Why the US doesn’t use metric (even though it does) | Did You Know?
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- Опубліковано 10 чер 2024
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Pretty much every country in the world uses the metric system for measurement - having a universal system would be like having a common language across the world, making it easier to communicate, trade and invest. So why doesn’t the US want to commit to the metric system? Technically, it already has - it’s officially the “preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce”. But the change has never been made compulsory for everyone, so most of the country continues to use the imperial system.
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the drug dealers here in the US use the metric system
Until they get to the "ounce" measurement which is actually lower than a real ounce. 28 gram "ounces." Yet everything else is sold in grams or kilos.
I don't know, man. After 20 kilos, my eyes got blurred! 😂
@@manicjupiterflute I got ripped off then ,darn.
@@tjcmiscou Thats because Mexico and Colombia deal in Metric.
Dont they sell by the ounce?
I was born and raised in the U.S went to live to Argentina when i was 15 been using the metric system ever since. Went back to the states after more then 20 years and i can't believe i ever used that crazy imperial system. Metric system way easier to learn and understand
lubricentro hotrod
So you migrated to Argentina, Sud America and learned to come
to terms with using the Metric System, and realized how simple
and logical it is... The Imperial System and a slight variation
exists in the US Imperial which standardizes the even worse
British Imperial system. Both British and US Imperial are a mess.
Even so That Australia has been using the Metric System for near
on 50 years many people though they use it are not fluent in
understanding it. That is a fault in the corrupt education system.
And the UN is to blame for that, as the UN is in control of the
World Education / Indoctrination system.
Certainly The Metric system is logical and superior to the Imperial
System -- Unless one is not able to count to TEN.....
@@andrew_koala2974 In construction related fields the British and American systems are much easier to use than metric. You just haven't been trained to use the system or understand the numerous advantages it has over metric.
@OceanBlue I assume there are differences between the American and British imperial system. Having said that, I fully agree with you that these systems have many advantages over the metric system, most especially in construction related fields. And I can easily demonstrate that.
Yet you came back. I guess a good economy is more important than the metric system.
Base 10, easy! Imp base 12, harder!
A sign in a machining shop said "The US is actively implementing the metric system, one inch at a time."
In a precision shop they're going a ten thousandth of an inch at a time.
That joke is SO old ...
And in 1984 I worked for a summer in the US in a machinist/engineering outfit. Machinists used imperial on imperial machines(makes sense). The engineers converted from imperial to metric, do all the calculations then convert back to imperial. Makes no sense at all but they considered it both faster and less prone to error.
@@astranger448 Metric is great
Imperial system is like that one teacher who loves to overcomplicate things just cause he feels like it.
it's simpler
@@alpacamale2909 and the dumbest
@@infinity.4977 ok buddy
its more like the old guy who has done something the same way for years and doesn't have a reason to change their way of thinking. it works fine for us.
The U.S. Customary system is not as complicated as its foreign detractors like to say it is. It works fine for everyday personal use. If it didn't, nobody would use it.
I grew up knowing only imperial measurement system. (Even then I thought the use of imperial fractions was frustrating and ridiculous) Took me less than 2 weeks in Europe to be fluent in metric. Rational and logical system.
Doubt it.
If you can't understand 10 x 10 you probably would doubt it.
@@gro_skunk The metric system is extremely easy to learn so it's reasonable on how they learned it in less than 2 weeks
Yeah, it doesn't take rocket a scientist to count on fingers and toes, LOL!
I lived in Europe for two years and just got back to the USA... The metric system makes way more sense but if you're not brought up with Celsius and kilometers and kilos it's incredibly difficult to adjust
I'm glad I work in computers. The whole world uses the same bit and byte units.
-What about date formats?
-Fu....
American "bit" is much bigger than unified non-american unit.
Isn’t DIN not used as a standard for dates?
ISO datetime: YYYY MM DD HH mm ss
@@hansplas510 Germany?
Yeah, the "year 2038 problem". In various 'nixes, datetimes are stored as 32-bit integers, signifyine #seconds since 0000 hours 1 Jan 1970. I'm wondering what workaround would work best.
1 yard is 3 feet or 36 inch
1 Mile = 1760.0065617 Yard = 5280.019685 Foot = 63360.23622 Inch
1 US Gallon = 4 US Quart= 8 US Pint = 16 US Cup = 128 US Fluid Ounce = 0.0049511294 Cubic Yard = 0.1336804926 Cubic Foot = 230.99989113 Cubic Inch
1 Long Ton = 1.12 Short Ton = 2240 Pound = 35840 Ounce = 5080230.4 Carrat
Freezing point = 32 Fahrenheit, Boiling point = 212 Fahrenheit
1 Acre = 4840 Square Yard = 43560 Square Foot = 6272640 Square Inch
1 US Gallon of water = 8.3454073264 Pound = 133.52651722 Ounce
1 kilometer = 1 000 meters = 1 000 000 milimeters
1 cubic meter = 1 000 Liters = 1 000 000 mililiters
1 ton = 1000 kilogram = 1 000 000 gram = 1 000 000 000 miligram
Freezing point = 0 Celsius, Boiling point = 100 Celsius
1 Hectare= 100 are = 10000 Square Meter
1 cubic meter of water = 1 ton = 1 000 kilograms = 1 000 000 gram
Imperial system is not a system, it is a chaotic remnant from middle ages.
you left out US dry quarts!
@ibesweetp2 You got that backwards. The fact that you are is the only reason you haven't been steamrolled into accepting sensible measurements and you can allow yourself the luxury of not fully adopting SI units.
Also, the US$ makes up 60% of reserve currencies - it is not the only one. With the next closest one being the Euro with ~20% - And I'm guessing about to increase in the wake of Brexit.
@ibesweetp2 Thanks, but no, i'm already busy enjoying my free education and healthcare over here.
I'm not sure why other people insist on dictating what is best for the United States--they constantly bitch and moan when the United States tries to do it for them. Fucking hypocrite eurotrash that we've had to bail out of multiple wars of self-destruction
@ibesweetp2 That will change as the world switches to using either Yuan or cryptocurrencies. Who cares of you are a superpower or not. The Chinese will pass you eventually without having the mountain of debt that you have. They will have a hill.
I wonder why weather sites still shows temperature in Fahrenheit? Why not Centigrade? It is so easy to understand. Let me tell you at 0 C pure water freezes. At 100 C it boils.
@@kostadinkondev829 Nobody lives at those higher altitudes. And even if we did you would still have to adjust the F degrees.
F is more precise than C. That's why
@@phishENchimps ehh no.
@@viktormehl4311 I think he meant meticulous. But whatever (at this point). lol
Why make it simple if you can have it complicated??
Honestly, we had a meeting and decided to piss off the rest of the world by using the imperial system and dropping the u in the word color.
Akfr0zen - I knew it! 😂
@@aidanclarke6106 🤗🤗
I’m all for the metric system in the US. But I don’t get the purpose of the u in words we done use them in. The addition of a U in a word, makes it look French. Flavor 🇺🇸 vs flavour 🇫🇷.
What about excessive use of Z instead of S and hyphens? The funniest is how a whole generation of people say Zee and not Zed as a kids tv show with a giant bird changed how they said it to make a song about the alphabet rhyme better. #facepalm
@@sinoperture of it irritates you then yes😂
Imperial or Metric?
The World: "Metric"
US: "Imperial"
UK: "...Yes"
I didn’t know the US and UK weren’t part of the world! Very informative! /s
The United States has never used the Imperial System. We use US Customary units.
@@GH-oi2jf : Exactly right.
The Imperial System was introduced by Great Britain in 1824, by which time the U.S. had been as separate, independent nation for almost half a century, so the U.S. simply continued using the units they had always been using.
