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Post by exoticimports on Oct 22, 2020 5:20:33 GMT -8
The company supplying our new countertops came in with a surface area measurement 25% greater than my measurements. I figured they were trying to scam us (they were) but had to prove it.
In order to do so, I had to use their drawings to summarize their surface calculations.
Of course, their drawings are in inches and fractions, including halves, quarters, eights, and sixteenths. What a nightmare! It took FOUR TIMES longer to do the calculations.
Why oh why can't we use metric in USA?
When I wanted to take photos of some Papilio glaucus for you guys, I grabbed a ruler...damn, all inches. I thought I'd tossed all my imperial-only measuring devices.
Yesterday I was talking to an older gent, lamenting that my 1987 Pontiac had both metric and inch bolts. He claimed that back in the 1980s a General Motors designer said they used both so people wouldn't put the wrong bolt in the wrong hole. I countered that BMW uses three bolt sizes, period, and design around that- and that it's much better engineering than playing bolt games.
I hate inches and feet. At least I can talk to machinists who use inches, but in decimal, not fractions.
Having lived through the Metric Scare of the 1970s, I figured we'd have gone metric eventually. Here we are, 40+ years later, still using imperial fractions.
Chuck
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Post by bobw on Oct 22, 2020 6:11:48 GMT -8
At least you largely stick to one system! Here in Britain we converted to the metric system some time ago. EXCEPT: we still use miles to measure distances rather than kilometres, and we still buy beer and milk in pints rather than litres, but not other liquids. Pretty much everything else is metric except we still quote peoples' height in feet and inches and their weight in stones and pounds, although I believe the younger generation are beginning to quote these in metric now.
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Post by nomihoudai on Oct 22, 2020 7:52:56 GMT -8
Little math trick, when you want to check for errors of 25%, and each of the sides is larger than 4 inches, then just drop the fractional parts and see what you get as a result.
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Post by kevinkk on Oct 22, 2020 14:37:26 GMT -8
The metric scare. I remember it. I think the USA is stuck with what we're doing, a mix mosh of measurements that we've become used to.
Clearly the metric system is logical, but I think we stuck with the Imperial (now I know what that means) system, because changing
over would be confusing to a lot of people. Measurements are goofy- unless you already know, an "acre" is just a big area of land.
Even NASA gets it wrong now and then...
Maybe, in the distant future "we" will be forced to accept one system, but for now, it's comfortable and familiar.
Lug nuts- an important thing to get right, I had a wheel come off a car on the highway because the dealer put metric lugs on standard
shanks. Who do you think Mom and Dad were mad at first?
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Post by 58chevy on Oct 22, 2020 15:32:32 GMT -8
American automobile manufacturers began using the metric system in reference to engine size when large, gas-guzzling cars began to be outsold by smaller, fuel-efficient ones. The engines of the big cars were measured in cubic inches and customers who grew up with them were turned off by the smaller engines. So the manufacturers tried to fool these customers by referring to the smaller engine sizes in liters, which was an unfamiliar unit of measurement to most Americans.
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Post by kevinkk on Oct 22, 2020 16:25:23 GMT -8
American automobile manufacturers began using the metric system in reference to engine size when large, gas-guzzling cars began to be outsold by smaller, fuel-efficient ones. The engines of the big cars were measured in cubic inches and customers who grew up with them were turned off by the smaller engines. So the manufacturers tried to fool these customers by referring to the smaller engine sizes in liters, which was an unfamiliar unit of measurement to most Americans. Like when the gas stations sold gas in liters when it was getting out of hand. I recall seeing a news story- we could manage putting 9.99 a liter on the pumps. I don't even remember the decade, we go through, or went through so many fuel shortages. |
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Post by eurytides on Oct 22, 2020 16:42:19 GMT -8
I thought most rulers had both metric and imperial.
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Post by kevinkk on Oct 22, 2020 21:14:48 GMT -8
I thought most rulers had both metric and imperial. They do, except maybe antiques. It may or may not be interesting- tape measures only have the standard inches and feet. I've never used a tape measure or seen one with centimeters, and I've been through dozens of them. I guess the takeaway, even in the USA, nearly all science related measurements are in the metric system. |
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Post by exoticimports on Oct 23, 2020 4:20:44 GMT -8
Rulers can still be purchased that are Imperial only.
Tape measures one has to be careful! MOST are still Imperial only. Home Depot had a Christmas sale with a very nice tape measure at a great price, so while shopping I grabbed one (can never have too many.) Only later, when I tried to use it for a project did I realize the bloody thing had no metric! Unfortunately, tape measures are so expensive I am hesitant to discard those without metric, so it still bites me sometimes.
I think the attentive American male may be best tuned to volume conversions. I often read "1 gal/ 3.8 L per flush"
Miles makes more sense than klicks when driving. 60 MPH = 1 mile/ minute, so it's easy to figure out how long it will take to get to the destination. Sometimes one has to do a little math, like the time I made it from downtown Toronto to the US border in 45 minutes.
Brain teaser: if one is driving 60mph, what is the velocity in minutes per minute? (yes, minutes per minute. Any navigators?) If you get it, let's not squabble over equatorial stuff etc.
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