previous currency. (price inflation is not an issue going from imperial->metric, but is was heavy when we converted to the euro). But in the long tem (20years or so) everybody gets used to it, no harm done. Just stay put with it.

 

I agree that the UK should switch to the Euro.

[Dracion1]

Mixture. I'm used to using SI units and school and such without any problems, but there are still some places where people tend to use Imperial. The obvious is example is on the roads (miles) and when judging the height/weight of another person which people still tend to do in feet/inches and stone/pounds. It's more of a generational thing though, I could easily say I was 6' 4" or 193cm tall, while older people tend struggle with centimetres since they grew up using imperial units.

 

 

 

Imagine how much the funding would be to change EVERY STREET SIGN IN THE UK/US to the metric system.

 

Ireland did it. And seriously, that's not too hard. Sweden switched sides of the road in 1963.

 

 

 

Yes, but there was much less traffic on the roads back then; and the UK is a much more densely populated country than Ireland or Sweden. The cost to do it today here would be huge compared to what is was back then, especially if every single sign had to be replaced.

[Racheya]

Imagine how much the funding would be to change EVERY STREET SIGN IN THE UK/US to the metric system.

 

Ireland did it. And seriously, that's not too hard. Sweden switched sides of the road in 1963.

 

 

 

The metric system is far, far more logical. Don't forget that Liters are also part of it, which makes it even easier. (1l = 1 dm³)

 

 

Best is to go cold-turkey-ish. Prepare long time in advance, set a date (e.g. 1-1-2010) and change it all. We had to change our entire currency from our former type to the euro. Yes, it was hell. Yes, older people still convert to our previous currency. (price inflation is not an issue going from imperial->metric, but is was heavy when we converted to the euro). But in the long tem (20years or so) everybody gets used to it, no harm done. Just stay put with it.

 

I agree that the UK should switch to the Euro.

 

Screw the Euro! It's much more boring drawing faces on architecture than it is the Queen.

[ElkNight]

The metric system is the devil.

[killerbeer0]

The metric system is the devil.

 

 

 

Really, I find the most evidence of the devil in the imperial system:

 

 

 

Simply put: 1 foot, divided in half is 6. 3 feet in a yard. So 3 6's = 666 Satan!

[sphinxor86]

 

Really, I find the most evidence of the devil in the imperial system:

 

 

 

Simply put: 1 foot, divided in half is 6. 3 feet in a yard. So 3 6's = 666 Satan!

 

 

 

 

 

LOL, tenuous at best.... :lol: But I'm very inclined to agree!

 

 

 

The UK could go metric, yes it would be expensive, but not impossible, and think of the jobs it would give people!!! Driving on the other side of the road however would be much harder. BUT combining the two in one fell swoop, would be far more effective, because you'd need to change all the signs anyway. Think of the one way systems :shock: !

 

 

 

As for joining the Euro, I'm not inclined one way or the other. I DO think however that the British "one foot in, one foot out" policy needs to be stamped out by the rest of the EU. Either all in (Euro and Metric! :lol:) or all out (pound and imperial).

[Racheya]

 

Really, I find the most evidence of the devil in the imperial system:

 

 

 

Simply put: 1 foot, divided in half is 6. 3 feet in a yard. So 3 6's = 666 Satan!

 

 

 

 

 

LOL, tenuous at best.... :lol: But I'm very inclined to agree!

 

 

 

The UK could go metric, yes it would be expensive, but not impossible, and think of the jobs it would give people!!! Driving on the other side of the road however would be much harder. BUT combining the two in one fell swoop, would be far more effective, because you'd need to change all the signs anyway. Think of the one way systems :shock: !

 

 

 

As for joining the Euro, I'm not inclined one way or the other. I DO think however that the British "one foot in, one foot out" policy needs to be stamped out by the rest of the EU. Either all in (Euro and Metric! :lol:) or all out (pound and imperial).

 

I don't know why we need to change the side of the road, it'd be waaaaay too confusing and there'll be a big [bleep]e in the number of traffic accidents =/ Signs I'm all for though since I haven't a clue about miles and crap.

 

 

 

I think Metric and Pound is way better, screw the EU man and be awkward ^_^