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Use of Metric & Imperial units of measurement.

Alfian

By Alfian
in The Astro Lounge

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SilverAstro

SilverAstro

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, ecuador said:

It's not exactly right though, the US doesn't use stone, that's the UK ;)

only in the care homes :angel9:

as for the Americans persisting with imperial after the revolt, didnt one of them try to change ( Benj.F. maybe ?) but the rest resisted ?

Would it be improper for me to suggest that if there were an international body to standardise us all on metric ( as in the OP) that

(A) the Americans wouldnt join and (B) the  Brits would have to leave    ?  :hiding:oooops :)

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SilverAstro

SilverAstro

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, iapa said:

Hmmm,  milk bottles are still 1pt, as are beer glasses.

hmmmm, cant remember when I last saw a milk bottle, nor a milk man for that matter ! but,  (beware pedant mode) the beer glasses should be more than a pt. tis the mark on the side that is 1pt. (/pedant)

 

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iapa

iapa

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, ecuador said:

It's not exactly right though, the US doesn't use stone, that's the UK ;)

and Imperial measure are just that IMPERIAL, from the EMPIRE.

The US measures, where different, are based on English measures;the British Empire 're-standardised' liquid measures, whereas the US remained using the previous English pint.

And I still talk about getting a stone of tatties, and a couple of pints of milk.

 

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RayD

RayD

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, SilverAstro said:

hmmmm, cant remember when I last saw a milk bottle, nor a milk man for that matter ! but,  (beware pedant mode) the beer glasses should be more than a pt. tis the mark on the side that is 1pt. (/pedant)

 

I don't drink so don't tend to order pints as I get bottles of alcohol free stuff, but odd how beers etc. are in pint glasses, but wine is measured out in ml.

It's all very confusing, but I think with regards to the OP's question, it is probably imperial as a lot of kit is made in the USA, but we tend to convert that back to metric ala the SCT noted above with the aperture written on the corrector plate ring in metric.

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iapa

iapa

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, SilverAstro said:

hmmmm, cant remember when I last saw a milk bottle, nor a milk man for that matter ! but,  (beware pedant mode) the beer glasses should be more than a pt. tis the mark on the side that is 1pt. (/pedant)

 

A local dairy delivered out milk in pint bottles - that being their differentiator; returnable one pint glass bottles vs chuck in land fill cardboard or plastic.

 

Damned pedantry:)

OK I should have said beer served in 1pt measure ( or 1/3rd or 2/3rd pints - though I dont remember ever seeing them)

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SilverAstro

SilverAstro

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, RayD said:

I don't drink so don't tend to order pints

I do but I dont, iyswim.

so I may be wrong but I dont think pint glasses are legal any more in pubs and similar places ? I think they all have to be the larger ones with a pint mark on the side, whereas I serve my own beer in my own 1 pint glasses

as for ml and wine probably cos of all the fuss by ye olde drinkers of merrie englande who didnt drink much wine so were not bovvered ??

 

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Alfian

Alfian

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Oh dear, it was never the intention to ignite some kind of metric Vs imperial debate, I was just curious why, for sake of simplicity,  you would have a 100mm scope with a 2" focuser but I accept as likely Filroden's notion that is really a 50.8mm focuser thats just known as a 2" to maintain some kind of accepted norm.
Oh and as milk was mentioned, we get a daily delivery of milk from a good old fashioned milkman and we get proper, straight from the cow (TB tested), green-top milk too!. I think I'll get back in my cupboard now and leave you  all to slug it out!