1 mile is 1760 yards, 1 yard is 3 feet, 1 feet is 12 inch and than you just start fractioning it till you have your head burst over the question whether 39⁄64” is smaller than 5⁄8” or not.
Really makes sense.
Easy, just double the numbers...5/8 10/16 20/32 40/64 so yes it is smaller...lol
@@patwelch8187 while it's not all that complicated, having to double a fraction 3 times to check which of two numbers given in the very same unit seems a bit unnecessary
there's no such thing as '1feet' . . .
Oh yes I used to do this sort of thing in primary school. "How many 3 13/64" pieces can you cut from a length of 6' 7 1/2 " allowing for 3/32" wastage at each cut"
And if the material costs 1 pound 13 s and 7 pence hapenny per yard what is the cost of each piece to the nearest farthing.
I don't miss it at all.
I love how Americans defend their shitty system. I'd say that the length part is acceptable (still dumb compared to the metric though), but what makes me angry is the volume and area parts. How long is a side of a square with an area of 100^2 feet? In the metric system it would be easy, you just divide it by ten, because there is exactly 10m long side in a 100^2m.
The Federal government had officially converted, but handles it (ever since Carter is gone) in a way which intends to deter others from doing so. They keep using the Imperial system, but translate every measure in the most awkward way, seemingly "precise".
This way, I have seen signs in national parks saying "ELEVATION 609.6m (2000 ft)" and even "WATER-> 15.24m (50 ft)". Thus making people reason that the Imperial system is simple, while the metric one is something only rocket scientists in white frocks can understand.
Meanwhile, in the US a problem like "how many 100ft steel bars are needed to make a 3 mile rail?" still makes qualified engineers reach for their computers, while in the rest of the world, any fourth grade child can easily answer the similar "how many 50m steel bars are needed to make a 5km rail?"
@Jay Barker Moving the decimal 3 places is much simpler than having to convert with a number like 5280
I did that problem in my head, no problem. Metric is like a bicycle, it's easier than walking, but it makes you lazy because you get less physical or mental exercise, respectively. So get off your duff, and walk, lazybones! 😜😜
@@acmefixer1 This answer is a bit like mocking the disabled; most people cannot do such arithmetic in their heads.
@Jay Barker Exactly my point. You needed to do 5 arithmetic operations to do something that in the metric system would require only one.
I'm fine with the metric system, and I agree that it is convenient. I use it in my work. But stop saying the US uses the imperial system. We don't. We use measures that you are too lazy to google.
Actually the US was supposed to switch to metric as far back as the late 1700s.
Thomas Jefferson was in talks with France about the metric system. He requested France to send a definition of the gram and meter.
To make a long story short, there were two attempts to get these samples from France to the US. One ship was looted by pirates and a second ship was lost in a storm.
By the third attempt of sending the sample, the proponents behind the first attempts at metric have died and the cause died with them.
You could say, it was an "act of God"!
You really could say that!
I don't recall who robbed the ship during the first attempt, iirc it may have been the British since it does coincide with a war between England and France.
Reflecting back on all these events even though they wanted to convert way back in the 1790s, the US started to grow and trade with others that were using the Imperial system. The growing nation didn't have the time to wait for a new calibration weight, its not like they can overnight a package.
Imagine the amount of time to send it out twice to the US and send back the news it's stolen or lost plus the time to make a new sample.
Metric wasn't even widely used until the mid 1800s.
Sounds like BS to me mate.
@@DannyBeeVegas I didn't know the British had pirates!
@@SandcastleDreams The British did have privateers which were basically pirates working for the crown...
Can we do “left” and “right” side of the road?
I'm guessing the right-side standard is associated with both the American and French revolutions.
Imagine hating the British so much that you decide move all your horse traffic to the other side of the road. To be fair, probably easier than car traffic.
You may be interested in the time Sweden did this. ua-cam.com/video/JoYNhX15w4k/v-deo.html Edit: I'm not passing any opinion here, just something relevant.
To simplify:
Left side of road driving - knights draw swords with the right (dominant) hand
Right side of road driving - horse-drawn carts' drivers whip/drive horses with the right hand
Exactly under Kings rule. Knights passed on the Left. As stated before the predominant hand is the right.
Michael Bauer Sweden changed sides to be inline with it's neighbours.
Myanmar on the other hand from what I read, Did actually change sides to distance it self from The UK.
It reminds me of how hard it was, coming from the U.S. as a middle-schooler, to learn the UK Pounds and Shillings. Then the UK went decimal and counting the correct change was no problem.
12 pence was 1 shilling, 20 shilling was 1 pound
Shadow Fan well that makes sense, why didn’t the rest of us think of that?
LSD is illogical
Is American not use metric system? Japanese has many use metric system. But Japanese original unit shaku（尺）,go（合）、jo（畳）、ri（里）etc and Japan has original cander. Now it's Reiwa （令和）.
令和5年（2023）
sometimes use this.formal paper writing using.
Slogan for metric system:
_We bring to you the metric system_
_-"Because 15 cm sounds longer than 6 inches"_
that should work
But 15cm is barely more than 5.9 inches!
@@iangreen180 exactly
3 inches is all you need
@@iangreen180 darn, you deflated me ,after Tox had me feeling happy. So i guess I'll
have too tell her, Hun its back to 5.9!!
A colleague of mine is an electrical engineer in Nevada (I think), where the electricity company lays cables in metres, while the water company lays pipes by the yard.
Due to errors in transcribing drawings they are constantly digging each-others infrastructure up. :-)
@Gage Maybe it wasnt nevada, all those shithole flyovers look the same to me :-)
WRONG Jon. You are SUCH an idiot to believe that old joke.
Don't Include Myanmar - it has largely metricated now!
Key word "largely"
The Swedish Panda tbf the UK is “largely” metric too, we still use pints and miles for something’s and litres and kilometres for others, the UK would probably fall into the same category as Burma
@@danielfield2570 : *Exactly.* Everybody _loves_ to give the United States a hard time about not using the metric system and almost giggles with glee when reciting that lame old platitude about Liberia and Myanmar. But of course _it isn't true._ There are several countries that don't fully embrace the metric system. Like the UK, Canada, and many other former Commonwealth nations.
@@Milesco i think the difference with the UK is that most people here understand both and know the conversions. We also understand that the metric system is just objectively better and we don’t let blind patriotism get in the way of pragmatism. It’s the only system taught in schools
As a University physics student Ik the metric system is better, but in some cases I think imperial does actually make more sense to use like when discussing height of people we still use feet and inches, because it’s far easier to remember and compare your height when it is 5,10 rather than 177.8cm.
And the only other thing I would keep is pints for drinking alcohol, I’m sorry but a pint glass is just a natural size for a drink, when I was travelling the continent, 500ml is just not enough to satisfy me but a litre is just way too much, a pint(568ml) is just a good middle ground.
The rest you can change. And give it a few more decades and I think the UK will be nearly there.
Captain Quirk Most commonwealth nations that are still dealing with imperial units are dealing with imperial fasteners - all pipe threads globally are imperial - BSP or NPT. And yes it is annoying to have to cut that 610 mm wide plywood from the US down to 600 mm.
I don't understand why Americans are scared by the metric system, yet it's easier and more logical!
You just answered your own question.
It's not that we are scared it's just that it's a logistical nightmare
We’re not scared of it, we use both. If you were born here, you would too. So why waste time arguing about something that you can’t control?
There are significant practical impediments.
First, the U.S. Customary system is what we're all used to. If there is no compelling reason to switch to an unfamiliar system (and there isn't), then why switch?
Second, if everyone in the U.S. uses the Customary system, then that makes it impractical for anyone to use the metric (or any other) system. If everyone around me is using inches, feet, pounds and gallons, then *_I_* have to, too.
