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Also 1L water ~ 1kg
And 1000 cm³ = 1L
Damn Tucker Carlson must’ve stumbled upon this post. Someone should tell him that Russians use metric.
Why are we converting between units all the time? Why is this so big of a deal?
When in your daily lives do you actually need the precision of a millimeter and the magnitude of a kilometer?
Yes
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You don’t have to mix foot, inches, and 1/8 inches? So how do you measure a room? Is it “Ten foot and a bit” or “Ten foot, 5 3/8 inches”? Or do you break it down to smaller units like “125 3/8 inches” or “1003 1/8 inches”?
Or do you break it down to smaller units like “125 3/8 inches” or “1003 1/8 inches”?
This. Building a house, wall studs are on 16" (sixteen inch) centers, not 1’4" (one foot four inch), even though those are the same length. Roof joists are usually on 24" centers, not 2’, even though those are the same.
Most of your lumber is going to be 120" or less, so most of the measurements you’re going to be making are less than that.
If I’m measuring a room in feet, it is to give a rough estimate. It’s easy to compare two different bedrooms by saying one is 8x10 and the other is 10x12. The actual dimensions might differ by up to 6", but they are close enough for a reasonable comparison.
Would it not be better to just use accurate numbers? There is just so much unnecesary mental gymnastics. You are using a lot words like “usually” or “most”.
Would it not be better to just use accurate numbers?
“Accuracy” depends on the task. The framing guy needs about 1/8th inch precision. Drywall guy needs about 1/4". Baseboards, 1/16th or tighter. The buyer needs to the nearest foot to compare. The painter can skip the foot and go straight to the nearest yard.
I give up. If you really think that is better way than using metric you truly deserve the imperial system you have.
Where are you getting this?
I challenge the value and necessity of unit conversion, and you throw in the towel? As though this trivial, boring feature of the metric system is the only value it brings to the table?
I haven’t done anything to defend US Customary Units (not Imperial. Imperial units are what the UK uses when they aren’t using Metric, and they don’t always match US units even though they have the same names).
The only point I’ve presented is that “unit conversion” is not a particularly interesting feature. When I use metric, it is not with the idea that I’ll be bouncing decimal points back and forth with reckless abandon.
The real value of metric is that everyone uses it.
You do know we have everything between a millimeter and a kilometer as well, right?
Of course. And you select the unit you need based on the degree of precision required for the task. You’re not arbitrarily bouncing decimal points around for shits and giggles. The ability to do that is a cool bit of trivia, but in practice, it’s not particularly useful.
Yes, lol. Nobody says 3500 meters or 0.159 Kilometers. But it is easy to convert if needed.
Athletics competitions would like a word…
ask NASA i guess.
the point is you don’t have to go that far in the metric system: converting between two neighboring sizes (cm and mm) is as easy as adding/removing a zero or shifting the decimal separator by one digit. but you can also convert between mm and km by doing the same thing six times without a problem.
you can’t do the former with imperial units as easily, let alone the latter.
sometimes you just have numbers that are too small or big for a unit. convert 1079 inches to feet. or convert 0.000419 miles to inches. I can do 1079 cm to m or 0.000419 km to cm instantly.
You’re not addressing my criticism at all here. Yes, I get it: you can slide back and forth between kilometers and millimeters with the greatest of ease. Cool. Awesome.
My criticism isn’t about the ease in converting. My criticism is more “when are we actually using that feature?”
And the answer is, of course, “rarely”. Rarely do we find a practical need for a single measurement with both the magnitude of a kilometer/mile and the precision of a centimeter/inch.
As a practical matter, the ability to easily make that conversion is nice, of course. But not particularly useful.
first of all that’s not a criticism. criticism would be pointing out a fault.
second of all i gave you an example of when you would use it. when you have sizes too small or too big, it’s just easier to switch to the other unit. again, the point isn’t to have easy conversion between a km and cm, it’s to have easy conversion between all steps.
it’s funny how you’re not addressing the fact that I’m telling you that you can’t even easily switch between feet and inches, two of the closest and most frequently used units, but you keep bringing miles into it as if the entire reason we have the metric system is just so we can cover km to cm. why are glossing over being able to instantly convert cm to mm and vice versa? what about m to km? yeah because that’s much more useful and common so your entire argument would crumble.
forget miles. tell me how many feet 17.05 inches make. you can’t which is why you’re always forced to use double units, feet and inches, and you still have to use fractions or decimals on top of that because inches aren’t precise enough for anything to begin with. covering 17.05" to 1’ 5.05" just makes it more complicated for no reason. not to mention it’s terrible notation and looks messy as fuck when you’re writing dimensions.
it’s funny how you’re not addressing the fact that I’m telling you that you can’t even easily switch between feet and inches, two of the closest and most frequently used units,
Again, why would I convert them?
