The metric system sucks
in [Math]
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From: jmfbahciv on 5 Feb 2010 09:04 Bart Goddard wrote: > nospam(a)nospam.com (Paul Ciszek) wrote in news:hkevh2$i0c$1 > @reader2.panix.com: > >> In article <Xns9D15464AACB40goddardbenetscapenet(a)74.209.136.93>, >> Bart Goddard <goddardbe(a)netscape.net> wrote: >>> nospam(a)nospam.com (Paul Ciszek) wrote in >>> news:hke1bi$n19$6(a)reader2.panix.com: >>> >>>> What is the density of water in pounds per cubic foot? >>> As usual, the decimaphile offers us a calculation that >>> 1. is already known and 2. nobody ever does. Against >> If you mean non-technical people, they get through most of their >> lives without doing any calculations at all. Engineers, on the >> other hand, have to deal with the density of water quite a bit. Things >> get submerged in it, containers are built empty and later filled >> with it, it can end up standing on the roofs of buildings if you >> didn't design them right, etc. > > "Deal with" is not "calculate." Nobody calculates the > density of water. I have this piece of plywood which > is 1 foot by 1 foot. Now I'm going to calculate > the area in English units while you calculate it in > metric. On you mark...get set....GO! I'm done. Let > me know when you get your answer. And remember: > people "deal with" the areas of wood all the time. > > B. > And you have to know the load wood will put on your house supports. You also have to include water and whatever else you put on your roof. /BAH
From: jmfbahciv on 5 Feb 2010 09:06 Bob Myers wrote: > I can't believe this is being seriously discussed in supposedly > science-oriented newsgroups. <snip> You are going to have to realize that there exist people who don't know there are more than one measurement system and that they are not the same. /BAH
From: jmfbahciv on 5 Feb 2010 09:09 Gerry Myerson wrote: > In article <hkeig101lnd(a)news3.newsguy.com>, jmfbahciv <jmfbahciv(a)aol> > wrote: > >> I grew up in the US and cannot think in metric terms so I >> always have to do a conversion to make guesstimates. >> For some strange reason, kilometers seem to take "longer" >> to drive than miles when I drove from Buffalo to Port >> Huron, Michigan. :-) > > Probably because of those metric Canadian hours, what with > each one being 100 minutes long. > ROTFLMAO. Probably. It's also a long drive with few official pit stops. /BAH
From: jmfbahciv on 5 Feb 2010 09:11 Antares 531 wrote: > On Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:09:55 +1100, Gerry Myerson > <gerry(a)maths.mq.edi.ai.i2u4email> wrote: > >> In article <hkeig101lnd(a)news3.newsguy.com>, jmfbahciv <jmfbahciv(a)aol> >> wrote: >> >>> I grew up in the US and cannot think in metric terms so I >>> always have to do a conversion to make guesstimates. >>> For some strange reason, kilometers seem to take "longer" >>> to drive than miles when I drove from Buffalo to Port >>> Huron, Michigan. :-) >> Probably because of those metric Canadian hours, what with >> each one being 100 minutes long. >> > When are they likely to change over to a metric week of 10 days? Then, > I guess the month should be replaced with a metric month of 100 days > and the year extended to a metric decimal multiple of 1000 days. > when the moon's orbit can be divisible by 10 days. /BAH
From: jmfbahciv on 5 Feb 2010 09:16
Andrew Usher wrote: > On Feb 4, 7:15 am, Bart Goddard <goddar...(a)netscape.net> wrote: > >> It is a fact that in almost all real calculations in >> English units, one unit is chosen and it is decimated. > > Interesting word choice! > >> The only exception I can think of off the top of my >> head is that carpenters like their denominators to be >> powers of 2. > > Feet and inches are used together in construction, at least. > >> Otherwise, most people would calculate >> using number like 15.53 feet. Every bit as easy as >> the same calculation in the metric system. > > True. And anywhere that multiplication or division is required, mixed > units will not be used as they become too difficult. > Now learn about dimensional analysis. Everybody has to deal with mixed units. /BAH |