Metric system
Since were on the topic of slugs, the mass of 1 slug = 14.59 KG.
Also 1 slug is that mass to which a resultant force of 1 LB will give an acceleration of one foot per second per second
Force (pounds) = mass (slugs) * acceleration (ft/s^2)
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So you believe that you are studying us, then kindly explain why you are the ones trapped in your seats.
*** This post was edited by FoF on 9/28/2002. ***
Rollergator said:
and then EVERYONE will drink *2-litres* of soda..... Don't even get me started on spelling.....
See you are wrong right there Gator. It's pop ;)
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All I need is 4.5 million bucks and a half a mile long sliver of land and maybe someone could build me my very own Shivering Timbers. ;)
When dealing with customers who prefer the use of Metric units, US industry will use Metric units. In the same way that in certain industries, the rest of the world still uses US measurements because such measurements are necessary for the business at hand (steel parts are measured in US units, all around the world).
Here in the USA, we finally figured out that "because the rest of the world is doing it" is not itself a compelling reason to make a wholesale change in the way we do things. At this point, forced Metric conversion is pretty much dead in the USA; last summer the Ohio Dept. of Transportation took down the "CINCINNATI: 100 kilometers, 62 miles" sign and replaced it with one that says "CINCINNATI 62 miles".
Ultimately, where it is appropriate to do so, we will see conversion in the US. We see it now in certain products. But we're going to end up ultimately with a variation on the mixed system we have now, much like the situation that appears to exist in Britain. And there's nothing inherently wrong with that, provided that everybody is careful about specifying UNITS.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Btw, about the cellphones. It's relatively simple to adapt the current masts to the GPRS and UHTS system. And yes, we do have mobile videophones, but the ones who own em are ususally very rich, since it costs a fortune. I just use my phone to simply make phonecalls and send an sms, that's it. Have no need for expensive and unnecessairy extra's .
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Werner Stengel: Ich sprich, denke und traüme Achterbahn!
I've memorised the following;
1in = 25.4mm
1ft = 0.3048m
1mph = 1.6093kmh
1oz = 28.4g
1lb = 0.454kg
2.2lb = 1kg
1gal = 3.78L
Simple enough. Oh, I prefer feet for height as 10ft is one storey. 200ft is 20 storeys. 60.96m doesn't sound as impressive. ;) Then metric for length & speed for obvious reasons.
Americans are too ignorant and pigheaded, that's the problem. And I think RideMan's reasons are all invalid too. I fail to see any "compelling reason not to" switch.
1) Conversions. There is no reason to convert anything. Why in God's name would you want to know how many feet are in a meter if you're only using meters? That's pretty stupid.
2) Industry. The auto industry went metric decades ago, and frankly had to if they ever expected to sell cars overseas. Sure, you find the off non-metric part here and there in your average Ford, but what do you expect from Ford?
3) Science. Take a science course in high school or college, and show me where they use the old units. They don't. Not anywhere. Look in hospitals. They don't administer meds in cubic inches, now do they?
Americans are just stubborn jackasses when it comes to this sort of thing. Not responding to global markets and trends is one of the contributing reasons that we're no longer competitve in so many areas, but that's a debate for another day...
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, when it's all in your mind. You gotta let go." - Ghetto, Supreme Beings of Leisure
First, apologies to astrosgp....to me it's a bit more compliacated that way, but it DOES work...
Second, thanks to Taipan....saw a "railroading in Australia" show on PBS (don't tell anyone I switched from Comedy Central, lol) where the engineer used "feet/sec"....guess that was specific to railroads instead of general "Down under" measures...
Finally, Jeff....ROFL. Rarely have I agreed with you THAT much....your final point IS the reason we will switch, "eventually"...as our economy becomes less THE driving force in capitlaism worldwide, pressure will mount....
To be honest, it's just too ingrained in our culture, in our language, in our idioms, and in our thoughts. You'll never get people to "switch".
When I want to college to study engineering, all I used were metric units. I can't imagine doing science or engineering without them. It felt 'weird' to come back into the real world (being in the US) after I graduated and have nobody really understand metric units.
But at the same time, metric units are just not *convenient* for a lot of human-related measurements. Especially the temperature. Celcius is great for experiements and such, but when relating it back to humans, having the 0 mark be near the lowest temperature and 100 be near the hottest in general experience is much more convenient. Using Farenheight for outdoor temperatures makes perfect sense to me. Using it in anything related to science or engineering seems plain stupid to me.
Ditto for cooking. I'm sorry, but "one cup" is a lot easier to deal with than having to remember "750 milliliters", etc, etc. When cooking, I prefer teaspoons and tablespoons and cups. It makes more sense. It seems more natural.
