Keith Tanner said:
In reply to dean1484 :
On a similar note, there's a reason that runners race 5k and 10k races instead of 3 and 6 miles* :)
Kids at gas stations are impressed by the speedo in my Canadian Miata that goes to 220.
* yes, I am rounding for convenience
Yes, but a marathon is officially 26.2 miles according to the IAAF. Something to do with the distance between the lawn of Windsor Castle and the finish at the royal box of the Olympic stadium in the 1908 Olympics.
The distance then was extended to the imperial measurement of 26 miles at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, and increased another 385 yards when the starting line was pulled back so it could be seen by the children in the Royal Nursery at Windsor and still finish in front of Queen Alexandra at the White City Stadium in west London.
I was so hoping the USA would have fully switched to metric by this point in my lifetime.
I wish there would just be a federal law passed to switch to metric as of June 1, 2024. By 2035, most people will think of American Units like we think of VHS and leaded gasoline.
I will say, I worked at a locally owned manufacturing business in the US that was full metric. We sent prints to a large machine shop in Canada (Toronto area) and they asked us to redo our prints in inches, because their guys were not used to working in metric. I went up to visit their shop and noticed that all of the local real estate was being advertised in square feet. Items in the grocery store seemed to be a mix.
Sure, the speed limit and fuel were metric, but a lot wasn't. It seemed that if the government had a hand in it, it was metric. If people were left to do what they wanted, it was imperial. This was 2012 or so. Consequently, I take the whole thing of Canada being metric with a grain of salt.
I am an engineer, so I prefer metric because picking all four units in a four unit system is idiotic.
In reply to matthewmcl :
The machine shop probably used inches because of the influence of the US. If they do business in inches, they'll have an easier time working with the huge US market. Kinda like how it's easy to cash an American check in Canada but difficult to cash a Canadian cheque in the US.
My family thinks in metric for volume, weight, speed, temperature and distance/length. Might think of pounds for weight of people, I'm not sure - we don't discuss it much :) Everything in the grocery store is sold in metric and may have a supplimentary weight/volume in imperial, but it's always metric at least. Including things sold by weight like meat, it's priced per kg.
Toyman! said:
Keith Tanner said:
In reply to dean1484 :
On a similar note, there's a reason that runners race 5k and 10k races instead of 3 and 6 miles* :)
Kids at gas stations are impressed by the speedo in my Canadian Miata that goes to 220.
* yes, I am rounding for convenience
Yes, but a marathon is officially 26.2 miles according to the IAAF. Something to do with the distance between the lawn of Windsor Castle and the finish at the royal box of the Olympic stadium in the 1908 Olympics.
The distance then was extended to the imperial measurement of 26 miles at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, and increased another 385 yards when the starting line was pulled back so it could be seen by the children in the Royal Nursery at Windsor and still finish in front of Queen Alexandra at the White City Stadium in west London.
Yeah, it's the one that's a bit different. Although I can tell you that Canadian marathoners call it 42.2 km :)
For metric/SAE conversion weirdness...
Dry brewers yeast comes in 500g bricks.
The recommended dosing rate is 80g/hL (hecto-liters = 100 liters), that's an appropriate amount for 6.25 hL. Which is a size multiple that not much brewing equipment is manufactured in multiples of.
However, that is almost exactly equal to 5 bbls (31 gallons/bbl), which *is* a common size that equipment is built in multiples of.
So dry yeast measured out in metric is packaged in sizes more appropriate to SAE applications than to metric ones.
I re-iterate my favorite complaint about the metrification of Canada- 3/4 inch plywood is now 18mm thick.
Beer Baron said:
For metric/SAE conversion weirdness...
Dry brewers yeast comes in 500g bricks.
The recommended dosing rate is 80g/hL (hecto-liters = 100 liters), that's an appropriate amount for 6.25 hL. Which is a size multiple that not much brewing equipment is manufactured in multiples of.
However, that is almost exactly equal to 5 bbls (31 gallons/bbl), which *is* a common size that equipment is built in multiples of.
So dry yeast measured out in metric is packaged in sizes more appropriate to SAE applications than to metric ones.
North American soda (and quite possibly beer) is a fun one. For the biggest bottles, metric wins and everyone uses 2L. For the small containers, imperial wins and the metric sizes are things like 355 and 591 mL. That's the cross-border influence, in Europe the sizes are fully metric.
Toyman! said:
Keith Tanner said:
In reply to dean1484 :
On a similar note, there's a reason that runners race 5k and 10k races instead of 3 and 6 miles* :)
Kids at gas stations are impressed by the speedo in my Canadian Miata that goes to 220.
* yes, I am rounding for convenience
Yes, but a marathon is officially 26.2 miles according to the IAAF. Something to do with the distance between the lawn of Windsor Castle and the finish at the royal box of the Olympic stadium in the 1908 Olympics.
The distance then was extended to the imperial measurement of 26 miles at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, and increased another 385 yards when the starting line was pulled back so it could be seen by the children in the Royal Nursery at Windsor and still finish in front of Queen Alexandra at the White City Stadium in west London.
Just want to say -sports with these kinds of rules always make me laugh. That extra .2 miles was purely for the entertainment of children and has led to much suffering by marathoners. Think of how much extra distance has been run over the past 115 years because of that change.
