Metric System In The US

[cerbera147]

Or lack thereof 

So how come the US still uses imperial measurement or equivalent? 

From Wikipedia;

Only three nations out of 203 have not officially adopted the International System of Units as their primary or sole system of measurement: Burma, Liberia, and the United States of America.
The United States of America is the only industrialized country in the world that has been unable or unwilling to use the metric system as its predominant system of measurement. "Since trade and communication with other nations is critical to the health of the economy, adopting the measurement system used by 95 percent of the world’s population is not a matter of choice, but a matter of necessity."

There must be a reason for resisting, is there?

The UK on the other hand 'went metric' years ago but I'll still drive 40 miles per hour, buy a pint of Guinness and still measure my height in feet and inches; how bizarre 

'There is no schedule to change road signs and speed measurement in cars to metric measures. The Government has abandoned its previously long-standing plans to convert the UK's 2 million road signs to metric, purely on the grounds of cost.'

Discuss

[Pacu]

We have a fairly good mix of both over here.

Gas-gallons
distance-miles
measurements-liters, ml, mg


when i was a kid metric was hammered in so most of it stuck...now it's mostly Imperial unless you get into science and it's all metric.

[Gareth]

I suspect the logistics of getting the whole of the US to move over to metric would be more than a slightly daunting task.  Lets be honest, if we can't get our act together after 40 years, who can blame them for not even starting.

I think here it will be an ongoing process, remember a few years back when they said that food sales must be in metric?  So now it's 225g, not half a pound.  All that ended up happening is that the Supermarkets display in both measures.  
I think little changes like that will keep happening until those who think in Imperial are dead and buried (no-one gets taught Imperial any more, do they?).  I think the speed limit/road signs will be the last to go though, simply because it's so ingrained in the public mind and, more importantly, would cost us a flippin' fortune.

[cerbera147]

It still feels weird when I go south of the border and all the road signs including speed signs go metric.

Soon as you cross the border the speed limit is 120 woo hoo! 120 km/h 

I still have to double check the distance against my speedometer which obviously shows both

[ducktapehero]

Blame the Brits, they gave it to us. Personally I welcome the insect overlords who are secretly responsible for the metric system. 

[Mr. Whippy]

In medicine, it's all metric.  I don't understand why industry doesn't swap over.  People swap over pretty easily when they have to (most mechanics can spot a 10mm, and 12 and 13 mm nuts as easily as 5/16th and 1/2 inch nut.  Most mentally convert ft-lbs and n-m's pretty easily.

IMO, it's just overcoming inertia.  US has more mass, therefore more inertia. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

The Americans like to hang out with the cool kids from Liberia and Burma and don't want to look stupid. 

Def

[Mr. Whippy]

The Americans like to hang out with the cool kids from Liberia and Burma and don't want to look stupid. 

Def

werd 

[Mercury]

I don't mind the metric system, but I still prefer the Imperial system because it was drilled into my head and it is what I know.  Think about that for a second.  I am 25 and I REFUSE to make the switch because it is so different and I'm not used to it.  How do you think the old farts over here would react if we switched?

[Pacu]

Didn't Huble telescope have a metric/imperial mixup when the thing was deployed? Think a Mars climate orbiter crashed due to a measurement mixup too.

[Top-Gear-24]

I don't mind the metric system, but I still prefer the Imperial system because it was drilled into my head and it is what I know.  Think about that for a second.  I am 25 and I REFUSE to make the switch because it is so different and I'm not used to it.  How do you think the old farts over here would react if we switched?

A switch like that looks difficult at first, but once you're using it on an everyday basis,  it gets "normal" real quick (not that I'm suggesting everybody should use the metric system, I like some diversity  ). 

It was like that when we (in Europe) switched from using our local currencies to using the Euro, at first everybody was still thinking in Belgian Francs (or whatever curency they used) and calculated everything in their heads, but after a while you automatically start to think in Euro ... (even stubborn old farts  )

[NutSAK]

I've been waiting for the transition my whole life, ready at any time....

FRACTIONS SUCK!

[fb]

... I am 25 and I REFUSE ...

I think this is the general problem of US citizens (and citizens of other bigger countries): Thinking the whole world is about them and them only. When I as a European REFUSE to use Imperial system because almost the whole world uses SI we have a problem when we try to communicate ....

