Why do they use a comma , for a decimal place in Europe?

[Razor04]

As you said yourself, we NOW live (and have lived for some time) in a world that uses base 10 counting, therefore NOW it is useless to use such an archaic system. Call me a bloody stinky european... So there...

Wouldn't it have been you bloody stinking europeans that came up with it (Imperial System) in the first place?

 

[London Geezer]

As you said yourself, we NOW live (and have lived for some time) in a world that uses base 10 counting, therefore NOW it is useless to use such an archaic system. Call me a bloody stinky european... So there...

Wouldn't it have been you bloody stinking europeans that came up with it (Imperial System) in the first place?

Errr, i'm totally ignorant on the history of this, however i'm pretty sure it was the Brits... I'm italian. I am! Really!

 

[Bambers]

afaik the uk is the reason the original system (not imperial) got so widespread. we altered it too to come up with the imperial system, in the US they still use the previous system, hence they have smaller pints (lightweights ) further adding to the confusion (let alone the 3 different ounces around)

Anyone attempting scientific calculations in imperial (or similar) is nuts.

 

[StefanS]

Anyone attempting scientific calculations in imperial (or similar) is nuts.

Tell that to NASA

 

[Razor04]

Anyone attempting scientific calculations in imperial (or similar) is nuts.

Tell that to NASA

No...tell that to the contractor that f***** up... I believe it was Lockheed Martin if my memory serves me correctly...

 

[London Geezer]

Anyone attempting scientific calculations in imperial (or similar) is nuts.

Tell that to NASA

No...tell that to the contractor that f***** up... I believe it was Lockheed Martin if my memory serves me correctly...

Did i miss anything?
Cool, Lockheed Martin was going to be in one of SEGA's consoles, can't remember which one, can't even remember if it was actually a console or an arcade board...
They must have been busy playing Soul Calibur...

 

[StefanS]

Anyone attempting scientific calculations in imperial (or similar) is nuts.

Tell that to NASA

No...tell that to the contractor that f***** up... I believe it was Lockheed Martin if my memory serves me correctly...

I don't know who caused that incident, but it is a fact that imperial units are still used by NASA.

 

[Fred]

In science, its routine to switch between different unit standards. Often, the SI system makes no sense to use. Yes, I agree metric is way better for common day experience.

However, kgs for instance is never used in nuclear or particle physics (mass is measured in say Mev/c^2), which is highly confusing to most people not associated with physics. In Relativity its something else, in atomic physics and optics something else, etc etc Often, theorists just do away with units altogether, and make everything dimensionless.

NASA's little conversion problems were purely a matter of bad error checking and not enough redundancy in people checking and rechecking results. People are deluding themselves if they think living in SI would magically erase computational and unit mistakes. It happens to everyone, even the smartest scientists.

 

[L233]

The Imperial measurment system and all systems derived from that one are simply moronic.


Ok, let's have some fun...

Pound "Troy": 373 gram
Pound "Avoirdupois": 453 gram

Ounce "Troy": 1/12 pound troy
Ounce "Avoirdupois": 1/16 pound avoirdupois

Dram/Drachm "Troy": 1/8 ounce try = 3.88 gram
Dram/Drachm "Avoirdupois": 1/16 ounce avoirdupois = 1.77 gram

Grain "Troy/Avoirdupois": both 64.798 miligram, that makes 1 pound troy = 5760 grains and 1 pound avoirdupois = 7000 grains


Gallon, British (imperial): 4.5 Liters
Gallon, British (wine): 3.7 Liters, the US Gallon is derived from that one
Gallon, British (beer): 4.6 Liters
Gallon, Scotish: ~13 Liter
Gallon, US (liquid): 3.7 Liters
Gallon, US (dry): 4.x Liters, derived from the British grain Gallon which some inbred retard king once defined as 8 pounds, the US dry gallon is about 7.5 pound though.

Quart: 1/4 gallon - which gallon? Don't ask me.
Quart Champagne: yet again something different, don't ask.
Quart, British (wine): no, it's not 1/4 wine gallon. Don't ask.

Quarter: it's either 25 or 28 pound. It's 1/4 of a hundredweigth and a hundredweight is either 100 or 112 pound, depending on where you are and on also depending on the alignment of the stars or something.

Pint: supposedly 1/2 quart. Sometimes. I think.
Pint, US (liquid): 0.47 Liter.
Pint, US (dry): 0.55 Liter
Pint, Britisch: 0.56 Liter
Pint, Australian (beer): 0.42 Liter

An then the is everyone's favourite: the bushel.
Bushel, British: 36.x Liter
Bushel, US: 35.2 Liter, based on the Bushel as once defined by the aformented inbred retard king

Bushel, US (real-world use): used as a weight measurment, depending on what you are weighing: wheat ~ 60 pound, cotton ~30 pound, apples ~ 50 pound and so on...

Oh, btw... Bushel "struck" or Bushel "heaped"? The difference? Just 25%...

Almost forgot... there's also a unit of measurement called "peck" which is 8 dry quarts. 4 pecks make a bushel but I have no clue whether it's a struck or heaped bushel. Maybe an American can help me out here...

Did you know that one pint is 4 gills? And a fluidram is 60 minims? And 40 rods are one furlong?

