Why Does the US Cling To Imperial Measurements? 2288
PhunkySchtuff writes "As one of only three countries on Earth that hasn't converted to a metric system of units and measurements, there is a huge amount of resistance within the US to change the status quo. Whilst the cost of switching would be huge, there is also a massive hidden cost in not switching when dealing with the rest of the world (except for Liberia & Burma, the only other two countries that don't use the metric system) With one of the largest organisations in the US, the military, using metric units extensively, why does the general public in the US still cling to their customary system of units?"
The US already adopted the Metric system (Score:5, Informative)
In 1988, Congress passed the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act, which designates "the metric system of measurement as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce." Among many other things, the act requires federal agencies to use metric measurements in nearly all of their activities, although there are still exceptions allowing traditional units to be used in documents intended for consumers. The real purpose of the act was to improve the competitiveness of American industry in international markets by encouraging industries to design, produce, and sell products in metric units.
That's easy (Score:2, Informative)
Because we're a bunch of idiots. Next question?
Change the name! (Score:5, Informative)
Call them American units!
I mean, we don't use Imperial gallons here anyway
Re:Because.... (Score:5, Informative)
Hi, American scientist here. We do use metric.
When things are done for the media (documentaries, etc), they are translated into Imperial units, because the majority of the (American) audience would have no idea how big or small of things we were talking about when talking in some strange units they aren't familiar with.
Re:So everyone else pays a tax... (Score:2, Informative)
Actually you are the one paying the tax for your mistakes.
When NASA lost the US$125 million Mars Climate Orbiter [wikipedia.org] for example.
And here are some more examples [wikipedia.org] of where the US is paying for not being consistent.
And when the mistakes include possible loss of life, it's quite a heavy tax you are paying.
ran out of fuel in mid-flight because of two mistakes in figuring the fuel supply
and
confusion between grains and grams is sometimes the reason for medical errors
Re:Easy answer (Score:5, Informative)
Australia fully converted in a relatively short space of time in the early 70s. Different areas of life were changed at different times, but they were changed very quickly (e.g. a particular date was set for road signs to be taken down and replaced across the country, a different date for weights and measures in supermarkets, etc). The younger generations don't even understand imperial measurements now (it's not like the half-converted situation that the UK finds itself in).
Australia is almost exactly the same size as the lower 48 US States. So I don't think it's necessarily hard for big countries to do it. Having said that, there are some obviously differences between Australia and the US such as the smaller and generally more urban population, so it's not a perfect example. Still there's lessons there to be learnt, I think: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_Australia [wikipedia.org]
Re:Easy answer (Score:4, Informative)
I also understand that in US schools they're taught metric measurements as well as imperial measurements (however I'm sure the focus is vastly in favour of imperial units)
Actually, all of my classes were in metric. They don't teach imperial in school. At least, not in Texas (anti Texas rants in 3, 2, 1.....)
Re:Good Question (Score:5, Informative)
Fractional units come from back in the days when you couldn't buy a calibrated ruler at the corner store. If you don't have a ruler, the best you can do is take an object of known measure (say 1 yard of cloth) and divide it into equal parts (fold it into thirds to get three 1-foot segments). This is probably easiest to see with measures of volume. The English system goes by powers of 2. 1 gallon is 4 quarts (missing unit in between). 1 quart is 2 pints. 1 pint is 2 cups. 1 cup is 2 gills. Why powers of 2? If you don't have calibrated beakers, how do you divide a volume of liquid into even parts? You split it in half (by weight) over and over. So it makes sense for your units of measurement to coincide with dividing in half over and over.
So back in the day when measuring was the hard part, fractions made sense. Today, measuring is the easy part, and calculating with the measurements afterward is the (relatively) hard part. So metric units (powers of 10) make more sense.
Building Industry (Score:5, Informative)
I'm an architect, and I'll tell you that the building industry is so entrenched in imperial measurements I haven't used my metric scale in five years. Every single product is based on imperial dimensions, meaning design, coordination, and calculation require the same.
