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The Water Cooler
General Discussion
Should We Swap To Metric?
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<blockquote data-quote="Rod Snell" data-source="post: 3220153" data-attributes="member: 796"><p>Actually, all scientific work (including NASA and rocket science) have been on the metric standard for a long time. Metric distance is defined by specified wavelengths of a certain color laser, and all "English" lengths are then defined by the metric length.</p><p>All meteorology is in metric units, except the surface measurements are translated to English units for distribution to the US public. Here's a real weather map for pilots: <a href="https://aviationweather.gov/metar" target="_blank">https://aviationweather.gov/metar</a></p><p></p><p>Most people I meet who rant against the metric common units don't really know many of the English Standard units either, just a few of the ones we see every day in the US. Do you use "Stone" for mass, like the Brits? What is the true English unit for work? Energy? We use Kilowatt-hours for our electric meters (that's metric!) so why don't we use horsepower (English Unit) for our electricity?</p><p>For you horse racers, how many feet in a furlong? (all English units)</p><p></p><p>And finally, we lost a Mars lander because a semi-literate programmer used English speed units instead of the metric speed units that have been the standard at NASA for many decades. Hit the Mars atmosphere too fast and burned.</p><p></p><p>Most of our problems with units in the US is that we don't use a consistent, rational system of units, just a mis-matched mixture of irrational units that no one really understands, and can't convert without a programmed calculator. But we can take comfort that great-grandpa used our wrenches marked 32nds of an inch, just like god intended...….?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rod Snell, post: 3220153, member: 796"] Actually, all scientific work (including NASA and rocket science) have been on the metric standard for a long time. Metric distance is defined by specified wavelengths of a certain color laser, and all "English" lengths are then defined by the metric length. All meteorology is in metric units, except the surface measurements are translated to English units for distribution to the US public. Here's a real weather map for pilots: [URL]https://aviationweather.gov/metar[/URL] Most people I meet who rant against the metric common units don't really know many of the English Standard units either, just a few of the ones we see every day in the US. Do you use "Stone" for mass, like the Brits? What is the true English unit for work? Energy? We use Kilowatt-hours for our electric meters (that's metric!) so why don't we use horsepower (English Unit) for our electricity? For you horse racers, how many feet in a furlong? (all English units) And finally, we lost a Mars lander because a semi-literate programmer used English speed units instead of the metric speed units that have been the standard at NASA for many decades. Hit the Mars atmosphere too fast and burned. Most of our problems with units in the US is that we don't use a consistent, rational system of units, just a mis-matched mixture of irrational units that no one really understands, and can't convert without a programmed calculator. But we can take comfort that great-grandpa used our wrenches marked 32nds of an inch, just like god intended...….? [/QUOTE]
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