Metric Moments
You are probably more "metric"
than you think! Often, Americans will say that they don't understand the
metric system (actually, the SI) because they never use it. But take a
look at the list below and see if you haven't done many of these things:
Americans are using metric units
when they:
-
buy pencil leads (0.5 mm or 0.7 mm),
-
buy pens with widths in milllimeters,
-
buy soft drinks, bottled water, and fruit juices by the milliliter or by the liter ,
-
buy wine or distilled spirits (only metric sizes
are allowed),
-
tell time (the second is a metric unit),
-
look at the labels on retail goods (dual labeled
since 1994),
-
buy and use eyeglasses, cameras, and binoculars,
-
read publications that include metric units,
-
hear or read about 5 km, 10 km, and marathon (42.195 km, per IAAF) races,
-
watch or read about the Olympic events,
-
watch or participate in many high school and college
swim, track, and field meets that are now metricated,
-
buy almost any imported goods (e.g., olive oil, candies,
gourmet foods),
-
buy a car (American or foreign) or parts for one,
-
compare car engine sizes (in liters, of course),
-
buy flower seeds or many of the nursery plants,
-
use DVDs, CD-ROMs and CDs (120 mm
diameter),
-
compare computer monitors based on pixel (dot) pitch
in millimeters,
-
compare computer speeds in gigahertz,
-
buy bicycle hardware,
-
purchase skis,
-
sew with patterns which show metric units,
-
buy colognes/perfumes and many hair care products,
-
buy mouthwashes and some health care aids,
-
buy and use some of the newer models of home appliances,
-
buy food for dogs, cats, and other pets,
-
take any medicines (prescription or over the counter),
-
read NASA pages for many programs (e.g., the Stardust
mission),
-
attend American public schools (or most of the private
schools),
-
buy light bulbs ("watt", "volt", and "lumen" are SI
units),
-
replace a fuse or reset a breaker (the ampere is
an SI unit),
-
pay their electric bills,
-
look at one side of almost any ruler (e.g., 30 cm
or 12 inch),
-
look at the markings on their kitchen measuring cups
and spoons,
-
read sizes on many baking pans and casserole dishes,
-
count their carbohydrate, fat, and fiber intakes in grams,
-
watch their sodium intake in milligrams,
-
look at nutrition labels on food,
-
buy pencil leads (0.5 mm or 0.7 mm),
-
use Sweet'n'Low, NutraSweet, etc. (1 g per packet),
-
calculate their Body Mass Index (BMI) which is one's
mass in kilograms divided by the square of one's height in meters,
-
buy metric fasteners for VESA TV mounts, bicycles, etc.,
-
tune a radio to a station (megahertz and kilohertz
are SI units),
-
set their word processor programs to use centimeters
for margins and positioning,
-
have body temperatures taken (most doctors and hospitals
now use metric thermometers),
-
are treated by or work as almost any health care
professional (doctors, therapists, dietitians),
-
have babies in hospitals that use metric scales to
record babies' weight and height,
-
read metric road signs in some states,
-
read digital air temperature signs at banks and stores,
-
travel outside the United States,
-
hear or read international news,
-
meet foreign tourists, or
— Are you ready for a surprise? —
- use measurement units defined in terms
of the metric system, such as the gallon (and the quart, pint, cup, and
fluid ounce), the bushel (and the peck and dry quart), the yard (and the
inch, foot, fathom, mile, statute mile, nautical mile), the pound (and
the ounce avoirdupois), and the troy pound (and troy ounce).
The
old United States standards for the gallon, bushel, yard, and pound now
reside unused in a museum in Gaithersburg MD. Those old unit names now
(since 1893!) are merely names given to strange multiples of metric
units. It would be easier, of course, to use metric prefixes instead.
Why measure things by multiples of 2.54 cm (the "inch") when one could
more easily use multiples of 1 cm? There are 100 000 cm in 1 km and
there are 63 360 inches in one mile. Which number represents the
easier math?
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