If I need to cut a board to a precision of inches, why would I even bother with feet? It’s 119 inches, not 9’11" (9-foot 11-inches). It’s 987 centimeters, not 9 meters, 87 centimeters. You’re not going to hear “foot” when building an American house, because everything is done in inches.
I’ve got a tape measure that doesn’t even have foot markings, but multiples of 16" are marked, because our wall studs are commonly framed on 16" centers.
That is the point I am trying to convey: conversion is rarely important in practice. Just start with the unit that provides sufficient precision, and don’t bother switching. There are plenty of good reasons to use metric, but in practice, unit conversion just isn’t one of them.
tell me how many feet 17.05 inches make
Why would I ever need that in feet? You’re just not paying attention here.
I don’t have .05" markings on my tape measure. I could get to 17.125 (17-1/8") or 17.0625 (17-1/16"), or just 17", depending on the degree of precision needed.
To even get a measurement of 17.05", I’d need to be using an 18" micrometer, as we do use decimal inches in machining. But again, we wouldn’t use “feet” at all for such a measurement. There is no practical purpose in making that conversion.
Metric or imperial, the chosen unit implies the degree of required precision. If I’m using feet, I don’t need precision tighter than half a foot. If I need precision tighter than that, I’m not using foot.
Sure.
Btw how much concrete i should mix when i need 4 inch deep, 37 feet long and 13 feet wide pour, there is also 3,5 feet x 6 feet alcove. Lets add large pole or some other round shape on the mix with diameter of 46 3/4 inches on the middle of the structure.
Wonder how many trips i nees to make to the hardware store when one bag of the concrete weigts 94 pounds and it makes 4,5 cubic feets of cement.
Should i just eye ball it?
one bag of the concrete weigts 94 pounds and it makes 4,5 cubic feets of cement.
Based on that sentence, I’d say you should retain the services of a professional for such a task. The basic geometry is trivial, as you well know. It’s everything else that is going to get you into trouble.
Yeah. Sorry i mixed cement and concrete up. You know. That can happen when you writing in language that is only your third most proficient.
And nice evasion for reacting to the example.
by the sound of how they measure things with imperial units you might as well eyeball it.
Outside half of the job market? Pretty often.
So you admit your precious meter isn’t up to the task of being decided by three and you have to find ways to compensate for its inadequacy.
Metre*
Ugh. Kelvingram again.
💔
but at least there’s a space
Bring forth the ceremonial cudgels, it’s imperial units bashing time.
The chain (abbreviated ch) is a unit of length equal to 66 feet (22 yards), used in both the US customary and Imperial unit systems. It is subdivided into 100 links. There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile. In metric terms, it is 20.1168 m long.
ahhh good hit, that’s the stuff.
'Ow many stone does the chain weigh guv’nah?
It annoys me so much that a small decision could have had me growing up with metric.
In the US, we should make things even more confusing to anger the metric folks. I propose we redefine the “foot” every four years. The length of the foot will always correspond to the actual measured foot length of the current US president.
We should bring back hogsheads, rods, fathoms, etc.
IIRC some of those crazy units are still referenced in certain laws of old…
What a wondefull idea!
What if we defined a foot such that a cubic food of some good, say potatoes or something, is a specific amount of money. So it’s tied to inflation.
the fact that you think this will anger metric folks who already don’t make sense of your dumb system rather than ruin many aspects of your country … uh … never mind, you’re already ruining many aspects of country. ignore what I was going to say. carry on.
Yeah, and she gonna be mad as fuck about that too!
Then there’s my favorite cursed unit: the kip! 1 kip=1000 lbs. “Kip” is short for “kilo-pounds.” It’s a unit used frequently in American civil and structural engineering. And it is so deliciously cursed.
Back in the early days of telephones at&t used kft to measure lines. Yes that is kilofoot
Fun fact: the SI (international system of units) actually defines a multiplier “Ki”, but it is not a factor of 1000. A Kisomething is 1024 something. As in 1KiB = 1024B (Kilobytes resp. Bytes).
As in 1KiB = 1024B (Kilobytes resp. Bytes)
Isn’t it even more convoluted than this?
Doesn’t KiB translate to Kibibytes? Because “kilo” is 1000 (powers of 10).
Kibi is 1024, the “bi” is supposed to mean “binary”, or powers of 2.
