Metric Vs. Imperial.

[Equinox]

Quickly, how many pounds are there in 100 ounces? How many feet are there in a mile? Which is greater: 5.5 pints, 94 fluid ounces, or 3 quarts? How many square yards are there in an acre?

At the very least, most people would fumble a bit before seriously answering any of these questions. Maybe even use a calculator or reference guide. At worse, some people would not try or be able to answer some of these questions.

The Imperial System is obviously very clumsy and confusing to use even for Americans. This is the reason why the United States of America should finally stop using the Imperial System of measurement. To be fair, there are two other countries that also use the Imperial System, and they are Liberia and Myanmar (Burma).

These three countries should instead use the Metric System. The Metric System is superior to the Imperial System for three reasons.

First, the Metric System is simple to understand. The simplicity of a base 10 system of measurement, such as the Metric System, makes it extremely easy to understand especially when dealing different scales of measures, such as meters versus kilometers. For example, it is obvious that 100 meters is 1/10 of a kilometer. No serious thinking is necessary.

Second, calculations in the Metric System are also easier. This is probably why most researchers, doctors, and scientists use the Metric System even in the United States. For example, which is greater: 989 grams, 1.1 kilograms, or 1 million milligrams? How many meters are there in a kilometer? How many milliliters are there in 1.25 liters?

Third, the Metric System is the international standard. This is probably the most important reason. Car manufacturers already realized that having similar parts in different measurements for different countries was a waste of resources, so all cars are now built using the Metric System for redundancy eliminations and cost reductions. Furthermore, all goods exported outside of the United States have to be label in metrics, or else they can not be sold. N.A.S.A. actually lost a $125 million dollar spacecraft, called the Mars Climate Orbiter, over the planet Mars, because one team was using the Metric System and another team was using the Imperial System. That was a very costly mistake that could have been avoided if everyone in the world used the same system of measurement. Since over 90% of the world uses the Metric System, it is by default the international standard.

The Metric System has been proven to be far superior than the Imperial System, so why hasn't the United States of America converted? I believe it is NOT because Americans are afraid of the Metric System, but rather Americans are concerned over how painful the conversion process would be. In the long term, I believe the benefits and cost savings to convert to the Metric System would greatly offset the short term inconveniences.

As a result, the United States of America should finally and completely stop using the Imperial System of measurement for the Metric System that has been proven to be simpler to understand, easier to calculate, the international standard, and reduce redundancies, errors, and costs.

Discuss.

[xxdeetsxx]

What's with the huge explanation? I'm pretty sure most of us are familiar with it.

I think the imperial system has character, and, assuming you're not a retard, not that hard to understand. I think points 1 and 2 are saying the same thing and the third is totally negligible considering that it's not what two things are measured in that make it the the same/different lengths, more the lengths themselves. Plus the nasa thing's due to retardism, not the system's fault.

Your argument is flawed and inconclusive at every point.

Fail

[Duelist]

See I like the imperial system.

Need to know how many feet something is?

Walk it out, walk it out.

I wear size 12, so it works out perfectly, with scientific precision.

[Equinox]

Originally Posted by Jeff_Hunter

See I like the imperial system.

Need to know how many feet something is?

Walk it out, walk it out.

I wear size 12, so it works out perfectly, with scientific precision.

Yes, but sadly, not all of us wear size 12/have the right leg length to 'walk it out'.

Originally Posted by xxdeetsxx

What's with the huge explanation? I'm pretty sure most of us are familiar with it.

I think the imperial system has character, and, assuming you're not a retard, not that hard to understand. I think points 1 and 2 are saying the same thing and the third is totally negligible considering that it's not what two things are measured in that make it the the same/different lengths, more the lengths themselves. Plus the nasa thing's due to retardism, not the system's fault.

Your argument is flawed and inconclusive at every point.

Fail

I didn't want retarded replies from people who didn't know what they were talking about, so I felt the need to explain. Yes, it's not that hard to understand, but it's a stupid system. I mean, 32 degrees is the freezing point?

And yes, One and two are similar, but not the same. One's dealing with measurements, the other is dealing with calculations, and pointing out that the metric system is used by all for them. Last time I checked, Scientific calculations weren't measurements.

[Rykoshet]

As a kid who took calculus, chemistry, biology, and physics in high school, I'd have gone on a shooting spree if I had to do calculations in feet/second instead of m/s.

Great, I've got 71951 feet, how many miles is that? Ok, back to inches, or 16ths of an inch. Fucking retarded. Might as well be using furlongs and paces.

Then gallons. What the fuck is that? How many cubed feet to a gallon? Cubed inches?

The worst of all is temperature. What the fuck is a Fahrenheit? Celsius is simple. 0 is the freezing point of water, 100 the boiling point. And it's 273.15 degrees kelvin. So when you take a measurement in chemistry, all you have to do is add 273.15, not divide and add 32 and do 10 extra steps.

Keep in mind chemistry equations aren't fun to do. Figuring out specific heat coefficients and entropy change is impossible when you're bogged down with 100 equations to change units into the scientific standard.