(Note that for the most part it's really only individuals in their everyday lives that use the Customary system. Like when you go to the store and buy a pound of ground beef and then go to the gas station and buy a few gallons of gas. Most large businesses, especially those that engage in international trade, use the metric system. And the U.S. government uses metric, as does everything and everyone in the fields of science and engineering. It's really mostly just at the "retail" level that we use the Customary system.)
@@Milesco
You forgot to mention that there are very compelling reasons.
Efficacy and ergonomics are the main reasons. Dividing and multiplying by 10 is something a 5 year old can do, but dividing and multiplying by 12, 16, or 24 takes time. There is exactly zero way you could say that this is "easier". Even if you're used to it it still takes longer than it would with 10.
Besides, just because you're used to it does not mean it's good. Just because people in South Sudan are used to fearing for their lives every day because of war does not mean that they should reject change because it would take some "getting used to".
Come to think of it, there's been a lot of buzz recently about people in the US fearing for their lives for being who they are...
I live in America and I absolutely hate the imperial system. I am the only person I know how normally uses kilograms and meters in America. I wish more people saw how using 10x and .1 is a lot easier then 1/16th and 12x
And .33333333333333333...(to infinity) is easier than a third? Twelve inches in a foot. Twelve is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. You can have a third of a foot (4 inches) or two thirds (8 inches) but try doing thirds with decimals! Ten is only divisible by 1, 2, 5 and 10. Ten is great for fingers or toes, but not so great for counting and measuring.
By the way, we don’t use the imperial system in America, and never have. We use the English or American Standard system.
@@ethanlamoureux5306 People who use the metric system do not use 0.33333333333333333. If you want to represent a third of something, you simply input "1/3".
0.33 is not necessarily a third. It depends on the context.
For counting and measuring, the SI is, again, much simpler. If you try to machine a complex piece of metal using the SI, you will think twice before going back to Imperial.
Inches, feet, yards, miles... There is no rational correlating between them.
How many inches are there in 2.7 miles?
How many centimeters are there in 2.7 kilometers?
You don't need a calculator for the second question.
@Geek37 I don't think you realize what you wrote.
You can easily divide anything by 10.
Try dividing 3.664759 in half.
Now try dividing it into tenths. (0.3664759) Much easier.
@@ethanlamoureux5306 12 yards in a Mile? Easy to divide.
@@leoarc1061 There are no fractions in the Metric System. Everything is decimal based. So 1/3 cannot be expressed in that system.
Machinists love working in thousandths of an inch. Nothing wrong with that.
Americans don't use imperial measurements. We have our own system.
There are 171,072 inches in 2.7 miles, but who cares? Only Metric people are obsessed with measuring everything in the smallest possible units. How many millimeters is it to the moon? And I don't need a calculator to multiply 2.7*5280*12.
There's no imperial system they using cave man system
when did your crawl out of your cave ,your to technical !! And it isn't (they, it's their using) words, numbers it's all cave man stuff right??
@@tjcmiscou they're
Gary Hillis nice, but tbh, correcting a single word would not be sufficient in this case, might as well rewrite the post completely, since there's little that can be salvaged.
@@tjcmiscou You must be American, because obviously you don't know the English language.
@@l.k.1011 we're not required to speak the queen's language. We're not subjects to any aristocracy.
U.S military have used metric since ww1
I'm not surprised that especially the military made the switch early
Yep, cos they used French maps!
@@DaChaGee but french maps would lead them away from the battle...
@@DevinHeida Haha. Yeah!
Used, but not universally.
Metric system is taught in science class in the US but we don't use it outside of class so it doesn't stick outside of school.
doggo. small U S brains
Q: What is the worst part of your university life?
A: See imperial units in your homework.
This is Vox with an Australian accent. And I like it.
I was literally going to say the same thing,
Except vox is cancerous
@@John-gm8ty Vox is well informed and respected. Just because it doesn't conform to your uneducated views doesn't give you the right to compare it to a disease that kills hundred of thousands of people.
@@KhanPiesseONE oh really? And their well informed how to build a pc guide went how well? Sorry. You're deluded
Don’t be sensationalist, Vox isn’t cancerous. It’s just not your style of content. No problems with that, but don’t be a dick.
As a half Aussie/American who grew up with the metric system yet was forced to learn imperial to fix Boeing aircraft, I now use a funny mixture of both.
Small things in mm, medium distance in inches & feet and long distance in Km's.
I'm so screwed up! 😀
Probably not that uncommon, many Australians would use a mix of (centi)metres and feet/inches depending on context.
It's kind of interesting. Feet and inches, for colloquial use, have been uniquely resilient in a way other imperial measures haven't.
Personally I'm a millennial and was born in Australia but if someome asked my height in conversation I'd still give 'five-eleven' most of the time, and most people I know would do the same.
Yards are completely gone though, and maybe everyone knows what a mile is but it's never used that way.
@@The98597thMark
Well it does also help that my feet are a foot long...that is 12 inches.
Great for measuring things 😀
@@johno9507 Mine too... those size 11 boots are great!
I’m the same! Years of working in industry where there’s both measures. I reckon it’s good knowing both.
As an Aussie who is old enough to have lived through the conversion process I'm inclined to use both at times. Usually I use metric but sometimes it's just easier to say an inch than 2.54 centimetres for instance. In those situations I tend to use the system that gives a round number.
I’ve been working in a scientific field in metric in the US for 40 years and essentially never converted between the systems with the exception being temperature. The only everyday problems are needing two sets of wrenches and sockets and matching threads on nuts and bolts.
I was puzzled for a while after buying my new 2000 Chevy Camaro and then, wanting to bolt on some parts, learning that I had to buy a full set of metric wrenches and sockets-there are virtually no SAE nuts and bolts on the car.
Well, you need a set of Whitworth wrenches to work on your Norton. Oh, and to get the ignition harness connectors off a Rolls-Royce jet engine you need a Whitworth wrench... though most of the time you can skate by with a 17mm.. it's pretty close.
Some of the liquid US Customary units are different from the liquid Imperial units which used to get really confusing in Canada before we switched to metric.
For example:
1 Imperial Gallon = 4.54609 litres
1 US Gallon = 3.7854 litres
There were also differences in fl oz. If you didn't know if the measurement system you didn't know if you were getting Imperial or US. When they gave mileage figures for vehicles again they didn't say if it was Imp mpg or US mpg. When we switched to metric it all became a lot more simple in Canada!
I'm from the UK and basically everything is metric
The older generation uses both/prefers imperial
But the new generation like me don't even know how to convert to each of then as in schools we are only taught metric
Fahrenheit is never used anywhere
Yards and miles only on road signs but sat navs use either
Most people know there weight/height in both mainly because you see posts on fb ect written in them so we can easily convert them both (however we use stone not pounds)
Liquids are all ml except beer/milk really
Thats why todays kids are so dim and useless.
Tbf I think even weight is changing. Especially if you're younger. I've never heard anyone under 30 using kg for their bodyweight.
When i read a thing like a recipe in Imperial system it always makes me laugh because to me (i'm French), Imperial measurment = middle ages. But i think it's a matter of habits, when you grow up learning recipes in "cups", "gallons", etc i'd be a pain to switch.
We swithed when i was in the middle of high school trying to wrap my head around a chain. I was so relieved
I get metric...my 14mm box end wrench is smaller than my 15mm box end wrench.
lol sure , throw the car away .... makes as much sense as using imperial measurements
But i bet you lost your 10mm box 15 minutes after you bought the set.
@Fred Flynstone 1/16th of an inch
We were taught it all through public school in the US. I graduated in 2003 and I fully know the metric system.
That is good news there G Dubya, There is hope yet!
@@orlandopockets6372 no...I know it. My engineering degree made sure of that.
