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From: Androcles on 8 Feb 2010 04:06 "Ostap S. B. M. Bender Jr." <ostap_bender_1900(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:101413d7-f887-4550-a723-b8a0a322b2a9(a)x10g2000prk.googlegroups.com... I totally agree. Traditional Imperial units are simple and natural: 1 furlong = 660 feet 1 mile = 5280 feet 1 fathom = 6.08 feet 1 acre = 43,560 sq feet 1 pound = 16 oz 1 stone = 14 pounds 1 hundredweight = 112 pounds 1 ton = 2240 pounds What can be simpler?! I mean, that's why it is called "hundredweight": because it is equal to 112 pounds! Everybody knows that 100 = 112. Well, more or less. Or thereabouts. Good enough for precise engineering. ============================================== Exactly. American tons are 2000 lbs. This meant the Liberator (8000 lbs) could carry a higher tonnage of bombs over Germany than the Lancaster (22,000 lb) ... well, more or less. "The B-24's spacious slab-sided fuselage (which earned the aircraft the nickname "Flying Boxcar")] was built around a central bomb bay that could accommodate up to 8,000 lb (3,629 kg) of ordnance." The Sherriff's dept were searching for the escapees over a 160.9344 kilometer radius.
From: Mike Dworetsky on 8 Feb 2010 06:15 Androcles wrote: > "Mike Dworetsky" <platinum198(a)pants.btinternet.com> wrote in message > news:8KednRJawL4zTPLWnZ2dnUVZ8nidnZ2d(a)bt.com... >> Ostap S. B. M. Bender Jr. wrote: >>> I totally agree. Traditional Imperial units are simple and natural: >>> >>> 1 furlong = 660 feet >>> 1 mile = 5280 feet >>> 1 fathom = 6.08 feet >>> >>> 1 acre = 43,560 sq feet >>> >>> 1 pound = 16 oz >> >> Only in avoirdupois weights. In troy weights, 12 ounces = 1 pound. >> Avoirdupois ounces are lighter than troy ounces. Complicated? You >> bet. Troy weights are most usually used for gold and silver, >> avoirdupois for most everything else. >> >> Thus the old riddle, "Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a >> pound of gold?" The clear answer is a pound of feathers, weighed in >> avoirdupois (453.6 gm), while a pound of gold is 373.2 gm. >> >>> 1 stone = 14 pounds >>> 1 hundredweight = 112 pounds >>> 1 ton = 2240 pounds >> >> That's a "long ton" or English equivalent to a metric tonne of 1000 >> kg. The usual Imperial ton is 2,000 pounds, I think. > ================================================= > Back-arsewards... the Imperial ton is 20 cwt = 2240 lbs, the unusual > American > short ton is 2000 lbs. Not many years ago a British billion was a > million million, not the thousand million that it has since become. > > So there are three ways of looking at tons: Imperial 2240 lb (1016 kg, I should have checked) Metric 1000 kg USA/Canada 2000 lb (907 kg) -- Mike Dworetsky (Remove pants sp*mbl*ck to reply)
From: Androcles on 8 Feb 2010 06:57 "Mike Dworetsky" <platinum198(a)pants.btinternet.com> wrote in message news:Fp6dnUqcaKLOb_LWnZ2dnUVZ8hSdnZ2d(a)bt.com... > Androcles wrote: >> "Mike Dworetsky" <platinum198(a)pants.btinternet.com> wrote in message >> news:8KednRJawL4zTPLWnZ2dnUVZ8nidnZ2d(a)bt.com... >>> Ostap S. B. M. Bender Jr. wrote: >>>> I totally agree. Traditional Imperial units are simple and natural: >>>> >>>> 1 furlong = 660 feet >>>> 1 mile = 5280 feet >>>> 1 fathom = 6.08 feet >>>> >>>> 1 acre = 43,560 sq feet >>>> >>>> 1 pound = 16 oz >>> >>> Only in avoirdupois weights. In troy weights, 12 ounces = 1 pound. >>> Avoirdupois ounces are lighter than troy ounces. Complicated? You >>> bet. Troy weights are most usually used for gold and silver, >>> avoirdupois for most everything else. >>> >>> Thus the old riddle, "Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a >>> pound of gold?" The clear answer is a pound of feathers, weighed in >>> avoirdupois (453.6 gm), while a pound of gold is 373.2 gm. >>> >>>> 1 stone = 14 pounds >>>> 1 hundredweight = 112 pounds >>>> 1 ton = 2240 pounds >>> >>> That's a "long ton" or English equivalent to a metric tonne of 1000 >>> kg. The usual Imperial ton is 2,000 pounds, I think. >> ================================================= >> Back-arsewards... the Imperial ton is 20 cwt = 2240 lbs, the unusual >> American >> short ton is 2000 lbs. Not many years ago a British billion was a >> million million, not the thousand million that it has since become. >> >> > > So there are three ways of looking at tons: > > Imperial 2240 lb (1016 kg, I should have checked) > Metric 1000 kg > USA/Canada 2000 lb (907 kg) > =============================================== I suspect the little red schoolhouses of the colonial backwoods confused the hundredweight (cwt) with a 100 lbs and by multiplying that by 20 arrived at the short ton. The tun is a large barrel, of course. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1005/1428697981_1cfdd49674.jpg http://www.picturesofengland.com/img/L/1020188.jpg An imperial gallon of water weighs 10 lb, an American short gallon weighs ~ 8.33-8.35 lb. Thus American cars get fewer mpg. US liquid gallons 1 MPG ~ 0.425 km/l 235/MPG ~ l/100 km 1 MPG ~ 1.201 MPG (Imp) Imperial gallons (UK) 1 MPG ~ 0.354 km/l 282/MPG ~ l/100 km 1 MPG ~ 0.833 MPG (US) What is extremely unlikely is the Americans changing the mile, their roads are laid out in a 1 mile grid all over the Great Plains as you can see using Google Earth. The word "mile" comes from the Latin "mille" and was a thousand paces by marching Roman troops.
From: Andrew Usher on 8 Feb 2010 09:00 On Feb 8, 2:11 am, "Ostap S. B. M. Bender Jr." <ostap_bender_1...(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > I totally agree. Traditional Imperial units are simple and natural: > > 1 furlong = 660 feet > 1 mile = 5280 feet These are unfortunate results of trying to put the Anglo-Saxon distance units into the Roman-based system. > 1 fathom = 6.08 feet 6 feet, of course. The value 6.08 feet was never actually used. > 1 acre = 43,560 sq feet And 1/640 sq. mile, which allows a section to be conveniently divided. > 1 pound = 16 oz > 1 stone = 14 pounds > 1 hundredweight = 112 pounds > 1 ton = 2240 pounds Aberrant British units. In any event, it's a completely dishonest tactic that you ignore my real essay in favor of your silly ridicule. The point is the SI mafia whose only purpose is to impose SI units everywhere. Andrew Usher
From: Andrew Usher on 8 Feb 2010 09:03
On Feb 8, 5:57 am, "Androcles" <Headmas...(a)Hogwarts.physics_u> wrote: > =============================================== > I suspect the little red schoolhouses of the colonial backwoods > confused the hundredweight (cwt) with a 100 lbs and by multiplying > that by 20 arrived at the short ton. > The tun is a large barrel, of course. > http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1005/1428697981_1cfdd49674.jpg > http://www.picturesofengland.com/img/L/1020188.jpg In fact, a tun of water is about 2100 lb - in between the American and British values. Andrew Usher |