We have the same problem in Europe about language. Countries like Germany and France think they rule Europe so everyone has to speak their native language. Even when visiting Holland Germans refuse to speak a word Dutch or "the universal language" English.

Both problems seam to be a serious lack of education.

But as Top-Gear-24 said: the switch to Euros was not that difficult thanks to proper planning: at first official (financial) business had to show prices in both local currency and Euros. The exchange rate was then already set. Then stores had to show prices in both local currency and Euros and international transactions all had to be in Euros. Then at a fixed date the Euro was implemented, meaning all currency was exchanged to Euros (you could pay in both local currency and Euros, but change would always be in Euros after a month you had to pay in Euros and all local currency you had to exchange at the bank.

IMHO implementing Metric would be a lot simpler.

[MultiMat]

I have always found it surprising too hear US serviceman talk in metric terms in films  .

Does anyone know if this is the case in reality , outside the movies 

[Nikos]

Don't quote me on this, but I believe the "imperial" system was first introduced by the Babylonians several thousands years ago, and has persisted in one form or the other to this day. The reason they went with that is (iirc) sort-of religious, as the year was divided in 12 moon cycles (months) and everything else had to be in 12s. The metric is easier to the human brain as we are taught to calculate in the base-10 (aka decimal) system, having ten fingers and all.

[Neil]

<moderator's hat on> @fb  Please be careful about making such sweeping statements. 

I was brought up in a household where everything was done in imperial measures but at school taught the metric system.  I went on to study physics where of course everything is calculated in S.I. units (metric with less sub-units ).  As such I find it quite difficult to get my head around imperial measures except as an approximation.  In other words, tell me that a fence panel is 6ft or you need a nail around 2" and I'm fine but as soon as things get precise I have to work in metric.

Sometimes when discussing sizes here on the forum and things are being talked about in fractions of an inch I have this chart open in a separate window to help

I think over time the US will move to measuring a lot of stuff in metric but perhaps keep some stuff imperial because of cost/tradition.  A bit like the way in the UK we still drive miles and drink pints

[Medic82]

I have always found it surprising too hear US serviceman talk in metric terms in films   .

Does anyone know if this is the case in reality , outside the movies  

I think that it has something to do with a NATO standard, every NATO country besides England and US use the metric system so maybe that’s why? Just a theory that I have. But the air force use the imperial system when it comes to flying, the altitude is in feet, fuel is measured in pounds.

Edit Think I found the answer here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_mil

[Medic82]

In other words, tell me that a fence panel is 6ft or you need a nail around 2" and I'm fine but as soon as things get precise I have to work in metric.

If you ever come across a Norwegian blueprint of a house you will find every single measurement on the drawing is in millimeters.

[Gadget Guy]

Guys, this is already changing in the US. We live in a global economy now and the US is being forced to change. Most companies wont allow exports of products that aren't at least posted with metric info. I remember my teacher back in 1974 telling me that the change to the metric system was just around the corner.     I for one think its time for the US to change, but I'm too lazy to learn the metric system. 

[Threeme2189]

I really don't understand the rationalization behind Imperial Measurements.
12 inches in a foot.
3 feet in a yard
5280 feet in a mile.
and anything shorter than an inch is just wtf?

What the heck were they thinking?

In metric it's  all 1, 10, 1000, 1000, etc'.
Everything measuring length is based on the meter.
1 millimeter = 1/1000 meters.
1 centimeter = 1/100 meters.
1 decimeter = 1/10 (less common)
1 kilometer = 1000 meters.
etc'.

[Gadget Guy]

I really don't understand the rationalization behind Imperial Measurements.
12 inches in a foot.
3 feet in a yard
5280 feet in a mile.
and anything shorter than an inch is just wtf?

What the heck were they thinking?

In metric it's  all 1, 10, 1000, 1000, etc'.
Everything measuring length is based on the meter.
1 millimeter = 1/1000 meters.
1 centimeter = 1/100 meters.
1 decimeter = 1/10 (less common)
1 kilometer = 1000 meters.
etc'.

No doubt about the fact that the metric system is better and makes more sense.    Try and tell that to the average American though. 

[Mr. Whippy]

I really don't understand the rationalization behind Imperial Measurements.
12 inches in a foot.
3 feet in a yard
5280 feet in a mile.
and anything shorter than an inch is just wtf?

What the heck were they thinking?