@@gregdubya1993 we're you on that engineering crew that sent the first rover to the moon ,that messed upon the conversion from imperial metric ? Did they have degree's or a online course??
@@tjcmiscou Oi, quit being a big pp my guy. I am also an American and I can say most Americans know the metric system. You cant graduate school without knowing it. If you dont know it you will fail every science course.
All of that aside...
Imperial is still my native and does come more naturally. Except things less than an inch. When something is smaller than an inch I go into metric for cm and mm.
@@tjcmiscou what funny is you believed they went to the moon 🤣🤣🤣
April makes the most interesting and informative quirky videos! She is fantastic
In the Uk, it is a really mess. We use half and half. Mostly, for anything professional it is normally done in metric, however the imperial is normally used with weight and height.Also, we use the miles
per hour.
The UK is a country that can't decide whether to align with the US (Imperial) or the EU (Metric). Just look at the dilemma that the country is currently facing with Brexit. No deal hard Brexit, soft Brexit, no Brexit, call for a second referendum, call for a new election to replace May as PM, or what?
I don't agree about the weight bit, we've largely moved to grams and kilos for weight, I've even gotten used to kilos on my digital (human weighing) scales. I admit though I do prefer MPH to KPH.
The UK had all but moved away from the imperial system, not just to align with Europe, but the rest of the world. The planet does not need two measuring system just like the world needs a recognised international language (English).
No. We do not use miles. My commute to work (southampton to gosport) is 19 km.Fuckifiknow what that is in imperial.. I see a few road signs in metres, but they're usually wrong ... example, the sign i see every day... 11, gosport/fareham. 13m. the sign is trying to say 0.3333miles. but it's saying 13 metres.
Because idiocy.
for reference i HATE imperial holdouts
. The distance references on uk motorways are in km.
In many parts of the US, Texas for example, older property records are defined in terms of the Spanish "vara". City streets in in parts of Houston are an even number of varas apart from each other. State law has official conversions of the vara into both feet and meters, but the records themselves are in varas.
That is fine. If people want to remain apart from whole world reminder, let them stay in their own tribe.
@@danielkowalski8555 Texas law has an official definition of the Spanish vara in terms of meters dating back over a hundred years. As the video states, the US was part of the Treaty of the Meter back in the 1870's, and many states adopted official conversion standards shortly thereafter. This was especially important in places that already used two standards of measurement, Like Texas and California.
Everyone switched to the metric system because it was easier. The US was like: "Nah, we're good. We don't need a new measurement system." The other countries just like being able to trade with the US more conveniently, probably.
Depending of what you are talking about. The Duodecimal system base 12 is easier. For you and me is easier, as we grew with it, but we have to do calculation with 0.3333 and 0.6667. You don't have that problem in duodecimal. And arithmetic's are easier. For the rest (eg. equations) all systems are OK.
l had a discussion with an American friend of mine when l was there last. (2016-2017) l asked why a Gallon of petrol was 3.75 a Litre, when it's actually 4.5 a Litre. She told me that is how America does it, l have to tell you l have scratched my head ever since.
Don't you mean 3.75 Litres vs 4.5 Litres? Anyway, first, these figures are approximate - more precise values are 3.78 and 4.54. And they both originated in Britain, but the smaller value was used much earlier. The latter gallon figure was due to a British overhaul of weights and measures in 1824. So since the USA colonies were settled long before this date, they used the old gallon. Britain and its Empire adopted the new gallon. Hence an accident of history due to isolation then independence. Both measurements are equivalent to eight pints - an old pint and a new pint measure.
@@thelongdrag9188 Actually, no. When Britain first colonized the New World, they shipped a lot of stuff from Europe to America. One thing they *didn't* ship was water. They did, however, ship booze. By an amazing coincidence, the American gallon is exactly the same size as the British *wine gallon* . Care to guess why?
@@linksysroutenoh.3460 Hmm... I'd forgotten I'd posted earlier to this thread. I'm not sure which part of my response your comment was directed to. If it's about omitting rigorous details about various archaic units of measure, wet or dry, that was due to my not wanting to over-complicate the explanation, but to deal with the original question more generally with respect to the two systems in use today.
Now, to address your other points, since water was plentifully available in the New World, and rum distilling commenced quite early on the eastern seaboard, I'm not clear why there was even a need to ship either water or hard liquor by sea from Britain except for shipboard use. Growing hops and brewing was also an early industry that supplied the taverns, although the first colonists would no doubt have brought beer with them initially. If by booze you mean hard liquor, shipping in a wine gallon vessel (versus an ale or beer gallon) would have been completely orthodox. But to have a stab at your final question, I'd guess that the matter hinged upon shipping excise duty for royal revenue which, as far as I know, was paid by merchants per unit. Therefore by shipping more units than if the beer was gauged to the beer gallon, more duty accrued to the Exchequer.
The USA also doesn't use the Imperial System, but the US Customary System, which is a little different, like with capacity.
It's unfair to make a claim the US hasn't "converted" when all secondary school and greater scientific and mathematical studies are centered around the metric system. Those who use the system on a global scale here in the US know EXACTLY what the metric system means.
But, it isn't in regular use in NASA and many engineering companies (varies on type)
NASA is a government agency and as such required to use metric where practical per the video. It was a private contractor, Lockheed Martin, that operated in the Imperial system and failed to convert software it supplied NASA to SI units.
someone’s butthurt. literally not her claim in the video. she’s just saying not everyone in the US exclusively uses metric simply because conversion isn’t compulsory like it has been in other countries.
when a majority of businesses and people still use the imperial system then no it would not be considered converted. and how tf is it even unfair it isnt like it is an insult that the imperial system is in wide use?
Agreed. My whole education was in metric
The Metric System is a base 10 counting system but human language quickly adopted a base 12 system in the distant past because you can divide it by half, thirds, and fourths without a fractional leftover. Many languages have special words for 11 and 12 to support the base 12 system. Above 12 units it is usually easier to switch to the base 10 counting system so you can use your hands to keep track of the counting. It was handy in dividing lots of dissimilar items for trade, like exchanging eggs for flour in the market. A meter is too big a unit for many purposes, like construction, so they use cm which is too small. In the US ceilings are all at the 8 feet standard or above 8 feet in 1 foot increments. In Europe ceiling height standards vary by country: 223cm, 225cm, 229cm, 236cm. In the US lumber is measured by the inch on the two shortest sides: 2", 3", 4", 6", etc but in metric countries it is 38mm, 64mm, 89mm, 114mm, 140mm etc. Those are very odd and inefficient numbers to use in construction work. For this reason Canada is all-metric except for construction.
Come to the UK, where we have a confusing mix of metric and imperial. We by petrol and diesel by the litre, yet measure fuel economy in miles per gallon. We weigh ourselves in stones and pounds, but weigh fruit and veg in kilos. We buy a 1.5 litre bottle of coke, but a 4 pint bottle of milk. Our road signs are mainly imperial, but more recently, and especially around sea ports, the heights of bridges is shown in both metric and imperial to aid foreign drivers. Car brochures advertise cars engine power in metric horsepower (PS) and sometimes Kilowatts, yet most people have to whip their phones out and convert it to BHP for it to mean anything.
The height of anything, including us is generally measured in feet and inches, and the marker signs leading up to motorway exits are measured in yards.
Kilometres means absolutely nothing to a person from the UK.
Personally I’d rather we were completely one system or the other, and if it were up to me it would be imperial.
No need to apologise. Your English is much better than my Russian. I agree it’s more logical, but it’s whatever you have grown up with is what you find easier. I’m 42 and we were only taught a tiny amount of metric at school.
Love this comparison! 😀
Matti Piirainen the UK is a strange place believe me lol
Wow!
