The metric system ...

C_Becker

C_Becker

Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
1,300
Disclaimer: I'm not trying to bash anyone, just genuine curiosity on my part
Obviously countries using the imperial measuring system have done quite well when it comes to inventions and engineering, so there must be something to it,
I'm just having a hard time understanding this system, as an "outsider"

Surfing around this forum and knife websites, I often find blade thicknesses described in fractions of inches
e.g 1/4" or 5/32" or something like that.

Having lived in Germany all my life, I've never really used anything other than the metric system.
Compared to metric, the imperial system just seems so unnecessarily complicated and awkward.
Say you want to add those two thicknesses, in the metric system you go 6,3mm + 3,9mm = 10,2mm. Easy.

To do this in inches you would have to go 1/4 -> 8/32 + 5/32 = 13/32 = roughly 0.4"

Or another example, 1000mm is one meter, 1000m is one km, while 12 inches is a foot, 3 foot is a yard and 1760 yards is a mile. Now how many inches are in a mile ? :barf:

Are you guys just infinitely better in calculating fractions in your head than me or is there any other reason this makes my head explode ?
I have to say though, miles and yards and pounds just fit the english language much better than keelogram and keelometer, but that is pretty much all on the "pro" side for the imperial system

Opinions ?
 
I agree. The metric system makes so much more sense. Especially when trying to deal with fractions. While were on the subject of why some countries do weird things - I love England but you drive on the wrong side of the road. It is like trying to add fractions and driving at the same time.
 
I was born and raised in the US. In science classes in school we had to use the metric system. I think in imperial units for the most part, but some things are measured in metric units. Soft drinks are sold in 2 liter plastic bottles, but cans are 12 oz (~355 ml). Hard alcohol in bottles is measured in milliliters or liters - 375 ml, 750ml, 1 L, 1.75 L. Milk, however, is sold in half gallon and gallon sizes. Go figure.
 
The last country to still not use the metric system...does not make sense. I grew up a military brat. I spent much of my life in asia and learned the metric system as a child. I am the go to at home to explain it to kids for homework, it is so much easier.
 
I grew up the child of two Hungarians who came here and meet here in 57, so I grew up with both the metric and American Standard, having spent 40 years as a Mechanic/Millwright/Fabricator... again it was always part of my life I used and grew up with both, I can usually look at a bolt and nut and tell what size it is whether it's metric or not, same with temp, liquids and weights.

Some people just think that way others have a harder time, the more you use both you begin to realize they're just numbers. In regards to the imperial measures you get used to it and you learn to do quick math.

Than there's British Whitworth when it comes to fasteners...
 
Having lived in Germany all my life... the imperial system just seems so unnecessarily complicated and awkward.
Click to expand...

You have obviously never looked under the hood of a Mercedes... much less seen the cup holder in mine, the cup holder I refer to as "the Odyssey in Plastic Origami." No, I would not hold the Germans up as paragons of simplicity.

I am a new-product developer. I'm an electrical engineer. Electrical engineering is almost exclusively done with metric units and so I am extremely-well-acquainted with the System International d' Units, a.k.a., "The Metric System."

But, products usually have mechanical and other aspects to them and so I so do plenty of work using the Society of Automotive Engineers system.

SAE has its complexities, but both work just fine. The thing you have to watch out for is any project that mixes the two up.
 
tw5270 said:
The last country to still not use the metric system...does not make sense. I grew up a military brat. I spent much of my life in asia and learned the metric system as a child.
Click to expand...

If it weren't for the facts that the US, that last country still clinging to that silly, outmoded, insufferable system of units, also leads the world in patents and Nobel prizes, you might be on to something.

Maybe what system of units a country uses just really doesn't matter much in the big picture?
 
C_Becker said:
Disclaimer: I'm not trying to bash anyone, just genuine curiosity on my part
Obviously countries using the imperial measuring system have done quite well when it comes to inventions and engineering, so there must be something to it,
I'm just having a hard time understanding this system, as an "outsider"

Surfing around this forum and knife websites, I often find blade thicknesses described in fractions of inches
e.g 1/4" or 5/32" or something like that.

Having lived in Germany all my life, I've never really used anything other than the metric system.
Compared to metric, the imperial system just seems so unnecessarily complicated and awkward.
Say you want to add those two thicknesses, in the metric system you go 6,3mm + 3,9mm = 10,2mm. Easy.

To do this in inches you would have to go 1/4 -> 8/32 + 5/32 = 13/32 = roughly 0.4"

Or another example, 1000mm is one meter, 1000m is one km, while 12 inches is a foot, 3 foot is a yard and 1760 yards is a mile. Now how many inches are in a mile ? :barf:

Are you guys just infinitely better in calculating fractions in your head than me or is there any other reason this makes my head explode ?
I have to say though, miles and yards and pounds just fit the english language much better than keelogram and keelometer, but that is pretty much all on the "pro" side for the imperial system

Opinions ?
Click to expand...

I love the metric system. I love fractions as much as the next guy, but utilizing them in a system of measure, that strikes me as less than efficient.
 
