Do Americans use metric system?

[PFVA63]

What is an average hand?

I am about 1 foot taller than a coworker. My foot is not a foot long, hers isn't even close.

...

Hi,

I wasn't really trying to claim that I think that one system is better than the other but rather just that the Imperial System seems to have developed over time with units that seem to have evolved to be at least kind of easily relatable to a typical person, whereas the SI System units don't seem to me to be less so.

Or I guess looking at it another way, to me an official meter seems to be just as obscure a unit of measurement as using the notional length of some previous monarch's foot, but at least its easier for me to relate my foot (and hence anything that I can pace off with it) to that monarch's foot than it is for me to relate a distance to the notional diameter of the Earth or some obscure Universal Constant that is measured to the 10^-34

Overall though I am happy that they don't redefine the official "foot" every time a new King or Queen is coronated

Pat

 

[wuzak]

It seems relatable, because everyone has hands and feet.

But the inch was originally defined as the length of 3 barleycorns end-to-end. Is that relatable?

The metre was defined based on the circumference of the Earth. For centuries the official metre was an object held in a vault in France.

It was redefined based on a universal constant so it would not change over time.

The foot doesn't change with a change of monarch because it was (a) defined by standard institutions over time and a standard measure, and (b) has been officially defined by its relationship to the metre since the 1950s.

1 foot = 0.3048 metres
1 inch = 0.0254 metres
1 yard = 0.9144 metres

The US inch was defined by the relation 1 metre = 39.37 inches in 1866. And standard organisations in the UK and the US adopted 1 inch = 25.4mm in the 1930s (about half way between previous UK and US definitions for the inch).

When you measure something with your feet ("pace off"), do you use 1:1 for your foot, or do you use a conversion factor like 6 of your feet = 5 actual feet? Or is it just an approximation?

If your feet were 10 inches long, then 4 of your feet would be approximately 1 metre.

 

[gumbyk]

Hi,

I wasn't really trying to claim that I think that one system is better than the other but rather just that the Imperial System seems to have developed over time with units that seem to have evolved to be at least kind of easily relatable to a typical person, whereas the SI System units don't seem to me to be less so.

That's because you were brought up with those units.
I use both regularly (SI, Imperial (UK and US), and maritime), and don't have any problem with either system; however SI is far easier to carry out calculations with, and has the added benefit that you don't have to specify what sort of mile or gallon or ounce you're using.
As a result, my son can and does use both.

 

[special ed]

My unproven theory is we have the metric system only because we have ten fingers & ten toes. If we had been created with twelve fingers & twelve toes we would be counting in Imperial. God must use metric?

 

[yosimitesam]

"The divisions of hours into 60 parts or minutes comes from the Babylonians who used a base 60 system of numbers..."

Base 60 has a large number of divisors which made "dividing up stuff" easier, e.g. goats, sheep, grain, wives, etc. Ten (10) has only 2, 5 as divisors but 60 has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30 as divisors. This probably helped the illiterate+innumerate population in commerce. Dividing up things in a circular container would be easier, especially for the lower numbers (2 through 6.) The multiplication table would have been bigger, of course, but the "unwashed masses" probably didn't do much multiplication back in that day.

What would have been better is that we should have evolved with SIX fingers per hand and adopted base 12 instead of base 10, since 12 has 2,3,4,6 as divisors. (Would "technology" have advanced at a faster rate or would our stupidity made it advance even slower than it did if we had 12 fingers?) But, in the current world this would have increased the size of the multiplication table, which we all struggled with as school children. Look at the chart below for a base-12 multiplication system.

 

[vandee]

I use metric. I worked at a shop that made machinery, we made machines occasionally for Europe. I gave up converting and got metric rulers and tape measures. Metric is not harder or better than feet and inches. I can do both, have been doing both for 40 plus years. I use metric scale rulers for modelling, mainly because my inch scale is almost worn out!!! LOL

 

[z42]

"The divisions of hours into 60 parts or minutes comes from the Babylonians who used a base 60 system of numbers..."

Base 60 has a large number of divisors which made "dividing up stuff" easier, e.g. goats, sheep, grain, wives, etc. Ten (10) has only 2, 5 as divisors but 60 has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30 as divisors. This probably helped the illiterate+innumerate population in commerce. Dividing up things in a circular container would be easier, especially for the lower numbers (2 through 6.) The multiplication table would have been bigger, of course, but the "unwashed masses" probably didn't do much multiplication back in that day.

What would have been better is that we should have evolved with SIX fingers per hand and adopted base 12 instead of base 10, since 12 has 2,3,4,6 as divisors. (Would "technology" have advanced at a faster rate or would our stupidity made it advance even slower than it did if we had 12 fingers?) But, in the current world this would have increased the size of the multiplication table, which we all struggled with as school children. Look at the chart below for a base-12 multiplication system.

View attachment 858708

A base 12 number system would indeed have several advantages, as you mention.

As for counting to twelve, one way to do it with one hand is to use the finger joints. Use the thumb as a pointer to keep track, then 4 fingers with 3 joints each (4*3=12).

There's an organization that advocates for the base 12 system. Dozenal Society of America | Main Page | Experiment Despite the advantages, seems like a quixotic pursuit to put it mildly.

 

[yosimitesam]

I use metric. I worked at a shop that made machinery, we made machines occasionally for Europe. I gave up converting and got metric rulers and tape measures. Metric is not harder or better than feet and inches. I can do both, have been doing both for 40 plus years. I use metric scale rulers for modelling, mainly because my inch scale is almost worn out!!! LOL

Every tool set I have (wrenches, sockets, allen-wrenches, tap/die, etc.) is duplicated. I have one of SAE and one of Metric of everything. Everything from China will be metric and anything made in the US can be either. Now if I can just find a "metric flat-head screw driver" my tools will be complete.