@@andrew_koala2974 Lol. The Uk and Canada use both. Idiot
This guy: "This 5/32 inch socket is too small, give me 3 sizes up, a ........................ 1/4 inch one."
Me: zzZZZ, pffffffff, what?
Yes Paul, to use the Imperial system one must have an IQ > 20. Stick to metric.
@Alex Dalex I didn't say it was. Fail for straw man.
@@rain22738 As a low IQ person you are better off in a primitive country. I understand
This is because you and me grew with metric. The duodecimal system is better. But the whole world already standardized to metric.
@@patrickeh696 'Low IQ' is Americans' middle name lmao gtfo
Which is heavier, a pound of feathers, or a pound of gold?
(hint: trick question, two kinds of "pound"; one - avoirdupois, the other - troy)
A pound of feathers is heavier than a pound of gold, however, an ounce of gold is heavier than an ounce of feathers. Makes perfect sense.
best comment yet! xDD
I'm Brazilian but I'm pretty comfortable using either system. Heck it's not like having to learn a whole new language. Currently I live in Japan and they too have a whole variety of units of their own (like tsubo for land, jo for floorspace in a room, go for volume of rice and only rice, and on.) And yet they're still comfortable using imperial system here and there, like shot distances in golf. And for the J-pop lovers there's that old pop song that goes "Even if we're separated 500 miles" from The Alfee HAHA
I use the following units at my home: hu for the are, du for the volume, tsi for the temperature and I expect the whole world to know them.
It is very easy to communicate about my units, why others do not want to apply my units?
Maybe because they already agreed on one common system for 150 nations? I do not know because I'm American, and I do not like to learn, I want to be dummy and happy.
In grade school in Düsseldorf in the mid 50's I learned a slightly different metric system. The base unit of length was the dm (decimeter = 10cm) which is a more "human" measurement as it is about the width of an adult's hand. We also had the "Zentner" (50kg) for unit of mass. We purchased Briketts (briquets or compressed coal) by the Zentner. We also used the term "Pfund" or German for pounds, when buying Lebensmittel (groceries). It's half a kg or ~1.1 US pounds.
Interesting remark, but all of that has indeed faded away. When you tell the kids about *Dezimeter, Zentner and Pfund these days, they'll look at you like you were from another planet.
@@misatzu - Yep. Not only that but I learned to write in old German Script (Altdeutsche Schrift). When I take notes for myself in classes I use it still. The correspondence I kept from my mother and family (all from East Prussia) are writ in it. I have no family left who can read it. Now my grandson here in Boulder, CO isn't even being taught cursive. I've tried to teach him but he has no interest.
STOP LEAVING NEW ZEALAND OFF THE MAP.
after the shooting... you are no longer innocent and off the map
Don't worry. NZ was on my chart when I sailed there from Seattle. I just loved listening to the daily news there, because I was very eager to hear how many hogget carcases had been sold to the Saudis that day.
NZ? Is that the small flyspeck hanging around Australia's nether regions?
Its alright the UN has you on top of the World.
r/mapswithnewzealand
Cheers for leaving NZ off that map! About 5 million people are super stoked about that!
troyboy83 and no one else cares
I imagine there is a substantial fraction of that 5 million who don't actually care
@@antireconciler Nt until the 50 Muslims ended up pushing up daisies. Then the rest of the world took notice.
Going to school in the 70s we were taught both. Badly, and learned neither efficiently. Public education, what a trip!
John Palermo well you could learn metric in like 2 hours. If you know 10x10 you’re almost done.
Although I became fairly fluent in both systems, I still prefer using the Imperial system. It is still widely used in industry even in Canada, pumps are selected and sold in gallon per minute units more often than not.
US gallon et imperial gallon are not even the same, wow!
@@alainlachambre5646 That's a result of historical events. The U.S. gallon is based on the Queen Anne (or "wine") gallon, dating back to 1706. In 1824, Great Britain established a new system for use throughout its empire, called, not surprisingly, the Imperial system. The new imperial gallon was based on the ale gallon, which was about 20% larger than the Queen Anne (wine) gallon.
But since the United States was no longer part of the British Empire (and hadn't been for half a century), we didn't adopt Britain's new gallon -- we just kept on using the same old one that we had been using for over a hundred years.
Use of metrics has actually reversed in the U.S. It was somewhat used in the 80s and 90s for some things but has disappeared since then. Metrics are never used in daily public life in the U.S. at all. The U.S. didn't actively resist anything. There has never been public discussion of metrics in America. It just kind of faded away without anyone mentioning it. It's not a topic of public discussion in America. There was never any "resistance" in America. Americans didn't notice in the first place.
Maine uses both imperial and metric on the road signs for the interstate.
I was taught ALL the whole WORLD uses the metric system. Then I went to England. Landed at Heathrow, took a train to London. Two days later took a tour to Bath and Stonehenge. Was SHOCKED to see all road signs were in miles, miles per hour, Heights shown on road signs from the road surfaces to bottom of overpasses (for truck drivers benefit) were in feet and inches!!!! I never saw one sign in metric!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I find it unsettling that earlier today I was having a conversation about this exact topic and now here it is popping up in my recommended videos.....
Your phone heard you and recommended it.
April, the US does not use the Imperial system! (I suppose, from an Aussie perspective, it almost seems that way.)
The US picked its set of standard English units in 1795. (As you noted, now called "USCS".)
Great Britain picked its standard English units three decades later, named for its new post-American Empire -- in the East, in India. It adopted approximately the same foot and pound as the US, but followed the French with their decimal fad in volumes, creating the decimal gallon (10 lb of water). Unfortunately, they didn't divide it into 10 pints or 100 ounces, so their decimalization only went so far. But that's why the Imperial gallon is unlike the US gallon.
The UK also standardized later (1835-1870) on one particular size stone, the 14 lb wool stone. To make the hundredweight (ctw) a nice even multiple of the stone, they made 1 cwt = 8 stone = 112 lb. (The silly Americans had picked 100 lb as the hundredweight.) But both countries picked 1 ton = 20 ctw -- so the British stone now made British tons heavier.
In 1959, the US and UK agreed to each change their foot and pound very slightly, to use EXACTLY the same standard -- the first time they ever shared EXACTLY the same size.
So you can call US units "English units" (because they are). Or you can call them the US Customary System (because it is). But Imperial never made it back across the Atlantic -- you can't call US units "Imperial". That was saved for the Commonwealth.
They call it USC United States Customary. Yes, the US gallon is not the same as the imperial gallon. It is about time the USA switched to metric.
Exactly right, billsv5. Thanks for saying that! Most people don't know that.
In the mid 70’s, I remember learning the metric system was a sudden push. Of course , the push for metric fizzled when weighed against other priorities the country was facing (energy costs, recession, inflation, high interest rates, etc)
The metric system, for the most part, is easy and intuitive once you get the logic behind it.
I grew up in Canada. In that country imperial measurement was changed to metric when I was nearing 40. I quickly became acquainted with the metric units involved in measurement of distance, weight, and volume. It made perfect sense but I couldn’t relate it to real life. And I tried for a few years. But even today, I couldn’t tell you what 20 degrees centigrade feels like. Or a kilogram in the palm of my hand. Or whether three kilometers is too far to walk my small dog.
At age 46 I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue my work in tech. One of the side benefits was a return to the imperial system. Twenty years later, it still gives me everything I need. I don’t miss metric at all. And I doubt it will be implemented here until long after I’m 1.829 meters under. Americans look upon the rest of the world as a sort of distant illusion. Eighty percent of Americans don’t have passports. To them, metric will always be “foreign”. Converting to metric would be un-American. While I love and miss Canada, its weather and its metric system will probably keep me in California for the rest of my days.
my dear friend, try this little exercise: how big is a cube that contains one metric ton of water. Metric system: 1 ton is 1000 kg. That is also (water, by definition) 1000l! I liter fits into a cube of 1dm3 (thats a cube 10 cm by 10 cm by 10 cm). so you need 1000 of these cubes to add up to i metric ton. 1000 cubes each 1dm3 are put together into one large cube measuring 10x10x10 dm3 the resulting cube that contains 1 metric ton of water is a cube measuring 1 m (also 10 dm, or 100 cm, each dimension) Now Mr. Richards you tell me, without using a calculater how many feet and inches is a cube that contains 1000 gal of water!
