It would seem that to many people not fully conversant in metric, the centimeter is the metric inch.
Carleton From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill Hooper Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 14:49 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:40586] Inappropriate use of centi- On 2008 Mar 13 , at 9:52 PM, Ziser, Jesse wrote: ... I got a spec for a piece of hardware-interface software I'm supposed to write. It said that several of the ... quantities are ... in what it called "centi-Amps" ... Theat's one of the reasons to try to persuade people not to use centimetres (but use millimetres instead). The centimetre is virtually the ONLY currently used SI unit that is incorporates the "centi-" prefix. True, it is still recognized as legitimate SI, but we can simplify SI still further by avoiding (and eventually eliminating) the "centi-" prefix (along with deci, deka and hecto). Continuing to accept its use in "centimetre", although widespread, causes some otherwise well-meaning and knowledgable people to extend it to other units that have traditionally NEVER been measured in centi-units. Electric current is measured in amperes (A), and traditionally in milliamperes (mA) for smaller currents. Microamperes (µA), kiloamperes (kA) and other power-of-1000 multiples and sub-multiples are also used, but NEVER have I seen centiamperes! And if it were to be used it would be called "centiamperes" (cA) not "centi-Amps". Bill Hooper 1810 mm tall Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA ========================== SImplification Begins With SI. ==========================
