Hi John,
A real-life example of unit mix-ups can be seen at https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcommons.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3AJhb-township-map-1890.jpg&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C30647fd203ca46d3c40e08d7f597ff2d%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637247905486938065&sdata=MElU2PUUGEMPo6o%2FI8JzVbIUA9Pn5wWWRL6U25%2F6keA%3D&reserved=0 which was probably the result of one surveyor using English feet and another using Cape feet (1.033 English feet). The “kink” can be seen on Google Earth at https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Fmaps%2F%40-26.2006672%2C28.0450276%2C3a%2C75y%2C6.97h%2C97.53t%2Fdata%3D!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sQLBkQRVBGMRzk_w84cfdGA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C30647fd203ca46d3c40e08d7f597ff2d%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637247905486938065&sdata=d6KxSckh62Fh93TGvkEPkzLxqdM4pCJoBCs7TeW3bHs%3D&reserved=0 . If you want to read up about the “Cape” units of measure, please visit https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Faf.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FKaapse_maateenhede&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C30647fd203ca46d3c40e08d7f597ff2d%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637247905486938065&sdata=riyob1YQzhichj4plwHZbZpvS2mJ4lJKgAGl7%2B5hx08%3D&reserved=0 and if you cannot read Afrikaans, right-click and translate into English. I am sure that similar examples exist in the states that were once part of the colonial empires of countries other than the UK. (eg Texas, Louisiana, Florida etc). Martin From: John Nichols [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 11 May 2020 00:23 To: Martin Vlietstra; [email protected] Subject: RE: [USMA 1364] Teaching students Martin: Yes, but a student who misses the class will not learn about the term and miss the answer on the exam. It is a way of taking attendance in a simple way. Barley corns stuff up Texas students. Heymann used BC in his 1998 engineering book so I have no trouble justifying its use. Stay well John John Nichols Construction Science, College of Architecture | Texas A&M University ph: 979.845.6541 | [email protected] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tamu.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C30647fd203ca46d3c40e08d7f597ff2d%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637247905486938065&sdata=rfUbH0Dzh4V86sGMZI8KXOF5qcIw6ZUq2abNk%2Ftw5hM%3D&reserved=0> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tamu.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C30647fd203ca46d3c40e08d7f597ff2d%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637247905486938065&sdata=rfUbH0Dzh4V86sGMZI8KXOF5qcIw6ZUq2abNk%2Ftw5hM%3D&reserved=0 From: Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 10 May 2020 5:53 PM To: 'John Nichols' <[email protected]>; [email protected] Subject: RE: [USMA 1364] Teaching students Hi John, I was brought up in South Africa and am reasonably fluent in Afrikaans. If you used the word “tree” (singular) or “treë“ (plural) (which was a legal unit in South Africa and which the Afrikaans word for “yard”, I would either translate the word back into “yards” or submit the answer in Afrikaans. A Welsh student would do the same if the word “Llath” appeared in their question. Martin From: John Nichols [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 10 May 2020 23:38 To: Martin Vlietstra; [email protected] Subject: RE: [USMA 1364] Teaching students Yes but do you think a student at a Texas University knows that – lol – would you argue with your Prof – only an idiot does – like me. I once had a student come in with an 89 and said he needed an A, I said show me a number system where 89 is larger than 90 and I will give you an A Answer:: 1,2,3, 4,5,6,7,9,8,10 He could not answer and I said that is why you got a B no imagination. I had another student come in and say the same thing, I asked him what he was doing over the summer, he said learning to fly jets of a carrier in the Med for the Iraq war, he is the only student I ever upgraded. My Great uncle died in the RAAF flying. You are of course correct, but never let the truth get in the road of a good lesson. John Nichols Construction Science, College of Architecture | Texas A&M University ph: 979.845.6541 | [email protected] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tamu.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C30647fd203ca46d3c40e08d7f597ff2d%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637247905486938065&sdata=rfUbH0Dzh4V86sGMZI8KXOF5qcIw6ZUq2abNk%2Ftw5hM%3D&reserved=0> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tamu.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C30647fd203ca46d3c40e08d7f597ff2d%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637247905486938065&sdata=rfUbH0Dzh4V86sGMZI8KXOF5qcIw6ZUq2abNk%2Ftw5hM%3D&reserved=0 From: Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 10 May 2020 5:31 PM To: 'John Nichols' <[email protected]>; [email protected] Subject: RE: [USMA 1364] Teaching students I am not totally convinced that the “llath” is a legal unit throughout the United Kingdom – it certainly appears on Welsh road signs and AFAIK is the correct word to use when you are speaking Welsh, but I am not convinced that it is legal outside Wales. From: USMA [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Nichols Sent: 10 May 2020 21:46 To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA 1364] Teaching students It is very easy to demonstrate to a class of Freshman the stupidity of the Imperial System used in the USA. 1. Teach then about a cigarette – a legal length in Texas 2. Tell them about stones once in class and the use it in the exam 3. Use barley corns 4. A llath is a great UK unit – it is legal in the UK so I tell me students it is acceptable here 5. Do all board work in feet and change to inches in the exam -- Then set a math problem – A building weighs 4000000 stone, what is the ground pressure if the building is 2/3 of a cigarette by 200 llaths in kg/ squared bc. Who said you cannot fix stupid. John Nichols
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