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Re: [OM] OT Metric system, was Better Flash recs ... -Reply

Subject: Re: [OM] OT Metric system, was Better Flash recs ... -Reply
From: Scott Nelson <SNelson@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 12:05:30 -0500
Not to mention working with fractions. I just put in a fairly large framing
order and subtracting a quarter inch from five eighths then adding back in 2x
two and three quarter inches just gives me a headache and plenty of opportunity
to make mistakes. 60cm - 10cm +15cm is a whole lot easier on the brainpan. Of
course, when I mentioned metric's use of round numbers and decimal calculations
to my father, he said, * then why does a can of soup have 383 grams?* I couldn't
convince him that it's only so because that's a conversion from English ounces
and they don't do that in Europe. You buy 250 or 500 gram cans. *Sigh* And you
don't need to know how many cups there are in 3.5 quarts either.

>>> "Gregg" <giverson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 03/05/00 09:41pm >>>
Another advantage of the metric system is cross measurement compatibility.
I.E..  1 cubic cm = 1 ml = 1 g  for distilled water.  It is fairly easy then
to figure out how much a given quantity of liquid weighs (actually the mass
of it).  Try to do that with feet, gallons and pounds!

Gregg

From: "Dylan Sutton"
> I never said you were stupid - I'm really impressed that Americans deal so
> well with such complicated illogical systems of measurement. Of course,
the
> fact that you can't spell properly mitigates the awe I would otherwise
hold
> you in;-)
> Seriously, why is metric better?
> Because for each property that is measured in the metric system, there is
> only one unit of measurement. The only thing that changes is the prefix
> denoting the scale, and not even that if you use scientific notation.
> eg. distance is in metres, whether micro, kilo etc. vs inches, feet,
yards,
> miles
> eg. volume is in litres, vs pints, gallons
> eg. mass in kilograms vs ounces, pounds, stones, tons (yeah OK, it should
> really be grams to make complete sense).
> The system is self-consistent both within and between different
properties,
> which cannot be said for imperial units. This makes it much simpler to
> account for changes in scale in calculations involving a number of
> properties, just cancel a few zeroes - I can easily tell you that 1x10-3
> kilometres is one metre....how many inches is 1x10-3 miles?
>
> Dylan
>
> PS Right vs left hand drive is a completely different issue, and which is
> better (for most people) would probably be best answered by some
> experimental psychology of perception and reflex response. My guess would
> be that women should drive on the right, and men on the left;-)
>
>
> >Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 11:12:19 -0800
> >From: "Charles Loeven" <cpl49@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >Subject: Re: [OM] OT Metric system, was Better Flash recs ...
> >
> >==="It'll mess up my recipes", etc.  The problem is either our own
> >stubbornness
> >or our stupidity!
> >Metric is MUCH better!
> >
> >Brian P. Huber====
> >
> >
> >Nope, not stubborn or stupid.
> >It is how we do it.
> >Should we all have our cars converted to
> >right hand drive also?
> >And throw away all our recipe and technical books?
> >Are Australians stupid because they don't use our measures?
> >How is metric "MUCH better" when we arrive at the same place
> >in the same time no matter if we drive kilometers or miles?
> >
> >Charlie (I need to lose a stone or two) Loeven
>
>
>
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