On 2004 Apr 10 , at 12:24 AM, Mighty Chimp quoted someone named Baycolony as saying:
the 1/4 stat.ml. running track of the NCAA, is 4h/m 2-/m 3 di/m 3 c/m 7 m/m long. It therefore follows that the International Amateur Athletic Federation’s 4 h/m race can easily fit onto the NCAA track.and he asked if anyone could translate the "gibberish". I don't know for sure but I think I have figured out what the above means.
Error 1. The writer is incorrectly using metric prefixes by inserting a slash between the prefix and the unit. I believe, when he/she writes "4h/m" he/she means "4 hm" (four hectometres or 400 m).
Error 2. The one term "2-/m" apparently means just "2 m" (two metres). The poor dope didn't know what to do when there was no prefix so he put in a hyphen.
Error 3. Also, he/she didn't know the correct symbol for deci and used "di/m" for "decimetre" (dam).
Thus the string of values "4h/m 2-/m 3 di/m 3 c/m 7 m/m" means "4 hm, 2m, 3 dm, 3 cm, 7 mm".
Error 4. He/she is obviously writing metric dimensions improperly, using a combination of units strung together instead of showing it all in one unit. The above therefore means "402.337 m" (or 4.02337 hm or 40233.7 cm, etc.). he/she is using the old fashioned Olde English scheme, such as writing a height in feet and inches, "5 ft. 8 inches tall", or a mass in pounds and ounces, "6 lbs. 10 oz.". Of course, the result is strung out to ridiculous extremes. (I wonder if he would every report that a 5 kilometre race was equal to "3 miles, 187 yards, 3 feet, 2 inches, and 1/64th of an inch"???)
Assuming I am correct, then his table of values below would translate as I've shown after each:
5 dam (or 50 m) raceNCAA RUNNING TRACK 1/4 stat.fur. race or 5 da/m race
1/2 stat.fur race or 1 h/m race1 hm (or 100 m) race
1 stat.fur. race or 2 h/m race2 hm (or 200 m) race
1/4 stat.ml. race or 4 h/m race4 hm (or 400 m) race
1/2 stat.ml. race or 8 h/m race8 hm or 800 m) race
1 stat.ml. race or 1 k/m 6 h/m race1.6 km (or 1600 m) race
One can't help but suspect that this person is vehemently anti-metric and is doing his or her damnedest to make it look complicated.
Regards, Bill Hooper Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA ======================== SIMPLIFICATION begins with SI ========================