The english units are ORGANIC and relate very well to humans and to the things they do. The metric system is NOT "organic"... it's very clinical.
They both have their uses. They both have their benefits and their drawbacks.
To get the US to change would be a significant challenge. As already stated, it was tried once, and failed. I think the best you could ever do is to dual-label things for a generation or two, and educate the new generation entirely in metrics. After two full generations, a switch might be possible.
But you'll still have people who cling to the language. "I'd walk a mile in your shoes", "Inching along"... if you really start thinking about it, the system is deeply ingrained not just into our language but into our very way of thinking. It's not an easy task to rip all that out and replace it with something else.
In reality, many of the more important areas have already switched... as stated in science and engineering, metric rules for the most part. We buy soft-drinks in liter units. There are obivous and 'easy' areas of conversion (such as was done with softdrinks) that could be targeted. But it will be a slow process to completely replace the English system from all of American society and interaction.
Well said Spryboy... well said indeed!
I think I almost entirely agree with you in that measure to almost all degrees!!
How about football? Unless the NFL goes down under, football will ALWAYS measure in 100 yards, not 100 meters or the conversion of 100 yards to like 90 meters.
A lot of our terms and others used across the seas do use the old english medevil terms. Cooking will ALWAYS be set up for the old english cups, quart, table/tea spoon. It's home recipie's passed on for generations of the past and to the future.
Temperatures are much easier to calculate in our heads if it's in Farenheit....
....BUT.... if it's actually put to any practical use, such as Science, Technology, Medical... etc... then metrics make a good use.
I'd leave out Architecture, however. I think building are still in feet/inches in this country, and I know that landscaping/developing is also put into feet/inches, since I studied that for a couple years.
DawgByte II: Just because we switch in general use to metric doean't mean that we have to switch football!
Taipan: We use m/d/y becasue that correspons directly to how you say it: "September 29th, 2002" (9/29/02). I don't know how it is in Australia, but saying "The 29th. of September" is not common usage in the U.S. You will hear it, but it's usually reserved for more formal situations.
To most the world todays date would be wrote as 29/9/02 whereas here in the USA we write 9/29/02
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So you believe that you are studying us, then kindly explain why you are the ones trapped in your seats.
Spryboy: lets say that we switched to metric tomorrow. the tv says its 20 outside so you dress up in your winter clothes only to walk outside and find its pleasent. well so go back inside and change into your summer clothes. the next day, the same senario with the same results. and so on for a few days. then something connects in your mind that 20=nice. its called learning. it happens in humans just as easily as does in mice.
as for cooking: that's a really poor excuse not to switch. write it down, convert it and you're done. if not, then when hunger kicks in and you're tired of getting McDonald's, you'll figure out how many mililiters to a cup.
sayings need not change to still carry meaning. they still say Samson knew Delila in the Bible, but we all know that Samson did a little more than "know" her.
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-Bob (formerly Coaster Jedi)
Do any of you know how to build a sundial out of a pen and a donut?
uh oh, sounds like someone has a case of the mondays.
While I speak both languages semi-fluently, (Ask me about grams per cubic inch some time) the metric system is simply more logical than the the English system.
As for conversions, there are far fewer to use in the metric system than in the English system. For example, a specific density of 1.0 is 1 gram per cubic centimeter or 1 kilogram per liter in the metric system. In the English system a specific gravity of 1.0 is .5781 ounces per cubic inch or 62.43 pounds per cubic foot.
Dimensions that seem normal to us are only the dimensions that we are used to.
Whether you like it or not the world is becoming a global economy. Every year that we delay using the metric system, we are just shooting ourselves in the foot economically.
I have been out of the army for 5 years and I still write dates 29/9/02 or usually 29 Sep. 2002. I also think walking distances in meters, its just easier than feet. but not on your feet, ha.
This all proves that if you use somthing in practice it becomes second nature, but to just change without living it is sorta like taking Algabra in High School. You just dont see a use for it till you need it.
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http://www.kneebush.com
Dave's Trips
A big part of the problem of trying to get European telephone services in the USA is that the particular frequencies the Europeans picked for such things as GSM services happen to be in the same bands that the FCC designated many years ago for aircraft navigation and public safety use.
In the US, the vast majority of the broadcast spectrum is allocated...this is part of the reason the FCC is so hot to get back all those extra TV channels they allocated for DTV simulcasting. That's also why TV channels 70-84 went away some years ago; those frequencies are now cellular telephone frequencies.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
4-0 Baby!!! Can the Bolts get some RESPECT now?! (I really got tired of that, "You guys ain't beat a good team yet." crap!)
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Coasters and Chronic
What a Combo!
Closed topic.