Fanglekai said:
Hard alcohol in bottles is measured in milliliters or liters - 375 ml, 750ml, 1 L, 1.75 L. Milk, however, is sold in half gallon and gallon sizes. Go figure.
Click to expand...

Imagine the nightmare of wanting to mix the two and needing to be accurate about it.
 
And in the electronics industry, a lot of parts have pins on 5.08mm spacing. 5.08? not 5 or 5.1, but five point zero eight.

Yes, metric makes everything nice and easy.


Do the math and 5.08mm is 2/10th inch. So, is it really metric or not?
 
I was in school when we changed over up here so am familiar with some aspects of both Imperial and metric. I think in Celsius, feet, pounds and cubic metres. I can convert most things but temperature is more complicated than most other things. I drive in kilometres per hour but I still think of distances in miles. I don't know why I am mixed up llike this but in spite of that I manage to muddle through. I know that Canada spent hundreds of millions to convert only to have to convert a lot of things back to deal with our largest trading partner.
 
I memorized all the conversion factors before they stuck them in smart phones, so I could go back and forth from one system to the other.
The only practical application I can think of for a fractional systems is if I want to cut a board in half and the thing 2 feet, 4 3/4" inches, the midpoint would be 1' 2 3/8".
 
There is the cultural preference. Germans prefer things to be precise, British and Americans prefer things to have a touch of awkwardness....that's why Monty Python, Keeping Up Appearances and Mr. Bean still make me laugh. Do the Germans have any TV shows that are as funny or awkward? Maybe if they had learned the Imperial system first their whole world view would skew toward fractionalism and the art of imprecision. Or not?
 
DB731 said:
Imagine the nightmare of wanting to mix the two and needing to be accurate about it.
Click to expand...

It CAN be a nightmare, and we are fortunate that today there are only TWO important measurement systems (US customary and metric). I remember having to deal with THREE - US customary, matric and Imperial.

I am a US-educated science teacher familiar with both metric and US customary. As a Peace Corps volunteer (Western Samoa) some time ago, I had to deal with metric, Imperial and US customary at the same time. That was confusing, as many items in local stores were from the USA and were marked in US units, students were expected to learn the official metric units, and older people were only familiar with the Imperial units they were raised with. More than once, I was admonished by the family I lived with "No, Faiaoga, we don't want that American (USA customary) gallon of kerosene - we want a real (Imperial) gallon."

I am also astonished that news items from Commonwealth countries still describe the weight of people in "stone".
:D
 
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I think in imperial most of the time, but I had to learn the metric system well as I made my way though my chem degree and use it frequently. The only one I have trouble with is temperature. I hear degrees and automatically go to Fahrenheit and have to convert it. The metric system does make more since, but it just depends on what you grew up with.
 
Grew up in Louisiana and TX with Imperial. Left the US and went to Europe for 4.5 years in the late 70-80's. I'll take the metric anyday over our present antiquated system. Work in the turbine industry on GE and Alstom units and I have to jump back and forth from one to the other. Like I said I'd use metric anyday cause it's easier. Oh and I dont use fractions it al in mechancial math but still I like round numbers.
 
I used to be a science teacher. I was so frustrated having to constantly remind students that all scientific measurements are in metric that I finally split my plastic rulers down the middle and threw the inch side away.

Personally I will be happy when we finally officially convert, but the transition will be slow indeed. I say that because I've recently started watching Top Gear. Those guys are all English but they still talk in miles and pounds instead of Km and euros...and they have lived in England all their lives I think. Plus, just because we change the system it doesn't mean all the SAE bolts on all my US-made stuff will automatically convert themselves to metric. Neither will all my tape measures.

I think it's funny that we are required by law to sell hard liquor in metric containers. I guess the thinking was that if we convert the drunks first then the rest will follow?
 
Entire Metric system is based on the properties of water. Freezing is '0' and boiling is '100' C. 1 cubic mm water = 1 ml = 1 gram. Not really difficult then to perform simple calculations in your head such as: 'how much would this 20 litre (5 gallon for Americans) gas can weigh if I filled it'? True that gas and water are not identical with regards to density but 20 litres water weighs 20 kg. OK that's a bit more than I'd like to walk a mile with under my arm so perhaps I'll only fill it halfway. Try doing that simple math in Imperial. How much does a gallon of water or gasoline weigh? Never learned that in school or even have the ability to hazard an educated guess.
I'm a Canuck that grew up entirely in Imperial and was forced to change-over in the mid-1970s but I have come to see the huge advantage of using Metric for everything. The construction industry in Canada is still Imperial but likely this is an artifact of where most of our products and materials exports go.
 
I once had a Buick in which the engine had been made in Canada. You needed both metric and SAE tools to work on the thing. I recall that a certain brace you needed to remove to service the battery had two bolts... One metric, one SAE.
Crazy.
I'm pretty familiar with metric from working on motorcycles and bicycles, and I'm old enough to remember when the Japanese changed from one metric standard to another, causing no end of headaches for mechanics.
 
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