In metric it's  all 1, 10, 1000, 1000, etc'.
Everything measuring length is based on the meter.
1 millimeter = 1/1000 meters.
1 centimeter = 1/100 meters.
1 decimeter = 1/10 (less common)
1 kilometer = 1000 meters.
etc'.

To be fair, the imperial system was a practical system of its day:  Inch is the length of the last segment of the thumb (distal phalanx), foot is eventually standardized to the length of some king's foot, etc.

Metric system was designed from the get go for interelatedness:

1 calorie is the energy to raise the temperature of 1 ml of water (which is 1 cubic cm and weighs 1 gram), 1 degree Celsius--which is parenthetically 1/100th of the temp change required to go from ice to boiling (phase changes) of water.

Pre Renaissance, that simply couldn't have happened.

[Black Rose]

When I went to school, metric had just been introduced in Canada so that's what I was taught.

In junior high school shop classes, we used imperial measures.

But there are a couple of things I still prefer the imperial measure for, both relating to my car:  calculating mpg (L /100 km seems such an odd measure to me) and air pressure.
My car has a driver information centre that displays the vitals of the car, since I am in Canada I have it set to metric.

For the life of me I couldn't tell you what 210 kpa means for tire pressure if it wasn't shown on the drivers door sticker - I have them set at 31 psi when cold and use an analog tire gauge to check them.

Nice chart Neil - bookmarked. 
I have a similar one bookmarked for setting values on my torque wrenches.

[Gareth]

It's also worth keeping in mind that, like our language, the old UK and the US measurement systems aren't actually quite the same.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_imperial_and_US_customary_measurement_systems

[WilkBury]

I really don't understand the rationalization behind Imperial Measurements.
12 inches in a foot.
3 feet in a yard
5280 feet in a mile.
and anything shorter than an inch is just wtf?

What the heck were they thinking?

In metric it's  all 1, 10, 1000, 1000, etc'.
Everything measuring length is based on the meter.
1 millimeter = 1/1000 meters.
1 centimeter = 1/100 meters.
1 decimeter = 1/10 (less common)
1 kilometer = 1000 meters.
etc'.

But you do understand duodecimal system as it goes to months and hours, don't you?  
I doubt you would like to have a clock on your wall looking like this one:



 

We have metric system here in PL but I have always liked Imperial inches, feet, miles. World is more interesting with two systems. IMHO Brits should not allow to take away their shillings and pennies in 1971!   Hope they will keep at least left-hand traffic and pounds!  
BTW in PL we still use sometimes tuzin for 12 (dozen), gros for 144 (gross). I think conversion to versts, sazhens and arshin would be an interesting experience!  

Think Different!  

[82brutus]

It actually comes down to dollars and cents.  There was a brief attempt when I was growing up to change to the metric system, it had the unfortunate downside of occurring during one of the gas (petrol) price hikes.  This has forever convinced people that when a change is made to go to the metric system and the pumps show litres that the gasoline companies will take that opportunity to screw all the metric ignorant people over and get an extra $2 per gallon.   At least that's how I remember it.  The US doesn't seem to have a problem with metric when it comes to 2 litre or 3 litre bottles of Coca-cola or other soda because the price is so relatively low, except in movie theaters where 1 oz of soda apparently equals 1 oz of gold. 

[WilkBury]

No doubt about the fact that the metric system is better and makes more sense.    Try and tell that to the average American though.  

But Imperial system is more mysterious and therefore more human!  
6' 4" is a proper measurement for human being, 1930,4 mm suits for smurfing electric cable.    
Also 1/32" looks more gracious than 0,03125 mm.

[Medic82]

6' 4" is a proper measurement for human being, 193.04 mm suits for smurfing electric cable.   

If you are only 19,3 cm tall then you are a very tall smurf

[WilkBury]

6' 4" is a proper measurement for human being, 193.04 mm suits for smurfing electric cable.    

If you are only 19,3 cm tall then you are a very tall smurf

LOL, thanks Medic82   corrected already. Smurfy periods... Replaced them with comas!

[CQC-7]

I think the reason we have not converted is because we have a lot of old people that would get confused and run out of gas all the time.   Personally, I hate the imperial system.  In college science classes we never used it.  However, in the fiield I used to work in we used it all the time.  But try going to lowes and asking for a 70cm board it just does not compute for most of us.