Some examples: joist spacing tables display span lengths for 16" and 24" on center spacings. These tables are everywhere and they've been around unchanged forever. All the plywood sub-flooring is in 48" x 96" sheets. Works great for either joist spacing and in either horizontal or vertical orientation. If you buy a house in the US, standard is an 8' ceiling, "up scale" is 9', exclusive is 10'. (Who would know the status of a 2600mm ceiling?!) Studs are already available and pre-cut to accomplish these heights. Drywall is sold in these lengths. Concrete and soil are measured in cubic yards, roofing by square, carpeting by yard, ceiling tiles in 24" squares, etc. The International Building Code (what most of us use) gives dimensions in Imperial dimensions, including sprinkler head spacing, floor loading requirements, floor-to-floor, allowable areas, etc. Think about it, every plumbing, gas, and sanitary drain system connecting your building to infrastructure is calculated in imperial from engineering tables more than fifty years old. Tape measures are all imperial as is surveying equipment. The entire commercial real estate market is in imperial, changing to metric would crush every agent and developer trying to calculate pro-forma for all real estate in the country. Lumber mills and woodworking equipment that has been around for years and that produce moldings, doors, boards, handrails, furniture, etc., are all imperial. Existing surveys, architectural drawings, engineering calculations, and every other kind of specification, calibration, documentation, regulation, etc. in the building industry is imperial, doing a simple renovation or addition (actually >50% of the building industry) would require the overhead of converting all existing information prior to proceeding.
I've worked on several metric buildings. It takes about two days to get into the swing of it. From an architect's view, scaling and plotting drawings is much simpler than imperial. Not having to deal with foot-inches is easier, too. (Although everybody seems to disagree about whether to use m, cm, or mm. We have native metric users that can't even agree on that.) But it doesn't take long before somebody starts discussing "hard" vs. "soft" metric and wondering if buying 900 mm doors will cost 50% more than 36" doors, if a wheelchair can still fit through it, and where they might come from in the local market if they can even be found. About a day later the whole endeavor goes down the tube when one party in the process gets nervous. We usually switch to "soft" metric for a few weeks (designing in imperial but also stating metric on the drawings) and then abandon the entire metric effort in favor of imperial. The only way a project will stay in true hard metric is if it is being built overseas.
We're going to have to go metric one system at a time. First was soda bottles. Then automobiles. Science is there, and a lot of SI units are becoming comfortable on food packaging. The building industry is going to have to do the same, I predict in places where highly manufactured components interface with imperial ones in a relatively unimportant way. (Think windows cut into a wall.) Commercially, roof membranes are specified in mm and many other components are manufactured in hard metric dimensions with proximal imperial values (like thicknesses of drywall and plywood). But things like bricks, lumber, and plumbing pipe may take a while.
Very Basic Physics (Score:3, Informative)
Weight is measured in kg, force in Newton. There is a difference between the two, you know.
Weight is a force and is measured in newtons. Mass is measured in kilograms. There is a difference between the two but clearly you did not know!
Re:Easy answer (Score:5, Informative)
The problem is that people think that, if we switch, they're going to have to do math every time they see a metric value to make into a value they can make sense of. But that's just not true. What you need to do is just create new reference points. When I see a Celsius temperature, I don't try to convert it to Fahrenheit. I simply remember that 0 is freezing, I need a jacket at 10, 20 is comfortable if it's calm and sunny, 30 is comfortable if it's shady, dry, and breezy, and so on. That's what we've all instinctively done with Fahrenheit, and it's all you really need to do to be comfortable with using a different unit system in your daily life.
Re:Not so bad to have different systems. (Score:5, Informative)
That's crap - why is the fractional representation inclined towards arbitrary amounts at each order of magnitude? why are there 12 inches to a foot, but 3 feet to a yard, and 1760 yards to a mile?
I think you are picking and choosing your units. There are 12 inches to a foot, and 12 feet to a rod.... if you want consistency. Going smaller there are 12 points to a pica and 6 picas to the inch (used in typography). Units like a mile come from the Romans, so don't blame a lack of consistency.
For liquids, there are 2 ounces to a shot, 2 shots to a gill, 2 gills to a cup, 2 cups to a pint, 2 pints to a quart, 2 quarts to a jack (yes, it exists, but is usually called a half gallon), 2 jacks to a gallon. I'd call that pretty consistent too, although it is a binary system and not decimal. That takes getting used to, but explains a whole lot. There is even a nursery rhyme about Jack and Gill fetching a pail of water, explaining how some English king got in trouble with parliament and those units stopped being used in common practice.
An advantage of the imperial system is that you can take 12 units and divide them in half, into thirds, into fourths, and sixths. With 10 units, all you can do is to divide them in half or into fifths (or tenths). This concept was known to the Babylonians, but subsequently forgotten by the French who loved the decimal system so much more. BTW, this is why a clock is divided into 60 seconds and minutes, because 60 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30. If you are having to chop something up into smaller pieces, it really helps to use a numerical base other than 10 for that division. For a quick & dirty system, base 12 really is very useful, hence why things are often sold by the dozen for the same reason.