Forums > General > The Metric System
true to an extent
meter > yard
liter > quart
degree C > degree F
hectare > acre
but other things go in favor of Imperial
pound > Newton
slug > kilogram
mile > kilometer
Hey, they are both useful for different things. That’s why both are used in the UK.
Nah metric >> imperial(standard?? – US only) all the way around! The only hard part is since is so pervasive in the US; getting a feel for what it means to say 5 newton or 8km etc is difficult. (24hour clocks FTW as well! removes ambiguity)
And a base 12 or 16 style system would be even better _ SO MANY MORE WAYS TO DIVIDE! Base 10 only yeilds 4 multiples ( 1, 2, 5, 10 ) whereas base 12 gives you 6 ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 )! So more ‘easy conversion of units.’ Plus you can still manage to count base 12 on your hands: point a thumb at one of 3 segments on 4 fingers (12). Other hand is used for multiples of 12.
I also advocate base 16 even if you lose a multiple ( 1 2 4 (4) 8 16 ) as we already have a hex system (ABCDEF – even tho I would ask for better values) in place thanks to computers. And since digital stuff is so pervasive think how much nicer it would be esp. for programmers to convert between binary and a NATIVE hex system rather than an awkward decimal.
My case in point: A patriot missile failed to intercept an incoming scud missile which hit barracks and killed 20 some odd persons. This all due to a binary time representation rounding error. As the system was up and running over a period of months fractions upon fractions of seconds were lost in the rounding, this compounded. As the time wore on seconds became lost and when you are moving at the speed of a rocket and intercepting things over hundreds if not thousands of kilometers that totally matters!
SI/metric is far more logical and is easier to use. An obvious example is m or cm which gives more refinement for measurement of height and other physical attributes. The size of the units fits well for that use. There are a few examples that don’t fit so well for the range of common use, however. One is temperature, Celsius is mathematically and scientiifcally superior, it’s also easier to use, but the units are larger and the range from freezing to boiling of water is contrained to 100 degrees, so the range that humans inhabit is constricted. That’s solved by adding a decimal point (or fraction). Kilograms are also quite a bit larger than pounds, so the decimal again is useful. Don’t even get me started on Brits and their using stone and pounds for weight!
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