You write, John, that exercising "how many nanometers in a kilometer" just teaches children to hate the metric system. I cannot agree more. US teachers do not understand that metric is a linguistic, not mathematical task. The resistance to learning a foreign language among the US and British populations is legendary and also understandable. Learning metric is a matter of learning a foreign language, where ten, thousand, million, tenth, hundredths, billions, etc. and the names of units, are foreign words that everybody in the world learns, mathematics or not. Most teachers wouldn't think of asking "how many meters are in thousand metres? Or how many grams are in thousand grams? Kilo IS thousand. Missing this point probably stems from the language of oz, in, ft, etc., blindly applied to SI, not realizing that the prefixes, e.g., kilo, mega, piko, deci, are simply the "metric" names for the powers of ten. The only difference is - those power names are written together with the unit rather then with the space(s) as in "tenths of an inch," or "thousand tons." Stan Jakuba
On Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 6:57 PM, John M. Steele <[email protected]>wrote: > I don't believe there is or was a troy ton; I've never seen a definition. > Rowlett's Units of Measures says the troy pound was abolished in 1878 (I > presume in the UK) to avoid confusion with the av. pound. (But Handbook 44 > defines the troy pound as 12 troy oz.) > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Henschel Mark <[email protected]> > > *To:* U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > *Cc:* U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Mon, April 8, 2013 6:24:02 PM > *Subject:* [USMA:52639] RE: The U.S. Isn't as Anti-metric as You Think > > When we get to tons, however, the situation is reversed. If I remember > correctly and avoirdupois ton is heavier than a troy ton. > > Mark > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]> > Date: Monday, April 8, 2013 4:51 pm > Subject: [USMA:52637] RE: The U.S. Isn't as Anti-metric as You Think > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > > > Question: Which is heavier, an ounce of feathers or an ounce of gold? > > Answer: An ounce of gold because it would be a troy ounce, while > > an ounce of > > feathers would be an avoirdupois ounce. > > > > How many people would believe this? > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > > On Behalf > > Of [email protected] > > Sent: 08 April 2013 19:10 > > To: U.S. Metric Association > > Subject: [USMA:52631] The U.S. Isn't as Anti-metric as You Think > > > > The recent exchange on this list about radiological units raises > > a bigger > > point that is often missed in discussions on the metric vs. customary > > systems with the public. When it comes to most > > measurements, people are not > > as wedded to the customary system as they think. > > > > Outside of a few common measurements in ordinary life -- the > > inch, the mile, > > the pound perhaps -- customary units don't make that much > > difference to > > people. If you say that the speed of light is 300,000 k/s > > or 186,000 mi/s, > > how many people comprehend either? The measures are used > > primarily for > > comparison or for standards. > > > > Ask people how many feet there are in a mile. Most don't > > know. Ask people > > how many ounces there are in a pound. Most don't > > know. Most don't know > > that there is a troy ounce used to measure gold and an > > avoirdupois ounce to > > measure everything else. Ask people how many ounces there > > are in a quart. > > Most don't know. Most don't even know that the ounce of > > mass and the ounce > > of fluid are different. > > > > The metric system is a rational system that is easily > > understood, once > > people get past the notion of trying to "convert." The > > quiz show "Are You > > Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" recently had a third-grade > > question: "How > > many decimetres are there in a metre?" This is what puts > > people off using > > the metric system. When was the last time that you used a > > decimetre? > > Whenever metric measurements have been introduced as a standard, > > there has > > been no public outcry. Have you heard of any public outcry > > to return to > > measuring pills in grains rather than milligrams? Have you > > heard of any > > public outcry to return to measuring wine in fluid ounces rather than > > millilitres? Do people even know how many fluid ounces > > there are in a > > bottle of wine? Do they even care? > > > > All this folderol about opposition to metric "conversion" is a > > red herring. > > I decided in my daily conversations not to use feet or inches, > > but metres > > and centimetres/millimitres. Not once has anyone asked me: > > how long is that? > > > > One of the websites that I founded has used SI metric only for > > almost twenty > > years now. The site has nothing to do with science or > > engineering, but > > social issues. Most of the readers are from the United > > States. Not once in > > twenty years has anyone even commented on the exclusive use of > > metric. I > > think that our motto should be: Just do it! > > > > Martin Morrison > > Metric Training & Eductional Columnist > > USMA's "Metric Today" > > > > >