My wife has started playing tennis, and the rule set sounds exactly like someone codified Calvinball. It's the least logical set of rules I've ever seen.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I once had to explain to an account that we couldn't match the price on a competitors kegs because we were already cheaper. They were using "half-hecto", 50L kegs, and we use 1/2bbl (15.5 gallon) kegs which are larger. When adjusted for the $/volume, our beer was actually cheaper.
I get annoyed buying European beers that are 500mL containers, but labeled in standard as "One Pint 0.9 fluid ounces". If you're going to do ounces, just write out the number! Especially since a U.S. pint and an Imperial pint are NOT the same. If it's 500mL, just write that.
In reply to Beer Baron :
Are there US labeling requirements that say the volume has to be in imperial?
Beer Baron said:
For metric/SAE conversion weirdness...
Dry brewers yeast comes in 500g bricks.
The recommended dosing rate is 80g/hL (hecto-liters = 100 liters), that's an appropriate amount for 6.25 hL. Which is a size multiple that not much brewing equipment is manufactured in multiples of.
However, that is almost exactly equal to 5 bbls (31 gallons/bbl), which *is* a common size that equipment is built in multiples of.
So dry yeast measured out in metric is packaged in sizes more appropriate to SAE applications than to metric ones.
The automotive world is full of SAE measurements with an awkward conversion to metric. My absolute favorite is the 6.35mm pitch timing chain used by Honda, because Honda didn't really have a reason to not make it metric instead of 1/4" pitch.
Keith Tanner said:
Toyman! said:
Keith Tanner said:
In reply to dean1484 :
On a similar note, there's a reason that runners race 5k and 10k races instead of 3 and 6 miles* :)
Kids at gas stations are impressed by the speedo in my Canadian Miata that goes to 220.
* yes, I am rounding for convenience
Yes, but a marathon is officially 26.2 miles according to the IAAF. Something to do with the distance between the lawn of Windsor Castle and the finish at the royal box of the Olympic stadium in the 1908 Olympics.
The distance then was extended to the imperial measurement of 26 miles at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, and increased another 385 yards when the starting line was pulled back so it could be seen by the children in the Royal Nursery at Windsor and still finish in front of Queen Alexandra at the White City Stadium in west London.
Just want to say -sports with these kinds of rules always make me laugh. That extra .2 miles was purely for the entertainment of children and has led to much suffering by marathoners. Think of how much extra distance has been run over the past 115 years because of that change.
My wife has started playing tennis, and the rule set sounds exactly like someone codified Calvinball. It's the least logical set of rules I've ever seen.
But Keith, it's for the children. How can you refuse?
Besides, that .2 separates the real athletes from the pretenders. For me, that .2 comes before the 26 instead of after. 
Why d6ont we go full Australian and measure engine power in Kilowatts?
In Puerto Rico, highway signs use metric for distance and standard for speed limits.
Four pages of people being upset about this stuff..for me units of measure are just a fun - interesting - quaint tie to history.
Anyway, I've got to go as I've only got 0.72 kilowarho to get ready for a business trip.
Appleseed said:
Why d6ont we go full Australian and measure engine power in Kilowatts?
How about Pferdestärke like in Japan?
Keith Tanner said:
In reply to Beer Baron :
Are there US labeling requirements that say the volume has to be in imperial?
Not that I'm aware of. It just needs to be labeled accurately.
I've always been curious about the exact story behind spark plugs being standardized, in the USA, in the 30's or 40's, at 14mm and 18mm thread, with a 13/16" or 5/8" hex.
Might have something to do with the fact that Albert Champion was French, but I don't know.
Then there's the 7/16NF standard thread for seat belt bolts pretty much everywhere. I think that has faded in the last decade or two, though.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
I am fairly sure that 7/16NF is still The Standard, because it makes people unlikely to use any random hardware. Kind of like odd cylinder head bolt sizes like 11mm or 9mm.
I have only seen different sizes for center belts in three-row rear seats. There is also the chance I need to see more different cars.
Beer Baron said:
Keith Tanner said:
In reply to Beer Baron :
Are there US labeling requirements that say the volume has to be in imperial?
Not that I'm aware of. It just needs to be labeled accurately.
So I looked it up, and there are very specific rules. More than a pint and less than a quart has to be labeled in "Pints and fluid ounces or fractions of a quart". So 1 pint 0.9 oz is compliant. 500 mL would not be.
https://www.ttb.gov/images/pdfs/beer-bam/chapter5.pdf
One of the acceptable examples they give is 15/32 gallon for a 60 fl oz container. Sheesh.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
I am fairly sure that 7/16NF is still The Standard, because it makes people unlikely to use any random hardware. Kind of like odd cylinder head bolt sizes like 11mm or 9mm.
I have only seen different sizes for center belts in three-row rear seats. There is also the chance I need to see more different cars.
I think the seatbelt bolt size might be a DOT standard.
Keith Tanner said:
One of the acceptable examples they give is 15/32 gallon for a 60 fl oz container. Sheesh.
When I was a kid working on bikes in my grandfather's garage, therefore mid-1980s, there was only one wrench that could loosen or tighten my bikes' axle nuts without rounding them. 19/32". 5/8" was too loose.
Have you ever seen or even heard of a 19/32" wrench? That was the only one I'd ever seen. I suspect now that it only existed so people could avoid buying metric wrench sets and still be able to work on 15mm headed nuts/bolts.
j_tso
Dork
3/27/23 8:37 p.m.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Could it be from a plumber's set? The hex on my shower cartridge valve is 31/32".
FWIW: The gram-inch is a unit of imbalance.