Kihex?
Yes, a kilobyte is 1000 bytes, a kibibyte is 1024 bytes. But almost always when talking about kilobytes, kibibytes are implied. Except when they aren’t.
It’s also about 31 slugs.
I think the mil/thou is pretty cursed.
Amerifats cant get over their imperialist england brain to work in tandem with rest of the world. It creates just enough division and tribality between the world the US to justify its colonial nature and settlement enterprise in the americas.
You cant bury your disgusting history.
Yes, the US is trying to sow discord in the world with it’s choice of measurement system in order to further its imperialist agenda.
Nevermind the documented instances of US government military intervention and collusion with far right-wing groups to disrupt popular leftist movements and governments across the world. It’s the measurement system that’s the problem.
You are being insidious. This also contributes to the main directives. It wasnt JUST THIS.
People dont hate Trump because he is orange. But it definitely doesnt fucking help it either.
Or teams dont choose green as their team color because it helps them win more. But having these features helps with the morale.
Jesus Christ, you’re broken.
Yes, morale is at an all time over here because some Anglophile chose Imperial as our weight and measurement standards 200+ years ago.
By the way, we all have horns and rub our hands together evilly and cackle when a European is inconvenienced by an American website.
This thread is full of middle schoolers who don’t realize that you can measure things in whatever system you want, regardless of country. The whole premise of this circlejerk is faulty.
anyone can do whatever on their own, but if it affects anyone else than that one person its not just that one person’s business. I cant see the insistence of using imperial system as anything else than america has used it in the past, and therefore its american system and because america is the best it must be the best system to use and to claim anything else is to hate america.
I’m sorry that you can’t seem to see it any other way, but that is just not reality. The imperial system has many uses that the metric system is not apt for.
for example?
Base 10 measurement systems such as the metric system cannot divide distances into thirds or sixths without creating irrational numbers. This can be a problem for interior designers and landscape designers, for instance, who regularly need to create drafts for projects that break up measurements that way. The imperial system is more versatile in this particular instance because you can break a foot into 12 inches, which is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (yes, still wouldn’t be irrational), and 6. Much more versatile when your contractor needs to actually go out and make a measurement in the real world. While metric could be “good enough” for that purpose, it is not the most ideal.
i’d say its still easier to just choose desired level of precision with 3.333333333 than deal with imperial’s conversion maddness, even if you can divide them evenly. I guess imperial is ok if you dont ever have to use it with any other system, but lack of combitability is quite isolationist.
With imperial, every unit is like it’s own singular instance where in metric each unit is part of the system. Trying to convert between them seems like a nightmare (i dont want to even try, but i assume those who use imperial just have to.)
Like, how many inches are on 1000 miles? Try to convert that exactly in your head without using calculator or paper and within 10 seconds. How many square feet are on 37 acres? How much does 5,5 gallons of water weigh in stones?
Or lets say we have container with measurements of 3x3x3 inches (i’ll be merciful and use same unit for each dimension) MysteryLiquid™ (use calculator for this one if you try to calculate it) with density of 3,337 pounds / …perch…? or more commonly 0,00625 acres (not many area units in imperial). How much does the MysteryLiquid™ in the container weigh in stones?
In metric the density would be about 301 kg/m3.
3 inches is 0.0762 metres so container would be 0.07623 which is 0,000442450728m3 which is 442.450728 cm³
So m =p x V = 301kg x 0.000442m3 = 0.133kg, try calculating that whole thing in imperial, using crazy different units without ripping out your hair. I used sensible units for metric in this one, but i could have used nanograms, mm3 and decimeters instead and it would just mildly inconvenience me when calculating, and also produce way bigger numbers but at least the conversion factors would remain same.
Not being able to divide some measurements in even numbers is very small price to pay for being able to calculate things more easily.
You can use both without using them in the same project. Yes, I understand how conversions work.
You can make the same argument going the other way. Isn’t is complicated to go from metric to imperial? May as well just use imperial! See, it’s not a good argument.
well my point was to make those calculations using only imperial units, not randomly go between metric and imperial. Metric calculation was there to just illustrate how it would go using metric units.
because you can break a foot into 12 inches, which is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (yes, still wouldn’t be irrational), and 6.
12 ÷ 5 = 2.4Yeah, I get the idea that 12 is nicer than 10 to divide by 3, 4 and 6, but I’m pretty sure that 2.4 is an irrational number.
Edit: Is this what makes it somewhat useful anyway?:
2.4 × 10 = 24 12 × 2 = 24So, for instance,
120 ÷ 5 = 24would still be useful?
