2002-12-11 The term micron is not an SI unit. It should not be used. In fact it is deprecated. The correct name for 10^-6 m is micrometre (pronounced my-crow-meet-er). You are correct in stating that the micrometer (my-crom-eh-ter) is a measuring device. The difference in both the pronunciation and the meaning of the words is distinguished by the spelling. One ends in -er and the other in -re.
But, some people (Americans) insist on spelling metre and litre with the -er ending, thus creating confusion. They can't seem to get it through their thick skulls that there is a logic in spelling the metric units differently from similar units with the -er spelling. The metre is a unit of length, the meter is a device used to measure. The litre (pronounced lee-ter) is a metric unit of volume (but not SI) and is distinguished by the -re spelling from liter (pronounced light-er), which has taken on the meaning of less fat, or a type of magic marker (hi-liter). Remember.....spell it with -re! John ----- Original Message ----- From: "John David Galt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, 2002-12-11 15:34 Subject: [USMA:23927] Re: Shoe sizes > > There is no such thing as a 'decimillimetre'. You cannot combine > > prefixes. You would need to say 0.1 millimetre or 100 micrometre. > ^^^^^^^^^^ > Shouldn't that word be micron? At least in the USA, a "micrometer" is a > gadget for measuring small distances, not a distance itself. >
