You can always use hexadecimal (Base 16) for weight. Then 1 pound is 10 ounces. Of course it gets confusing since 10 decimal oz. becomes A hex. ounces, 11 dec. oz. becomes B hex oz. etc.[:-^]
Hope that didn’t confuse anyone…
I like using imperial measurements anyway since they allow you to divide more exactly. 12 can be divided by 1,2,3,4,6, and 12, while ten can be divided by only 1,2,5, and 10. On metric rulers mm’s always seem to run together since their marks are all the same size. On an imperial ruler each finer measurement gets a smaller mark.
What bugs me is that styrene is always measured in thousands of an inch. When your measurement system works in fractions, why would use measurements like .020" and .040". Why not 1/64" and 1/32"
I don’t want to force imperial measurement on anyone. It works for me so why should I use something else? It’s like the old saying, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
Amen, bro. Having a calculator, and knowing how to use it is a survival skill these days. And we are in total agreement about the polite thing being replying to someone using the measures they use.
And we also agree about the fact that standard sizes often is pretty weird, no matter what system you state them in.
Hmm - a 4.76 mm rod. That would be a 4.76 mm / 25.4 mm per inch = 0.187" rod.
Hmm. Imperial things are often given as fractions of 4, 8, 16 or 32.
0.187 x 4 = 0.748/4" - nope
0.187 x 8 = 1.499/8" - nope.
0.187 x 16 = 2.998/16" - yup.
A 4.76 mm rod apparently is a 3/16ths of an inch rod.Let’s see - 3/16ths fall between 2/16ths (1/8th) and 4/16ths (1/4). What would those be in metric ?
2/16" = 0.125" = 3.175 mm
3/16" = 0.1875" = 4.76 mm
4/16" = 0.25" = 6.35 mm
As a Canadian (born long, long ago…) I grew up with the Imperial system. That’s what I was taught in school. Canada didn’t start seriously converting to metric until about the 1970s. By then I was well into my adult life and my career and had to make changes. I think the medical community was the first to entirely convert–I believe they always used the metric system though. Some things are hard for me, some are easy. There are some things I cannot get used to, some things I have adapted to. A person’s height and weight will always be in feet & inches and pounds to me. The metric equivalents have no meaning to me. I’m used to temperature in °C but can relate to °F. Distances in kilometers and speed limits in kph are second nature now and I need a conversion chart when driving in the U.S. (Canadian cars have mph on their speedometers, but the numbers are quite small and hard to read.) I do all my carpentry work in feet and inches. After all, a 2X4 is still a 2X4 (even though it doesn’t actually measures 2"X4").
The conversions and comparisons between the two systems is so close that for practical purposes it really doesn’t matter. The 50 kph speed limit in cities and towns is so close to the old 30 mph it doesn’t matter. A litre of milk is so close to a quart of milk it doesn’t really matter. There is no direct equivalent of a gallon, though. It’s just 4 litres. Some things will never change. A football field will always be marked out in yards. One thing I find interesting is that in grocery stores, the prices for produce and meat are given both in $$ per pound and $$ per gram
Interesting discussion of the two systems. I grew up with both. English first then metric in my scientific (and somewhat in engineering) studies. Metric is better but we Americans prefer our strange system where a pint of water weighs about a pound and is some wierd number of cubic inches.
In the S.I. (read- metric) system a liter of water weighs one kilogram and fills a cubic decimeter at standard temperature and pressure. Too easy for us![:D].
Didn’t some miscalculation between designers and builders using differing systems cause one of the mars missions to crash into the surface a few years back?
Well at least we don’t use barley corns or cubits any longer.
For a laugh when I was working construction (as an electrical contractor) I always carried both english and metric folding rulers. Whenever another trade asked to borrow my ruler I handed him the metric one. A few could deal with it, the rest just gave priceless looks or comments.