Been ages since I was in a math class and I misquoted why it’s useful. It’s not that it is rational, as 10/3 is also rational. However, 10/3 is not an integer, and therefore cannot be found on a measuring stick or tape measure. There are projects where being able to divide into exact thirds, 6ths, etc are required, and metric is not as useful for that. In a country that also uses imperial interchangeably, it makes sense to use it with projects that are better served with imperial.
You can but there are real examples where mixing units results in failure. NASA lost a 125 million dollar mars probe in 1999 because JPL and NASA use metric but Lockheed Martin added acceleration data in American imperial units.
It might be a circle jerk but it is also best practice to use a standard system and there’s really only one holdout on not using that system. I say this as an American who wishes people would just use metric because it’s just easier unless you just fucking love fractions of an inch.
Your example of not mixing systems up within projects is somewhat valid, but not applicable to the whole. There are a lot of uses for Imperial, and using Imperial in landscaping does not have a chance of causing catastrophic failure in rocket science.
There are a lot of uses for Imperial
Other than it being “cultural” and laziness there’s no point in keeping imperial. Stop using an obsolete system so we Canadians can switch our stoves to Celsius without having to worry about you yanks cooking with our equipment and hurting yourselves.
I’m going to use metric for height and weight. I don’t care if some wanker American complains they can always head south if they want or visit Liberia for a getaway, get with the times already.
The metric system, base 10, is not easily breakable into thirds without irrational numbers. In aesthetic fields, such as landscaping or interior design, the ability to break something into exact thirds, quarters, halves, fifths, sixths, and so on, is invaluable. It’s not just cultural. It sounds like it is to you, which is weird… why are you personally identifying with a unit of measurement?
I also don’t understand your Liberia reference. Could you elaborate?
The metric system, base 10, is not easily breakable into thirds without irrational numbers.
Says the metric that freaking uses fractions…
Find me a fraction on a meter stick, go ahead!
Liberia, until 2018, used the imperial system. They were one of three countries that used the imperial system, Myanmar being the third one. They are currently in the process of using metric, but it appears they are using both for now.
Not sure why you can only go to Liberia, I’m sure you can buy a meter stick when you arrive in Europe.
Man, we should all just use the same currency so we don’t have to do all these crazy conversions! Maybe we all start just using the US dollar? /s
I was just explaining the Liberia part of the comment, I was not the commenter. I am American and like both metric and imperial. I prefer metric for baking and applications where higher precision is useful, but use imperial for most other things since that is what is commonly used around me.
I like metric weight for cooking (on the rare occasion I make something that involves careful measuring, and for my bread making) and MILES can fuck right off, km are fine for measuring long distance. And fine with meters, cm for short distance.
But I do like how feet are 12 inches, because 12 is so evenly divisible, and like that a gallon splits in half and half again and again until you get cups. It’s like RAM,
Cup is 8 oz
Pint is 16 oz
Quart is 32 oz
Half Gallon is 64 oz
Gallon is 128 oz.
That doubling sequence is satisfying.
specifically woodworking I like doing in inches, because 12. For the tasks I often do in the wood shop, fractional inches work well.
I’m confortable working in both systems, but I build furniture in inches.
In metric, the 12 really isn’t important anymore which kinda invalidates that. We normally go to the nearest mm or, if needed, some fraction of that (not normally needed in my life at least)
When building wooden furniture, the ability to divide by 3 and 4 comes in handy a lot more often than dividing by 5, and I don’t have to start rounding to nearest or stuff like that. For this task, inches work out better.
If I never see another inch size bolt in my life it’ll be too soon.
My point is, if you’re using feet and inches you maybe want to divide by that. We in the metric world don’t so it’s not that big a deal. Our woodworking is done in CM and MM and we rarely need fractions of mm.
I do woodworking too, my father did it since youth, and he did it just fine. We don’t feel the need to divide everything.
Your 16 oz pints are a pathetic 455ml. Europeans have 500ml.
Meanwhile a true UK pint is 568ml.
You can see why we cling to Imperialism.
who the fuck are these absolute twats that are simping over a system of measurement? good for you, your governance made a good choice, but it was hardly like OP invented it or was responsible for the adoption, so whoop de fuckin’ doo. or Le Whoop if you must convert.
we don’t like imperial, it’s not like you’ll find people (outside hicksville or maga) claiming to defend it’s superiority.
and get off your silly pretensions, for all your metric elegance the UK is still measuring shit in stones and miles.
we don’t like imperial, it’s not like you’ll find people (outside hicksville or maga) claiming to defend it’s superiority.