Now lets look at American achievements in science. Who built the first Atomic Bomb.....Einstein.., Oppenheimer, Fermi you get my drift! The first operating military jet plane..American? I dont think so! The first rocket...American? I dont think so! Could it be the fact perhaps that it is easier to design things and do the math if measurements intuitively interlock and you dont need a calculator to figure out basic stuff?
I found it easier to work with metric units mentally when I realised I don't know what a pound feels like any more than a kilogram, and I don't know how far a mile is if I were to walk it any more than a kilometer, and I could only tell you what maybe 5 to10 different temperatures feel like because otherwise they're kind of the same. A whole childhood of US/Imperial units doesn't make me anything like proficient in estimating physical quanities in terms much more sophisticated than "too much" or "too little". So converting to metric units is about as easy as simply measuring and reading things in metric units.
@@konasteph You may have a point. Once upon a time a time, people used roman numerals. It was traditional.
When they moved to Hindu-Arabic, economics, math, science, etc got a massive push due to the increased simplicity.
For measuring the distance I use american Unit, which is the "football field".
When I go to the store I walk 5 football fields...
That is how Americans use the measurements, they are just too dummies to calculate anything. That is why their Mars probe burned because of this nonsense they use.
Ask average American how many yards is in a mile, no one knows. And so on. They have a knowledge of the first grader of elementary school considering the interchanges between different physical values and units. American education system is somewhere in XIX century.
@John Richards John, what you are saying is that you have a religious devotion to the Archaic System. Go on and hold yourself back, but don't fetter our children and grandchildren to the Archaic System when they can become citizens of the world by communicating in S.I. [International System of Units (Système international d'unités), the modern international standard version of the metric system]
What about dates? mm/dd/yy or dd/mm/yy or dd.mm.yyyy etc. The only logical date format is yyyy-mm-dd, from large to small and there is no confusion. It can also be extended to any accuracy by adding further units, yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss etc (24 hour clock)
Minor correction - it's not the 'British' Imperial system, it's the one we inherited from the Roman Empire. For example the Romans built the roads for the purposes of moving and supplying their armies (the word 'mile' is from the same root as 'military') and we pass right side to right side because that's how the Romans did it, passing left side to left side would 'hide' both sides behind their shields so that neither could be sure that the other wasn't about to attack, passing right side to right side means both columns can see exactly what the other is up to.
I doubt mile and military have the same root.
mile came from mille "thousand", meaning 1 mile is 1 thousand paces (a pace being 2 steps, a human step is about 80cm, so 1 mile is about 1.6km). million is square of thousand, thus 2 L's. not 1 L like military.
military in latin is militum of unknown origin.
Far as I'm aware, 'militas' (and hence 'military') is derived from 'miles' (usually written nowadays with a couple of horizontal bars over the vowels) meaning 'soldier'. It could just be a coincidence that military roads were built for and used by 'miles' who built 'mile forts' along Hadrians Wall every mile (distance) - but it probably isn't.
OrkStuff A thousand foot soldiers is a milite.. or a military unit that was used in late Greek times.. the Romans were far more strategic and militant in nature.. they used the centurion systems.. a hundred men as a unit.. ten by ten.. easier control over the ranks and much more easy to move and execute plans with lesser men in a unit..
One thing that might be worth bearing in mind is that when the Romans invaded Britain it was inhabited by Britons who translated the Roman words into British, after the Romans withdrew from Britain the Anglo-Saxons began arriving, eventually they took over most of what is now England and translated the British words into Anglo-Saxon. After the Norman Conquest the modern English language began to develop and the Anglo-Saxon words evolved into modern English. Probably worth considering by anyone who tries to take the short-cut of translating directly from Roman to modern English.
Minor correction - it's called the Imperial System due to the 1824 Imperial Weights and Measure Act, which was a reform of the previous Queen Anne Standards (which the US uses, hence the slightly different sized fluid ounces and the of course the UK pint being 20 Fl.Oz not 16 Fl.Oz).
The word mile has it's root in latin - Old English mīl, based on Latin mil(l)ia, plural of mille ‘thousand’ (the original Roman unit of distance was mille passus ‘a thousand paces’). As for why we go on the left, it's because this gives you the chance to fight using your right arm.
Canadian metrification has to be the strangest hybrid in the world. It got halted in the 1980s with the election of a Conservative government, and wasn't a priority when the Liberals regained power in the early 1990s. If you ask a Canadian how tall they are, they'll answer in feet and inches. If you ask them how far apart two cities are, they'll respond in kilometres. Same for temperature. Weather is reported in celsius, cooking is done using fahrenheit. Milk is sold in litres, butter in pounds and bacon comes in 375 or 500g packages. Beer in bottles is 12 imperial ounces (341 mL) and in 12 US ounce cans (355 mL). They cannabis by the gram, or ounce.
That's it. We should switch to the Canadian system.
That means: The United States are as the same level as Liberia and Myanmar? That's great! Make America great (again?)
Liberia was at one point a us colony
Do you know only USA and Canada use a size of paper for printers and photocopiers? The rest of the entire world standardize on A4 size for printed pages. A3 is twice the width of A4 and A5 is half the height of A4. I think it's American big business trying to be smart (but failing badly).
Your logic is flawed.
@@Account-jn7xu
Give it a week or two....
I love Angelique If I could like a comment more than once... :)
the cost of converting is what's really going to stop it from happening, sadly. the goverment is badly in dept as is and there's a ton of infighting for funds for everyone's pet projects (and personal bank accounts). also there would likely be enormous resistance in the form of public outcry by the ignorant masses that the concept could be halted quickly that way as well.
That’s because to the average yank the rest of the people in the world are a pack of fools, or they fail to realise that there is a world outside of the US.
@@stevenstart8728 no, that's not why at all. youre only seeing a small part of the much much greater picture. see, it has nothing at all to do with anyone's natinality. youre looking at the trees and missing the forest entire, to borrow a metaphore.
"1 stone" lmao xD
indian logic : - we use metric for weather, etc. and imperial for body temperature.
yeah we're weird.
Lolz.
@@jayrodriguez5785 yeah I can confirm that as an indian😂
No... considering in medicine... when having a fever... much more accurate for EVERY degree F, vs. the 2 1/2 degrees of F for 1 degree of C. ...i.e. easier to tell if body temp slowly rising or falling... so NOT “weird” ... just “better” ! 😊
you guys also drink and shit in the same river
Korean logic : - use (hana, dul, set) for hour, age, counting. And (il, i, sam) for minutes, day, year, phone number, costs,etc...
Great video as always April!
The big problem that occurs when making a conversion from one system to another is during the conversion our work is less efficient. When the conversion is finally finished it is more efficient. But we have been stuck half way between the two systems and it is reducing our efficiency. We have been at this halfway point for over 50 years. Let's get it DONE!
Great work April! You're really starting to establish a real style and aesthetic here! Look forward to many more!
April Chan is the name.
Queenslander accent for the curious.
How the hell can you tell where in Oz? It is not like Australia has clear regional accents like the UK or USA.
Believe me you can tell. South Oz has a different accent to the rest of us. As do Queenslanders, especially up North. Clearly you're not an Aussie.