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Dave In Vermont

Dave In Vermont

Posted
Posted

The story of Celsius & Fahrenheit is one I love! It helps people to think about who was who in creating this diabolical system we all know and scratch our heads' about. Here's one brief explanation I wrote awhile back:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not many in the US know the metric - only those involved in the sciences. I'm particularly strange - I
think in metric. And people occasionally realize this and the questions begin. I quickly (these days) tell
them the story of Mr. Fahrenheit and Messrs. Celsius and the thermometer:
Mr. Fahrenheit had noticed that the position of elemental Mercury (Hg), sealed in a glass-tube, moved
in response to increasing the heat from a candle, so he decided to investigate this phenomena. Here's
what he did:
He took a file and made lines cut horizontally across the sealed glass-tube containing mercury. And he
marked his cuts with numbers from 0 up to 250. Then he put his tube into ice-water that was just
freezing. Looking at the numbers of his cuts, he saw this put the level of mercury at the cut marked 32.
He called these 'degrees.' So water was freezing-up solid at 32° in his sealed glass-tube of mercury.
Then he did likewise with boiling-water. "Oh boy!! Water boils at 212°!"
Thus was born the thermometer and the Fahrenheit-Scale of temperatures.
Meanwhile, in Sweden, a Mr. Celsius was also playing with this idea (in a bit more complicated way
than I'm writing here - wanting to keep it simple for my fellow countrymen/women - who have the
attention-span of a gerbil). But Celsius didn't put his numbered scale on it until he put the glass-tube
into ice-water. Then, across the extent of the mercury at this point, he scratched in the line and marked
it: 0.° Then he did likewise with boiling-water, marking this extent of the mercury’s travel as 100.°
So, in the UK, water froze at 32°Fahrenheit. And boiled at 212°F.
In Sweden, water froze at 0° Celsius. And boiled at 100°C.
The Fahrenheit scale remains the prevalent measure in the USA, but elsewhere the Celsius scale is used
usually. Some Native methods I won't attempt to explain. Suffice to say, The Inuit People in Arctic
climates have over 14 different names for ice. Each depending on the sound of the groaning heard from
the ice as it freezes more solid, or thaws a bit.
Most of us scientists use 'centigrade' instead of 'Celsius.' As centigrade more accurately reflects the fact
that this scale is based on multiples of 1 & 10 & 100 & 1,000 - etc.


THIS CONCLUDES OUR SCIENCE & HISTORY LESSON
Dave & Raul & Mrs. Shelley

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yip! Yip!

Dave

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RayD

RayD

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Alfian said:

Oh dear, it was never the intention to ignite some kind of metric Vs imperial debate, I was just curious why, for sake of simplicity,  you would have a 100mm scope with a 2" focuser but I accept as likely Filroden's notion that is really a 50.8mm focuser thats just known as a 2" to maintain some kind of accepted norm.
Oh and as milk was mentioned, we get a daily delivery of milk from a good old fashioned milkman and we get proper, straight from the cow (TB tested), green-top milk too!. I think I'll get back in my cupboard now and leave you  all to slug it out!

On equipment not made in the USA it's probably almost a colloquialism so that there is no confusion when it comes to selecting eyepieces, an awful lot of which are made in the USA (or in China for them).

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

I am and always will be a "feet and inches","Stones and pounds", Miles per hour" kind of guy. I do understand "mm", and "Kilograms". I just cant get my head around "meters". I know a meter is roughly 3ft (as a yard is also), but ask me how tall i am in meters, and i have no idea (i'm 5ft 6 inches).

Another thing............petrol is still measured here in litres. Just as well because i couldnt even start to guess how many litres are in a gallon. At a rough guess, i'm thinking 4.

 

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John

John

Posted
Posted

When I go fishing I don't mind weighing the fish I catch using the metric system. A 170g Trout sounds a bit more impressive than a 6 oz one !

In reality its still a tiddler though ... :rolleyes2:

Oops ! - I'd intended to get this back onto an astro topic .... but failed :undecided:

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Dave In Vermont

Dave In Vermont

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

I am and always will be a "feet and inches","Stones and pounds", Miles per hour" kind of guy. I do understand "mm", and "Kilograms". I just cant get my heat around "meters". I know a meter is roughly 3ft (as a yard is also), but ask me how tall i am in meters, and i have no idea (i'm 5ft 6 inches).

Another thing............petrol is still measured here in litres. Just as well because i couldnt even start to guess how many litres are in a gallon. At a rough guess, i'm thinking 4.

 

3.78541 Litres = 1 US Gallon

Woof!

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bejay1957

bejay1957

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

Another thing............petrol is still measured here in litres. Just as well because i couldnt even start to guess how many litres are in a gallon. At a rough guess, i'm thinking 4.

 

None - they are two different measurement units ;)

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cloudsweeper

cloudsweeper

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, John said:

I think things could be bought in line with the metric system across the board:

"The whole nine yards" could become "The whole 8.2296 meters"

"Give her 25.4mm and she takes 1.6093 km"

Ray Bradbury's classic "Celsius 232.778"

Feel free to add your own :grin:

 

 

You can't put 1.14 litres into a pint pot!

Doug.

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