Every time metric vs imperial comes up on the internet there will be a gazillion Americans defending their system, claiming it is more “human” or some similar sort of nonsense. So yes, are a lot of Americans who will defend its alleged superiority.
Every time metric vs imperial comes up on the internet there will be a gazillion Americans defending their system, claiming it is more “human” or some similar sort of nonsense. So yes, are a lot of Americans who will defend its alleged superiority.
pfft ok bud. there are schmucks in the UK that love stones. it’s a tiny minority on both sides.
Honestly who uses stone to measure their weight? And if we switched to km for roads tomorrow I’d be happy, might take a minute to adjust but it’s fine.
Honestly who uses stone to measure their weight?
elder limeys
Brits, and only for body weight, as far as I know.
I just use kg, makes more sense
Heavily depends on the use case.
Yeah, sometime you use grams, or dekagrams, or hectograms
Or Megagrams and Gigagrams if you want to go bigger.
Nope. Household use in Europe is Gramm “g” and Kilogramm “kg” (often shortened to just “Kilo”). Maybe Ton “t” (metric ones, of course) if you are handling large loads like building materials, but nobody uses Megagramm “Mg”. Likewise with Gigagramm “Gg”, where one uses Kiloton “kt”. Not really SI, but still with the same conversion factors.
Going down from the Gramm, people use the Milligramm “mg”, often used in pharmacy related context.
Some Austrians (especially the older ones) still use Dekagramm “dg” or Deka, primarily in cooking and baking, but these are the only outliers. Anything else is just factor 1000 for each step.
Much easier than cups, ounces, pounds, and buttloads.
Well the UK isn’t in Europe anymore. They moved away a couple years ago. Besides the best system is the French Revolutionary System
The UK isn’t in the EU anymore. As far as I know their island didn’t drift away from our continental plate.
hon hon hon mes oui yeah whatever
They use a blend of metric and imperial as do we.
the secret of the sauce is just the right blend. give them predictable units for most things then hit them with the hogshead when they get comfortable
Mad?
Nah, about what? I didn’t make the decisions. you didn’t either, so if you’re proud, that’s fucking dumb too.
As a brit, the only thing I care about is the extra 68ml I get in my pint.
Metric is useful but it lacks enough units for everyday use. Like milimeter is useful for measuring somethings, and meter is useful for somethings but not having a foot equivalent makes it less useful. I’d rather say 4 feet than 1.3 meters. Same with grams and kilos; not having an ounce is an oversight. I’d rather order an 8 ounce burger than a 226gram burger. Mililiters and liters are useful but not having a fl ounce makes it clumsier.
Definitely not. Anything below the meter is usually measured in cm; Metalworkers and engineers use mm there, and it’s not an issue. Your four feet are our 120cm (not 130!), or maybe 1.2m, and it is not “odd”. I’m 175cm or 1.75m high, both are commonly used.
Same with weight: Up to and around a kilogram it’s just grams. And you won’t find a “226gram” burger here, just to cuddle your ounces. Here, that burger would be 250g, plain and simple.
Your preferences mean nothing. You prefer what’s familiar, just like everyone else.
I’m familiar with Metric AND Imperial and not just because the US uses a blend but because both science and science fiction have been interests of mine since early childhood. Americans just hate syllables. 4 feet is two syllables while 1.3 meters is 5 syllables. Hell, quarts are almost the same thing as liters just with fewer syllables , same as yards and meters.
If you actually were familiar with metric, you wouldn’t say dumb shit like:
Like milimeter is useful for measuring somethings, and meter is useful for somethings but not having a foot equivalent makes it less useful.
Because you’d actually know about things like centimeter and decimeter.
So no, you are definitely not familiar with metric. Try to learn sometime.
1.3 meter is actually 4.2651 feet.
That’s dumb and a lot more syllables.
Sure.
If you had more of an intuition for metric units, then it wouldn’t occur to you to think of “4 feet” as something to optimize for. It means nothing. It’s an entirely arbitrary preference. You’d just think “a metre and a half” and you wouldn’t have to grope for “syllables” as a rationalization for it.
You’re grasping at straws here bud
Cool. Peace.
I may be not accustomed to US lifestyle but why in the fuck anyone would order a burger by the weight of the patty? Can you order 7,5 ounces? 12?
A foot equivalent? You mean like a decimeter?
An ounce equivalent? You mean like a dekagram?
Metric has everything you claim it doesn’t. And much more than your little imperial brain can comprehend.
I don’t know if you’re aware of this but Metric only works in powers of ten. I’m suggesting that’s a weakness.
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