I am a dual citizen of Australia and Taiwan. Born in and spent most of my childhood in Australia. On my dad's side we have family history in Oz dating to the 1800s. Am more NSW/WA though. Qld to me on average stronger accents than most of Oz but still essentially the same accent. SA I admit I have not been to recently but still whatever the variation by world standards it is VERY small if I have to struggle to hear it (I can easily pick some different USA or UK accents and I have never lived in either). I would occasionally be able to pick some differences between WA and NSW or Vic by choice of words, but not by accent. I don't even know what my own accent is NSW or WA... (having lived in both).
Didn't think about where she was from but yeah, a Queenslander by the sound. Southern Queensland. She has a bit of the nasal sound but not as intense as further north. I often go to the State Library in Brisbane and the recorded woman's voice in the lifts is a very strong Qld accent ... I always chuckle at the sound.
@@naguoning tbh I can't blame you, I'd probably have to make educated guesses if someone asked me to identify aussie accents
In Canada, I remember it switched over in the late 70’s when I was a kid. I am familiar with both systems and it gets confusing. Measuring devices up here are still calibrated in both systems. I always find myself converting to imperial but it’s really stupid when you think about it
i like how here in Canada we kinda use both, metric is better but imperial has its perks
The Imperial Collection is not a System!
@Provocateur "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." -April
Imperial system is far from perfect and I agree that metric is better. But the people and the masses of the U.S. are fine with it.
@flip inheck Yes, the metric system is used in science organizations such as NASA. It's the everyday people that use the imperial system in their daily lives. You do know that the customary system is the same as the imperial system, right? Most normal people in the U.S. use imperial units such as inches. Look at tape measures for example. Most people in the U.S. use inches to measure their waists rather than centimeters.
@@captainrogers4894 That's because it gives them a smaller number
@flip inheck The U.S. uses a bit of metric system, yes. But can you please be more specific by what "its own system" is? What is it called? Does it have a name? Because I live in the U.S. and know it as the customary system.
@flip inheck I would be very happy if you gave me a link to this information, btw.
Since when did Britain “commit” to the metric system? Legally, signs must be in Imperial.
Exactly thank you
@@hypotheticlz They still are
Britain is officially metric, in line with the rest of Europe. However, imperial measures are still in use, especially for road distances, which are measured in miles. Imperial pints and gallons are 20 per cent larger than US measures. UK weights and measures
I learned to use first imperial and then metric at school. I can still dimly remember pre decimal money too! I still tend to think in feet and yards and miles but anything short in mm. It's SO MUCH easier to measure 10mm than 3/8ths of an inch. Owning Austin and Morris Minis when i first started to drive helped as all the nut and bolt sizes were imperial, so i know the metric sizes of 1/4, 3/8, 7/16, 5/8, 9/16, 11/16 and 3/4 as i learned to use the metric spanners on those nuts.
How is it easier to measure 10mm than 3/8"? What are you measuring with?
@@fearlesscrusader His penis. It's exactly 10mm long. 😄
The first incident mentioned appears to the the "Gimli Glider" -- a fascinating subject in itself. There are several documentaries about it on UA-cam that will reward watching.
Yeah, it's a great story!
The U.S. does not use the imperial system. Imperial gallons have 160 ounces, but the ounces are smaller than U.S. ounces. It's really the American system.
Once again, America just making things difficult.
Imperial and the U.S. Customary System are not the same thing.
United States customary units are a system of measurements commonly used in the United States. The United States customary system (USCS or USC) developed from English units which were in use in the British Empire before the U.S. became an independent country. However, the United Kingdom's system of measures was overhauled in 1824 to create the imperial system, changing the definitions of some units. Therefore, while many U.S. units are essentially similar to their Imperial counterparts, there are significant differences between the systems.
In the UK we still use imperial alot, on signs we use miles instead of km, when asking how tall someone is, we still use feet. We still use mph instead of kph. Half of us still use stone to measure our weight. We still use yards on signs too
For baking, I use both. Weighing ingredients using metric, and sometimes using cup measurements. However, weighing ingredients is more accurate. Doesn't bother me either way.
As an American, I have no issues with the imperial system, and see no need to switch.
But why the hell do we use MM/DD/YYYY?!?! This makes no sense.
I agree... and when ever I'm dealing with people overseas (I'm in Australia, if you aren't, you're overseas) I use DD mmm YYY... eg today is 15 oct 018.
its because if you have noticed, we tend to say the month before the day. example would be: October *insert day* .
We should all use YYYY-MM-DD. ISO 8601 master race
You'd just say October 17th.
Maybe because calendars only have twelve pages. I've never seen a calendar with 31 pages. Every calendar I've ever seen has the name of the month on top, even on electronics. I'd hate to see calendars made to satisfy a DD/MM/YY layout. lolol
The only time will use the metric system in the United States is when dealing drugs
Is this from Craig Ferguson?? 😂😂
says Eric, the expert drug dealer
You too use it in science, trade, military and engineering so basically everywhere...
@@alex_inside I bet you're fun at parties
@@Anatol_SG My 7th grade science teacher
I have converted most of my recipes to metric because I weigh most of the ingredients, and it is much easier to scale a recipe in metric. In my Chemistry and Physics classes at university, we only used metric.
Good work!!!
4:25 - there are some road signs in Louisville that are in Metric.
all cars made in the United States and Canada are built with metric bolt nuts and screws. and food uses it. I have a Chrysler minivan with a metric speedometer kilometers large miles per hour small.
You know that always pisses me off when I reach for a wrench for my 97 GMC pickup, only to find out some bolts are metric.
The Imperial system was based on body parts, ie. the inch was the length of the first section of the thumb. (The French word for thumb, is 'inch.') the foot, is obvious, and the yard was the distance from the tip of the thumb, to the nearest ear, while the metre was to the tip of the nose. This allowed people to measure things roughly, before tape-measures and rulers became universally available.
The origins date back hundreds or maybe thousands of years, but gradually became standardised during the industrial revolution..
The width of the tracks on the US rail system, is the same as that of the UK. This is because in the early days of the industrial revolution, the rail system came from the UK.
The width of the rails in the UK, was based on the width of the wheels of carts pulled by horses. This was traditional, and dated back to Roman times. The Romans set that width, because it was the width required when a chariot was pulled by two horses.
So, the width of the rails in the USA's is based on the width of two horses arses!😎
To say thumb in French we say "pouce" not "inch". ;)
@@tonyhawk94
Translation of English ''Inch'' to French, = ''Pouce.''
Therefore inch equals thumb in French.
It isn't a French invention. It was the English Bishop John Wilkins who first proposed a standardised system for measuring things in a book entitled "Universal measure" in 1668. Translated into Latin in 1675 by the Italian Tito Livio Burattini the title became Misura Universale and for the first time used the words "Metro Cattolico" meaning universal measure. The Italian (Latin) word metro became mètre in France, metre in England, and meter in the USA. In 1780 the Frenchman Jean Charles de Borda argued that the single word mètre should be used instead of an expression like John Wilkins' universal measure. Actual counting in decimals had been around since ancient times but wasn't recognised as really important in Europe until the Flemish Simon Stevin published 'Disme: the art of tenths in 1585. John Wilkins was influenced by Simon Stevin's book and adopted the decimal system for his ideas in Universal Measure. The system as a whole was widely implemented by the French after the revolution to standardise measurements across France. Thomas Jefferson also read Simon Stevin's book and along with the French model explains why US Dollars were decimalised instead of following the imperial system of the former colonies.
The first practical realisation of the metric system came in 1799, during
the French Revolution, when the existing system of measures, which had
become impractical for trade, was replaced by a decimal system based on
the kilogram and the metre.
The basic units were taken from the natural world:
The unit of length, the metre, was based on the dimensions of the Earth,
and the unit of mass.
The kilogram, was based on the mass of water having a volume of one litre
or a cubic decimetre.
