Question for "Metric" people over the pond...

Daveyboy · Member Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 143

Dimitri

If you weigh as much as me then you need to lose some weight! Razz

D

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5946

Davey,

Nah I dont think so, Very Happy

Dimitri

ogre · Member Joined: Jan 15, 2006 Posts: 79 Location: Melbourne

Dimitri wrote:

Thats 0.1 liters or 100ml, Smile

Remember everything is based on 10 in the metric system making it easyer then remembering Imperial conversions from one unit to the other. Smile

The Metric System:

Lenth
1 millimeter = 0.001 meter
1 centimeter = 0.01 meter
1 decimeter = 0.1 meter
1 kilometer = 1000 meters

Dimitri

Ok to snip short the original post but my question takes this further.

In your example about
you have 3 steps of the decimal place moving one place at a time.
Then
You have a decimal place moving 4 places at once.

so from metre to kilometer there is no decispition or division by 10 that enables you to describe 10 metres or 100 metres without using the "distance followed by metres" method of description.

Doesn't seem consistant to me.

Imperial inst consistance it lineal but inconsistan with it's descriptions for clarity.

In you example I could say decimetre and mean centimetre and the person could hear millimetre because thay all sound similar.
V
1 inch or inches for multiples
1 foot or feet for multiples
1 Yard or yards etc etc

The wordes describing the differnt measument qualities have different sounds and it's much harder to confuse them

Ie 22 yards: that's a cricket pitch and you can visualise it in your head.

still doent understand metric enough yet to be confident in using it.

later
P

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5946

Orge,

Well in all honesty there are divisions but they sound confusing:

picometer - 0.0000000001m (one trillionth of a meter)
angstrom = 0.00000001m (one ten billionth of a meter or 0.0001 micron)
micromillimeter nanometer, nanometre, nm = 0.0000001m (one billionth of a meter)
micron, or micrometer = 0.0001m
millimeter = 0.001m
centimeter = 0.01m
decimeter = 0.1m
meter = 1 meter (The Standard)
decameter = 10m
hectometer = 100m
kilometer = 1000m
myriametre = 10,000m

The Hectometers are still used to measure land. Smile

I belive 1 hectare = 100m by 100m.

And the Decameter gets people confused with the decimeter so I think thats why they dropped it from comman usage since decimeter is more useful as its about 4inchs. Smile

Dimitri

Vince

AAAAHHHHHHH........stop it guys......my head hurts !!! Confused

CONFUSION REIGNS SUPREME. Shocked

Seriously though. I think that it all depends on what you have grown up with. Iwas taught the Imperial system as a child at school and because of the teaching methods, learning by rote, it is more ingrained into my system than the metric system which I have learnt by having to use it on a day to day basis.

I think the biggest mistake that people make......and by my own admission I am notorious for doing it.....is to convert one to the other for ease of visualisation or use. I think that you need to simply accept the "new" measurement and get used to it being what it is.....the same measurement with just a different name.

Dallan, I don't think it matters much which measurement you choose to use as long as it is consistent throughout the document. We all are used to either one or the other so as a suggestion maybe you could list Joules, or Foot / Pounds, and put the other one in brackets behind it,
ie ft/lbs (Joules) or Joules (ft/lbs) or either (kg/m). Don't know if this would be difficult to do assuming that this will be a calculation built into the software for users to access, but it is an option.

Cheers, Vince

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5946

Vince,

Problem is for some stuff the Metric system is lacking. Its handy for people who dont want to remember how many feet to a yard etc because its all multipuls of 10 but its not that helpful. ESPECIALLY IN CANADA! Mad

Like was mentioned before mpg makes more sense then liters per 100 Km's right ?? Well why work with something thats less convient ?? Confused

The worst part is if your in a mix-system country like Canada. We are 'metric' but you know the American's are still Imperial so we use there standards Very Happy

So it really messes some people up. We phased out Imperial measurements we just say what the convertion from centimeters to inches is and thats all you learn in school. Not a single proper lession is taught nowadays in school we make special "Canadian" textbooks to remove the Imperial system from schools Mad

Now try explaining to a person in a machine shop, a machanics automotive shop or almost anywhere why we dealt with the Metric system when everyone wants us to use the Imperial system because we want to be "compatiable" with our largest trade partner and them to be compatible with us. wtf

Dimitri

Vince

Yeah, I understand that Dimitri. I suppose to some extent I am in a similar position to you guys in that I would prefer to work with the system that I understand, however I have to accept the metric system because that is what they use on a daily basis over here.

This is the reason why I suggested that both measurements are shown, ie 1 Joule (24 ft/lbs). (These are only hypertetical figures...NOT the correct numbers.)

As I said, it doesn't matter what it is called, it is still the same force.

Cheers, Vince

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5946

Same force Vince thats true Cheers

I still wish people/countries didnt jump the gun with the Metric system myself Smile

1ft/lb = 1.35 J according to a online calculator. So its not that different the convertion Smile

Dimitri

Daveyboy · Member Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 143

So do you want a large glass or a small one?

D

Daveyboy · Member Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 143

Oh - just worked it out. My local petrol station is pumping gas at 97p per liter which equates to... Wait for it...

Â£4-85 per imperial gallon or

AUD $2-38 a liter or, if my calculations are correct

USD $10-16 per US gallon.

I know guys who run their diesel trucks over here on vegetable oil and they pay 40p per liter for it at the supermarket (don't ask what that means - its cheap!) and they run fine. If they declared it to the taxman then they would have to pay an extra 40p in duty (another word for tax) just because it's being used as a fuel oil.

D

Vince

Daveyboy wrote:

Oh - just worked it out. My local petrol station is pumping gas at 97p per liter which equates to... Wait for it...

Â£4-85 per imperial gallon or

AUD $2-38 a liter or, if my calculations are correct

USD $10-16 per US gallon.

I know guys who run their diesel trucks over here on vegetable oil and they pay 40p per liter for it at the supermarket (don't ask what that means - its cheap!) and they run fine. If they declared it to the taxman then they would have to pay an extra 40p in duty (another word for tax) just because it's being used as a fuel oil.

D

Gidday DB. My daughter has just returned home after spending 2 years in the UK, London and Edinburgh, and she says the cost of fuel is unbelievable.

At the moment I am paying $AUD1.05 a litre ($AUD4.77 a gallon) which is GBP1.94 a gallon and I am wingeing about paying that much.

Cheers, Vince

Daveyboy · Member Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 143

Vince

Just wait until the Yankees wake up and read this post - they're gonna cr*p themselves!

Bless 'em

D

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5946

Dam Daveyboy Shocked

I belive with the exchange rate we got about the same prices as Vince listed.

80-90 cents a liter here. Smile

Dimitri

1895ss

It is 97.5 cents per liter here and we are sitting on oceans of it. There are wells all over the place. Go figure. It's highway robbery thats all. Mad

Daveyboy · Member Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 143

Just a thought - money.

England used to have a system of money where the first big amount was a guinea. The still use it in some auctions, especially horses.

A guinea is worth Â£1-05, we had this pounds, shillings and pence thing - I still don't understand how it all worked... wtf

Long live Metric! Unless you are measuring anything....

D