Metrification, who needs it?

[iamspartacus]

There’s been some politicians in the UK blathering on about whether we should convert all the road signs to kilometres for the 2012 Olympics. The UK agreed to go metric 40 years ago but still hasn’t gone all the way. The US is even further away. Do we need to go metric or is there a better alternative?

The metric system is good in that its unit length defines its unit volume and a unit volume of water defines mass. But what defines the unit length? A platinum rod in a fridge outside Paris! But why choose the metre to be that particular length in the first place? It’s not used by most global navigators; they use the nautical mile which is defined as one minute of arc around a great circle. It fits nicely with our current divisions of time and angular measure.

360 degrees in a circle is not exactly a metric kind of measure though. So (if we don’t adopt the radian) does full metrification mean having 100 degrees in a right angle or circle? Does full metrification mean having 100 metric seconds in a metric minute, 100 metric minutes in a metric hour and 10 metric hours in a day? How would global navigation look using a fully metricated system? Would anybody want it? Would it work? Is that why they (presumably the French) haven’t pushed for it? So, is the metric system flawed, never to achieve its full totality? (Why so many questions?)

Here’s my 2 penny’s worth (3.4 cents US approx). Keep 360 degrees in a circle and 60 seconds in a minute and scrap the kilometre in favour of the nautical mile. Divide that by 1,000 and call it the new meter/yard if you want. You never know, the US may well agree to changing to this new system.

[Al Johnston]

You're a bit behind: all but one of the SI units are defined in terms of physical constants of the Universe, such as the speed of light.

The one exception is the kilogram, which is still a lump of platinum alloy in Paris.

Ultimately it doesn't actually matter as Imperial and US units are now legally defined in terms of their SI equivalents.

[gwiz]

Apart from a few cases where the units have a hallowed place in our hearts, particularly the pint as applied to beer and the mile for long distances, the UK is already fully metric. We buy our fuel in litres, our cloth in metres, our sugar in kilograms. All new products are designed in SI units. Its only things like spare parts for old aircraft and cars that still use imperial sizes.

[Al Johnston]

To add to that: UK roads are built & maintained in kilometres: those white marker posts by the hard shoulder on motorways are spaced 100m apart.

[LunarOrbit]

I think everyone should just convert to metric and get it over with, no more of this easing into it slowly stuff. Remove the bandaid in one quick rip, jump into the lake without testing the temperature with your toe first... it's the easiest way.

[snakeriverrufus]

I'm old and crotchedy. I don't know if I could make the switch at this late date. I think young people need to get it over with though.
edited for typo/srr

[lenbrazil]

Even here in Brazil imperial measures are used for some items, TV screens, computer monitors, some pipes, screws, nails and iron bars are measured in inches, paint is often sold in gallons and ships and shipping containers are measured in feet.

But I agree the US, Canada and Britain should have converted long ago.

[LunarOrbit]

Canada has mostly converted... some people (mostly those older than 30) still tend to give their height and weight in feet/inches and pounds, and they still use miles sometimes (only because "miles" sounds better than "kilometers"), but officially we have converted. Stores use metric for their produce, our road signs use kilometers, and our gas tanks are in litres.

[Apollo Gnomon]

Jimmy Carter tried to make me learn metric in grade school, but then Ronald Reagan said I didn't have to.

NASA is trying to decide whether to use all-metric, all-inch or mixed measurements.

www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2001/010303-metric.htm

As far as I know the US and Liberia are the only all-non-metric nations left.

[iamspartacus]

I hear what you are saying but what about full metrification for time, angular measure and global navigation?

[Al Johnston]

There is a system where 100 "gradients" make a right angle...

The problem of "metricating" time is finding convenient subdivisions that divide up the day and year without changing the value of the second (which would muck up all sorts of other definitions).

For most scientific/experimental purposes, time can be measured just in seconds and multiples thereof. Hours and minutes etc are mainly for day to day conveenience.

[PhantomWolf]

Well we are fully converted, but I still use a mixure. I talk about a pound of butter, rather than 500g. I talk about pints of milk, rather then 600ml. I give height in feet and inches, and can visualise 6'3" better than I can 190.5cm, yet I talk about distance in m and km (our pool is 12m long, but the tree at the end of it is 20 feet high.) I still also talk about mileage, when meaning kilometreage(?) Interestingly NZ converted over in the 1967 (I think) and I wasn't born until 1972. Amazing the affect parents can have on you.

[Kiwi]

Forgive PhantomWolf, he's just a young and confused fart, whereas some of us can proudly wear the label, "old fart".

There's none of this "pints, pounds and miles" stuff for me, though I have to admit that 5' 9" is more familiar for someone's height than its metric equivalent.

New Zealand converted to metric currency on 10 July 1967 and metric measurements came later. I can still do simple pounds, shillings and pence sums in my head, though my late father would be appalled at how slow I am.

Today I went looking for 600 ml lidded containers for my freezer, and freaked out when I saw the type I wanted labelled with figures like "39 ozs" and no metric equivalent. Couldn't understand what the hell they meant, so didn't buy any.

I always feel sorry for those who think "I'm too old to change." The day I stop learning is the day I'll start dying. Not wanting to change is not much different to remaining willfully ignorant.

There is nothing more sure in life than change, and death is just one example of it. If change makes things simpler, then I'm all for it.

[PhantomWolf]

Talking about old farts. Happy Birthday Kiwi.