Reference copies for both units were manufactured in platinum and remained
the standards of measure for the following 90 years.
After a period of reversion to the 'Mesures Usuelles' due to unpopularity
of the metric system, the metrification of France as well as much of
Europe was complete by mid-19th-century.
In the middle of the 19th century, James Clerk 'Maxwell' put forward the
concept of a coherent system where a small number of units of measure were
defined as base units, and all other units of measure, called derived units,
were defined in terms of the base units.
Maxwell proposed three base units:
Length - Mass and Time.
Advances in electro-magnetism in the 19th century necessitated new units
to be defined, and multiple incompatible systems of such units came into
usage; none could be reconciled with the existing system of mechanical units.
This impasse was resolved by Giovanni Giorgi, who in 1901 proved that a
coherent system that incorporated electro-magnetic units had to have an
electro-magnetic unit as a fourth base unit.
The seminal 1875 Treaty of the Metre resulted in the fashioning and
distribution of metre and kilogram artefacts, the standards of the future
coherent system that became the SI, and the creation of an international
body - Conférence générale des poids et mesures - or CGPM to oversee
systems of weights and measures based on them.
In 1960, the CGPM launched the International System of Units
The - Système International d'unités - or SI as it is also known.
The Système International had six "base units":
1. Metre,
2. kilogram,
3. Second
4. Ampere
5. Degree Kelvin
6. Candela
.... as well as 16 further units derived from the base units.
A seventh base unit, the mole, and six additional derived units were added
in succeeding years through the close of the twentieth century.
During this period, the metre was redefined in terms of the speed of light,
and the second was redefined in terms of the microwave frequency of a
Cesium atomic clock.
Since the end of the 20th century, an effort has been undertaken to redefine
the ampere, kilogram, mole and kelvin in terms of invariant constants of physics.
Forgot the grinding of the Hubble lens.
that had nothing to do with metric or imperial
I take chemistry this year so I learned the metric system and it’s pretty easy I prefer it than the customary
The lady in the clip explained that so fluently, well done 👍
in the late '70's the US federal government did start placing speed limit signs on the interstates which dd not last long as most drivers confused 80k/h signs for 80 m/h and were taken down for safety reasons. now it is not uncommon to see 80 m/h signs, but back then 55 mph was the legal limit.
You know what it's like working on a car in the U.S. that's standard and metric? 2 sets of tools. Leave us alone already.
That car wasn't properly imported. European car makers make cars for US export and they use your system, not metric. Just like when I buy Ford in Europe, I get it in metric, not "imperial". So my point is, complain to the customer, not the US or EU or...you get my point :)
edit: I just read about Tooling industry in US back in the day and how messy that was and how you ended up using both systems.
I can't imagine how messy that situation is
I did not wish to delete my ignorant remark that I made earlier, it's not "wrong" but it's off topic :)
I think as an American and engineering/science student, I had to learn and use metric, but I still think and visualize in pounds, miles, gallon etc. I think having a mix system depending on usage is acceptable.
Your right so was I, but if your an engineer like me you must use the one system.
@@scooters47 depending on what I'm doing. On the roads and how I visualize(everyday life) it inches, ft, miles, gallon etc. I know how to use matric if needed to for school/work. So I use both
*metric, sorry auto correct
I (American) studied abroad in Ireland for a year and while I was able to get the hang of most metric measurements pretty quickly, I struggled so hard with Celcius. Even after months of living there and looking at weather reports daily, I always needed to check what the temperature was in Fahrenheit because I just couldn't wrap my head around Celcius no matter how hard I tried.
As a southamerican engineer: nah. You only need metric.
I would say that UK has poorly adopted it as well.
We have over adapted especially in selling petrol by the litre. We still only use MPG.
The UK gallon is the proper one and not the much smaller USA one!
We used £sd until the 70s so yeah we come a long way
We use both in the UK for most if not all things, fluids/weights and measurements, even tools are in both imperial and metric.
I doubt America will ever switch to the metric system
They will have to coopb, all of the Scientific community worldwide is now Metric, so American Universities will have to update their curricullums if they have not done so already, this will flow on to the High schools, then elementary etc, etc otherwise it will be hard for American students to compete in a scientific field even in America, give it 20 years and most states will have changed over to the Metric system.
Only 50 years behind most of the world.
@@gregedwards1087 it's already being used in the United States in the scientific field. I grew up in Virginia and ever since elementary school SI standard the only thing we used in science class. They have whole courses on it in the younger grades. most Americans aren't very good with metric but I know how to do relatively simple conversions from metric to customary in my head.
@@coopboulton, I know, it was only a few years ago that all Scientific endeavors in the States went over to it totally, what I find funny is your comment about most Americans not being very good with the simplest and most effective system of weights and measures yet devised, lol.
At my school in the US we learned both.
@@lildeerslayer8941 witch did you find better simpler?
Didn't see the source and was not expecting that accent when I turned the volume up. Interesting video though.
In the UK we still use parts of the imperial system in casual conversation. For example weighing people in pounds or measuring height in ft but most of the time the metric system is used.
The USCS and imperial system are not the same. Both the system derive from older English units. Colonial America used to use this one. After the revolutionary war and formation of the US, Britain changed from English units to imperial units. The US also adopted a variant of English units, now known as US customary units
Stupid people will say that it will be expensive to change,but they probably don't even think that the later they switch,the more expensive it will be.
That's why they will _never_ really switch. All that's going on are slight transitions, where it doesn't cost much (like on drinking bottles). And there's nothing stupid about saying that, because that's just how it is. The only stupid thing is to defend the imperial system for alleged advantages, that actually do not exist when eliminating any argument that is simply based on already existing conditions and references. But the immense cost of a complete switch is a fact, no one is willing to pay these astronomic amounts. All we can hope for are future generations getting more and more used to metric, until imperial becomes a relic and eventually fades away. But that process can last for centuries =)
@@misatzu if it will change, then it's good, I'm not saying that it needs to be done instantly, it needs to be changed started with the one's who are costing more and more, or by states, if nothing will happen then they won't change their outdated system
Why bother changing systems just gives government the scope for upping taxes. Litre is too small for buying fuel a gallon is more usefull, I use both.
@@chrisedwards7203 it's not small if you're not used to it, and as I said, it needs to be changed, not at the same time, if it will be splitted, it can be done not that expensive, leaving as is will make future transition only more expensive
@@chrisedwards7203 How is buying 0.75 or 2.5 or 4.25 gallons of gas more *useful than buying 3 or 5 or 16 liters of gas?
It actually bothers me slightly as it's when they refer to it as the 'Imperial' system as it's even only a Hybrid of that as well. The US Quart, Oz, gallon etc is different in volume than the Imperial units.
Which gallon you are talking about, there is many different gallons, miles, etc.
@@danielkowalski8555 The Imperial gallon is 4.54 liters and the US gallon is 3.79 liters. I am unaware of any other US or Imperial gallons.
*_...the Second [_**_02:34_**_] is Old English measure-the French Committee could have chosen Yards and Pounds and talked up kiloyards, micropounds-but, Hours, Minutes, Seconds, already had more major international consistency so they didn't, it's not Metric but most common (cf Esperanto)-real Metric Time the Hesit and kilohesit Demur are defined the way the Earth-based Meter was defined..._*
I well remember the new speed signs in Australia and lessons being taught in primary school to get us all accustomed to the changes. My first car in 1980 was built in 1968 so the speedo (yes, we call that dial a speedo) was in mph. Australia already had converted from UK currency to dollars and cents in the early 60s so this was just one more innovation to make life easier.
1966 is when you changed your currency. I know someone with a last generation Isuzu Trooper here in Ireland registered in the early to mid 2000’s. The speedo has both metric and Imperial.