Inches and Gallons??

[JR-Shine]

I am a product of the public education system, please be understanding to me.

[SeaDrive]

Originally Posted by Eric Sponberg

The reason we American's do not convert to the metric system is because it takes an act of congress to pass the effort into law. This is never going to happen because the congressmen are cowards.

Actually, congress did pass the law (as you noted), but then they caved in to populist pressure. We still buy wine in 750ml bottles though.

The US is split. Science uses the metric system. Engineering uses both (to the embarassment of NASA). Consumers use imperial units. Everyone uses the base 10 number system, except for computers. (hexadecimal floating point is not taught in schools) A 'metric' system using base 12 numbers would had all the advantages of both metric and imperial systems.

Why doesn't the US change? The answer lies in an old joke: What does a 400 pound gorilla do? Answer: Anything it wants to.

[Dutch Peter]

Originally Posted by old-salt

Why doesn't the US change? The answer lies in an old joke: What does a 400 pound gorilla do? Answer: Anything it wants to.

I think that we should all hold our breath then, when the 1000 pound Panda wakes up. What's the system they prefer in China???

[Thunderhead19]

This is, and always has been, hilarious. Due to the elevated cost of producing different goods for the export market than the domestic market US industry has grudgingly begun to go metric. Cars made after 1980 increasingly had more and more metric fasteners and metrically designed parts (pumps reservoirs, hose, tube etc...) Today, there are no cars or trucks with exclusively metric fasteners, and you'd be hard pressed to find any imperial fasteners in some cases. When I was an engineering student, we were on the verge of revolt over the fact that gravitational and thermodynamic equations in metric were just plane simpler than the imperial equivalent. What I want to know is why the US never used "real" gallons? Was it a ruse to trick the rest of the world into paying for more goods than they actually recieved?

[SubCarBuilder]

I'm gonna have to agree with everyone who thinks that the U.S should convert. I think mayby it might be arrogance, or fear of something new. Metric system is so much more practical.

Cheers

Mike

[SailDesign]

Originally Posted by Thunderhead19

What I want to know is why the US never used "real" gallons?

I want to know why the English ever had a 20-ounce pint to begin with. It makes so much more sense to work with a 16-ounce pint. One gallon then weighs one pound (not a pound and a quarter) and a pound and a pint both have 16 of their own type of ounces in them. Of course, the old rhyme "A pint of pure water weighs a pound and a quarter" would have to be changed.
Having grown up in England (25 years) and having been back in the States for 20 years, I am now hopelessly confuddled by all these "wrong" units and have retreated into the metric system as much as possible.
Steve

Anyone up for cubits ?
I read a story of a guy who built a boat this way.
HUGE DISPLACEMENT.

Have a good one.

[tspeer]

Originally Posted by Eric Sponberg

The reason we American's do not convert to the metric system is because it takes an act of congress to pass the effort into law. ...

Actually, I believe Congress has passed the law, and conversion to metric is the official US govt policy. It's just taking a long time to complete the process!

[dereksireci]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

I want to know why the English ever had a 20-ounce pint to begin with. It makes so much more sense to work with a 16-ounce pint.

That one is easy for anyone who has bent an elbow at the pub once or twice. The English are right. I'll take a 20-ounce pint of beer over a 16 ounce pint any day!