“All kidding aside, the metricization of America has clearly begun, and the day of full conversion is coming. The experts won’t put a deadline on when this will happen because they know it’s hard for us to give up our quaint, comfortable ways”
… of course it is. Martha is wright!
As of 2006, 95% of the world’s population live in metricated countries.
Only the U.S. and parts of the United Kingdom (UK) are still using a (complicated) imperial non-metric system.
Today, the Empire can’t strike back anymore …
Some Americans even don’t recongize they’re already using the metric system.
Let’s compare some values.
Can you see some similiarities?
| Quantity | Metric | Imperial |
| Area | square kilometer | square mile |
| Area | hectar | acres |
| Audio equipement power rating | Watt | Watt |
| Audo Plugging standards | 2.5 mm and 3.5 mm | 2.5 mm and 3.5 mm |
| Automobile tires tread width | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| Light | Lux (lx) | Lux (lx) |
| Bicycles frame height | Centimeter (cm) | Centimeter (cm) |
| Camcorder Tape | Millimeter (mm) 8 | Millimeter (mm) 8 |
| Camera lenses | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| CD/DVD diameter | Millimeter (mm) 120 | Millimeter (mm) 120 |
| Cigarettes length | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| Construction equipment | numerous metric units | numerous metric units |
| Current (flow of electricity) | ampere (A) | ampere (A) |
| Electricity Batteries | 12 Volt | 12 Volt |
| Electric Voltage | Volt (V) | Volt (V) |
| Electric resitive load | Ohm (O) | Ohm (O) |
| Eenergy | Joule (J), Kilowatt hour (kWh) | Joule (J), Kilowatt hour (kWh) |
| Eyeglass lenses | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| Farm equipment | numerous metric units | numerous metric units |
| Firearms bullets diameter | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| Freight containers | CubicMeters (70m3) | CubicMeters (70m3) |
| Frequency | hertz (Hz) | hertz (Hz) |
| Highway drawings, specification | meter (m) | meter (m) |
| In-line skates wheel diameter | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| Jewelery size | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| kitchen Granite counter top building material | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| Length | meter (m) | yard |
| Length | centimeter (cm) | inch (in) |
| Length | kilometer (km) | mile (mi) |
| Light bulbs | Watt (power consumption) | Watt (power consumption) |
| Luggage weight (interntl.) | Kilogram (kg) | Kilogram (kg) |
| Marathon | 42.195 kilometer (km) | 42.195 kilometer (km) |
| Mass | kilogram (kg) | pound (lb) |
| Mass | kilogram (kg) | quarts (qt) |
| Mass | milliliter (ml) | teaspoon (=5 ml) |
| Meteorological pressures | hectoPascal (hPa) | hectoPascal (hPa) |
| Nuclear weapon, Atom Bomb | Megawatt | Megawatt |
| Nutrition facts on food packages like fat | gram (g) or milligram (mg) | gram (g) or milligram (mg) |
| Olympic sports | height: cm; length: m; mass: kg | height: cm; length: m; mass: kg |
| Paper size | A4 (210mm by 297mm) | Letter (8.3 by11.7 inches) |
| PC memory | megabyte (mb), gigabyte (gb), terrabyte (tb) | megabyte (mb), gigabyte (gb), terrabyte (tb) |
| PC speed | megaherz (mHz), gigaherz (gHz) | megaherz (mHz), gigaherz (gHz) |
| Pharmaceuticals doses | mikrogram (µg), milliliter (ml) | mikrogram (µg), milliliter (ml) |
| Pin connectors (Electronic) | pin size in mm | pin size in mm |
| Postage stamps | Millimeter (mm) | Millimeter (mm) |
| Power | Watt | Watt |
| Running Event | 100m, 200m, 400m | 100m, 200m, 400m |
| Sailplanes dimensions | Meter (m) | Meter (m) |
| Shortwave radio frequencies | kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (mHz) | kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (mHz) |
| Sience in general | metric | metric |
| Skis, snowboards length | Centimeter (cm) | Centimeter (cm) |
| Speed | kilometer pe hour (km/h) | miles per hour (mph) |
| Temperature | kelvin (K), clesius (C ) | farenheit |
| Time | second (s) | second (s) |
| Volume | liter (l) | gallon (gal) |
| Volume | Cubic Meter | cubic yard |
| Watches water resistend depth | Meter (m) | Meter (m) |
Ok, most of them do recongize …
And surely, there are Hectomillionaires!
Here are some good and informational links to the metric system:
WIKI – the metric system.
USMA – U.S. Metric Association
PLANETARY – NASA: Going metric on the Moon
Bob’s World – Open Source and the metric system
Quarter Life Crisis – Here comes the metric system
The Flagrancy – Raptors Trade Rose, Metric System
… and as read in many blogs there are also …
- 1 million microphones = 1 megaphone
- 1 million bicycles = 2 megacycles
- 10 cards = 1 decacards
- 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
- 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
- 1 million billion picolos = 1 gigolo
- 10 rations = 1 decoration
- 10 monologs = 1 dialog
- 2 monograms = 1 diagram
- 100 Senators = Not 1 decision
The yield for nuclear weapons is measured in Mega TONS, not megawatts – based on how many tons of TNT it is related to, I believe that is also international convention. Also, luggage weight and marathon distances I wouldn’t necessarily agree with anywhere in the US that I know of.
Imperial units aren’t US units; they’re Canadian and British units.
For bicycles, we still talk frame sizes in inches. A 26″ frame is the standard adult frame.
My granite countertops were purchased in inches. We call them 3/4″ or 1-1/4″ (the common size), even though they really are 20mm or 30mm respectively.
Luggage for US carriers on international flights are still expressed in pounds. It seems we all have 50 lb. weight limits.
I’ve never seen “mikrograms” but we use mg quite commonly for medications.
Just because a lot of the units are the same, I’d express doubt that either one is truly metric or not metric. They were simply added as part of the SI units because they’re natural units. A kilobyte is 1024 bytes, neither quantity being anything specifically “metric.” In fact the IEC’s been pushing for non-SI prefixes for these power-of-two measurements — kibi-, etc.
For the most part, the United States already *is* a metric country. Individuals choose to use fahrenheit, cookbooks use cups and ounces, and the road signs are in miles. It’s not really an issue, because virtually all professional work is done with SI units.
Oh, our surveying system in intimately tied to non-metric units. It would be fun in 300 years wondering why counties, townships, and plats are all these weird decimal numbers!
Um, neither quart, milliliter, nor teaspoon are measurements of mass, those are measures of volume. To be even more pedantic, “pounds” measure weight, not mass. Weight is the effect of gravity on something, mass (measured in kilograms) is the same whether you’re on the moon or the earth.
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