 

[MiTasol]

Every tool set I have (wrenches, sockets, allen-wrenches, tap/die, etc.) is duplicated. I have one of SAE and one of Metric of everything. Everything from China will be metric and anything made in the US can be either. Now if I can just find a "metric flat-head screw driver" my tools will be complete.

Any flat head screwdriver made outside the USA is automatically metric, except probably those from Australia where we are still using Whitworth Whitless nuts and bolts 79 years after the Brits, who invented those threads, declared them not for further use and people still talk of heights in feet and land in acres and ................ even tho the country has officially been metric since 1971.

Nobody has ever accurately claimed that Aus is not backward tho. Naturally a lot of Aus Metric is actually inch items renamed metric (so we have 19mm tube etc) and naturally Aus metric nuts and bolts use Whitworth spanner sizes instead of ISO sizes. After all if you want to piss your international customers off the best way to start that is to make them buy all the spanners that the ISO tool kit does not require. REAL smart eh bro. Yep - that thing on top of their shoulders is a hat rack.

 

[mikewint]

who decided where the equator was, where did they think the North Pole was before the explorers found it.

No one "decoded" it is by definition. The "North Pole" is exactly that, the point where the Earth's axis is located. You find it by observing Polaris the "North Star". At the North Pole Polaris appears stationary and is directly overhead.
The Equator is halfway bwtween the two poles. It os located by observing The shadows cast by a vertical stick at noon - a vertical stick's shadow points north in the northern hemisphere and shortens as noon (sun directly overhead) approaches. When the stick's shadow disappears you are on the equator. As to the stars. When Polaris is on the horizon you are on the equator

 

[vandee]

Every tool set I have (wrenches, sockets, allen-wrenches, tap/die, etc.) is duplicated. I have one of SAE and one of Metric of everything. Everything from China will be metric and anything made in the US can be either. Now if I can just find a "metric flat-head screw driver" my tools will be complete.

Try finding a metric ball peen hammer! Rarer than hens teeth!

 

[buffnut453]

Try finding a metric ball peen hammer! Rarer than hens teeth!

Are those metric or imperial hen's teeth?

 

[MiTasol]

No one "decoded" it is by definition. The "North Pole" is exactly that, the point where the Earth's axis is located. You find it by observing Polaris the "North Star". At the North Pole Polaris appears stationary and is directly overhead.
The Equator is halfway bwtween the two poles. It os located by observing The shadows cast by a vertical stick at noon - a vertical stick's shadow points north in the northern hemisphere and shortens as noon (sun directly overhead) approaches. When the stick's shadow disappears you are on the equator. As to the stars. When Polaris is on the horizon you are on the equator

Excellent summary.

Many find it confusing that the the magnetic north pole is a fair distance from the actual north pole and actually moves, albeit slowly.

 

[gumbyk]

Naturally a lot of Aus Metric is actually inch items renamed metric (so we have 19mm tube etc)

True metric pipe is almost impossible to get no matter which country you're in. Everything is 'nominal' e.g. 50mm pipe is actually 2 inch.

I spent weeks trying to find a true metric 6mm pipe for a Fouga. Everyone I asked said "yes, we definitely have 6mm copper pipe" but were amazed when I asked them to measure it and found it was actually 1/4".

 

[MiTasol]

I had no trouble getting true metric aviation pipes, hoses and fittings from Aviall Germany when putting MiG-15s on the Aus register in the 80s so that is one way to get true metric. We had to change all hoses to meet the Aus age requirements and also a couple of pipe lines that had chaffing as we did not have any documents that identified what the chaffing limits were.

Given there are multiple ATRs and Airbus aircraft on the NZ register I would be very surprised if those operators could not sell you the tubing you needed though copper is not so common in modern aircraft.

For tooling recently when I needed some 25mm OD tubing I purchased it from the USA - and yes it was true 25mm, not inch posing as 25mm.

 

[gumbyk]

I had no trouble getting true metric aviation pipes, hoses and fittings from Aviall Germany when putting MiG-15s on the Aus register in the 80s so that is one way to get true metric. We had to change all hoses to meet the Aus age requirements and also a couple of pipe lines that had chaffing as we did not have any documents that identified what the chaffing limits were.

Given there are multiple ATRs and Airbus aircraft on the NZ register I would be very surprised if those operators could not sell you the tubing you needed though copper is not so common in modern aircraft.

For tooling recently when I needed some 25mm OD tubing I purchased it from the USA - and yes it was true 25mm, not inch posing as 25mm.

I think part of the problem was it was copper pipe. From memory, we changed it to stainless.

 

[yosimitesam]

Excellent summary.

Many find it confusing that the the magnetic north pole is a fair distance from the actual north pole and actually moves, albeit slowly.

Occasionally, the whole thing "flips" upside down and North becomes South (on a magnetic compass) and vice versa. And stays that way for thousands or millions of years. (Never could figure out how migrating birds managed this, since it proposed they have little iron "magnets" in their brains.) Here's a chart from Wiki. The black areas are normal or what it is now, and the white areas are when it was reversed. The bottom line is millions of years ago. Since the pole "wanders" around also we cannot tell if it is nearing a flip or is just wandering around randomly, like I do myself sometimes.

 

[ThomasP]

Try finding a metric ball peen hammer! Rarer than hens teeth!

I accept that challenge!

"Ball Peen Hammer 20mm Head 4 Oz USA"

 

[special ed]

I have seven large tool boxes and many smaller tool boxes filled with SAE standard U.S., metric, as well as some Whitworth. After searching through every thing I have for an hour or more I finally use Vise Grips or adjustable wrench.

 

[Greg Boeser]

I accept that challenge!

"Ball Peen Hammer 20mm Head 4 Oz USA"

That's a hybrid.