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The goal on a football (soccer) pitch is 8 yards by 8 feet. What would a metric goal be? Same for most sports.The only problem some get into with the SI vs Ye Olde Englisher system is the British penchant to take the easy route when doing multiples of a measurement. Grab a piece of string/rope, its length matters not. Without doing any kind/type of measurement there is one point on the string/rope that you can find with perfect exactitude, i.e.: The Middle and the middle of that middle followed by the middle of that middle of that middle of that middle and so on.
That leaves you with the only way to express those halfs of halfs of halfs EVIL FRACTIONS!!!
While dividing something up into 1/10th (not easy to do) to give decimal fractions wherein it is at a glance obvious that 0.375 is less than 0.3906 it is not as obvious that 3/8 and 25/64 are related in the same way. If your 7/16 wrench is a bit too big what size do you try next? Obviously 5/16 is smaller but what about 3/8?
On the other hand if my 9mm wrench does not work it is obvious without thought to try 8mm or 10mm and I know without thought which is larger and smaller
The Non-Relationship of other measuring units like Volume units and Weight/Mass measurement is a separate issue.
Example: Without thought how big a box will hold exactly one gallon of liquid and if that liquid is pure water how much does it weigh?
I've used both inches and metric for computations; the latter are easier.
As for metric vs Imperial: do note even Germany and Russia adopted the metric system even as they defeated the French.
When did they do that?
As far as I can tell, the Germans were using metric prior to WW2.
That's not a drawback of the metric system, but just your perception of it.While I admit that the SI system has some nice features, to me it also has some drawbacks in that its hard for me to visualize some units (specifically pressure/pascals). As such I tend to prefer Imperial units for some calculations but will use SI for some others, and/or a mix for the rest.
While I admit that the SI system has some nice features, to me it also has some drawbacks in that its hard for me to visualize some units (specifically pressure/pascals). As such I tend to prefer Imperial units for some calculations but will use SI for some others, and/or a mix for the rest.
Imperial Russia kept there own measures which is why early Mosin sights are in arshins. It was the ussr which converted to metric.
The issue is not individual use of measures but international or even workshop use. Getting the two mixed up can create havoc and some projects have failed when the two have mixed up.
I agree, but only for us "metric immigrant" dinosaurs. The "metric native" types don't seem to have that kind of problem.As a mechanic, I've found that metric hardware is a pain in the ass unlike USS/SAE sizes.
aging Dart engines on a Dutch airframe along with Lucas and Dowty accessories could present some dimensional challenges.
Cheers,
Wes
I agree, but only for us "metric immigrant" dinosaurs. The "metric native" types don't seem to have that kind of problem.
The airline shop I worked in had two guys who, though Americans, had grown up overseas, and they seemed to flow smoothly between metric, SAE, Whitworth, and British Standard with nary a cuss word heard. And aging Dart engines on a Dutch airframe along with Lucas and Dowty accessories could present some dimensional challenges.
Cheers,
Wes
My 7 year-old gets it... and works in inches and feet as well as metric (much to his teacher's disgust)My wife used to teach at a college here in the US. She is from Germany, and was appalled that she had to waste the first week of class teaching kids who are supposed to be ready for college how the metric system works. It's counting numbers, and knowing how many units make up another specific unit.
There is nothing difficult about it...
and MILLI- (Millennium, Million)