Barrel, British: 36 gallons (British) = 163 Liter
Barrel, US (oil): 42 gallons (US, liquid) = 158 Liter
Barrel, US (liquid): 126 quarts (US, liquid) = 119 Liter
Barrel, US (dry): 105 quarts (US, dry) = 115 Liter
Barrel, US (beer): 31 gallons (US, liquid) = 117 Liter


Jebus McChrist!

Just one question: WHY?!

 

[Simon F]

As you said yourself, we NOW live (and have lived for some time) in a world that uses base 10 counting, therefore NOW it is useless to use such an archaic system. Call me a bloody stinky european... So there...

Wouldn't it have been you bloody stinking europeans that came up with it (Imperial System) in the first place?

Errr, i'm totally ignorant on the history of this, however i'm pretty sure it was the Brits... I'm italian. I am! Really!

Well you're to blame then. "Imperial", AFAIK, refers to the Roman Empire not the British one. That's how far back it dates!

 

[Mariner]

Well you're to blame then. "Imperial", AFAIK, refers to the Roman Empire not the British one.

Actually, I think the Imperial system is actually named after the British Empire and not the somewhat earlier Roman one! Some of the measurements (such as inches, feet, miles) are based on Roman ones but the weights are pretty much Anglo-Saxon I believe. A a matter of interest, the British currency the "Pound" originally was named after a pound of silver which was the common currency in the past. Was this the same in other countries as regards the franc, mark etc?

Gallon, British (imperial): 4.5 Liters
Gallon, British (wine): 3.7 Liters, the US Gallon is derived from that one
Gallon, British (beer): 4.6 Liters
Gallon, Scotish: ~13 Liter

Imperial fluid measurements are:

5 fluid ounces = 1 gill
4 gills = 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon
2 gallons = 1 peck
4 pecks = 1 bushel

As far as I'm aware there are no differences in measurements of Gallons in the Imperial system. Any measurements which differ to those above should not be classed as "Imperial" measurements. Therefore the 16floz American pint cannot be called a proper Imperial pint!

If I were to get less than 568ml of beer in my pint glass I'd be very upset! (admittedly not strictly true as up to 5% of the pint volume is allowed to be the head of the beer).

 

[davefb]

?
L - pounds ( libre , latin)
S - shillings ( germanic? probably still roman empire though)
D - pence (denarius - LATIN!)

miles i'm pretty sure are roman, dunno about inches/yards etc..

-dave-
apols for spelling

 

[L233]

Any measurements which differ to those above should not be classed as "Imperial" measurements.

Most people just use it for the lack of a better term. The point really is that you have a measurement system in which a unit of a given name varies depending on location, time in history and object of measurement.

Sheer idiocity.

If I were to get less than 568ml of beer in my pint glass I'd be very upset! (admittedly not strictly true as up to 5% of the pint volume is allowed to be the head of the beer).

Tell that the Yanks and the Aussies

 

[L233]

Wouldn't it have been you bloody stinking europeans that came up with it (Imperial System) in the first place?

True enough but that's no excuse to perpetuate that crap.

 

[Simon F]

If I were to get less than 568ml of beer in my pint glass I'd be very upset! (admittedly not strictly true as up to 5% of the pint volume is allowed to be the head of the beer).

Tell that the Yanks and the Aussies

I don't understand that. When we used to get milk in Aus' in pint (or quart) bottles, these were the standard 568ml (1136 ml) measures. When the system changed to metric the bottles were rounded up to 600ml.

 

[L233]

I don't understand that. When we used to get milk in Aus' in pint (or quart) bottles, these were the standard 568ml (1136 ml) measures. When the system changed to metric the bottles were rounded up to 600ml.

Yes, you don't understand. No one understands

"A pint of beer is generally 425 milliliters in South Australia, or roughly 3/4 imperial pint (15 fluid ounces)."

It actually seems to be far more messy:
http://www.cooperspubs.com/glass_sizes_aussie.htm


Btw, the French also use "pint" for beer but they "metrified" it... a pint in France is 500ml. In Germany, the pound is still commonly used in grocery and such (500g).

 

[Humus]

Things are messier than I thought. The only non-standard unit I can recall is used in Sweden is the "mil", which however is 10km, so it fits right in anyway.

 

[Simon F]

Yes, you don't understand. No one understands

"A pint of beer is generally 425 milliliters in South Australia, or roughly 3/4 imperial pint (15 fluid ounces)."

OH! South Australia. Well ...they've got the Barossa region which has a German influence ... That might explain it.

http://www.cooperspubs.com/glass_sizes_aussie.htm

It's confusing, isn't it? Luckily, I hardly ever drink beer.

 

[Mariner]

Well, actually I've found a little bit more information about this sort of stuff (with the help of a little googling).

Imperial measurements have been defined exactly and set since the Weights and Measures Act of 1824 - not too different to the metric system.

Obviously, the metric system just had better publicity!

Personally, I use a hotch-potch of different measurements depending on what I'm talking/thinking about. Although we were taught in metric at school here in the UK everyone still classifies height and weight in Imperial and, of course, we still judge distances in miles. In fact, although I know my height is 5'10" and I weigh 13 and a quarter stone, I'm not sure what the exact measurements would be in metres and kilos. Similarly, if judging the size of a room, for example, I'd probably say it was 20 feet wide rather than 6 metres. I have a feeling that people 10-15 years younger than myself (I'm 30) will probably be more likely to use metric measurements in some instances as their parents wouldn't have been brought up using Imperial and you pick most stuff up from your parents.

 

[RussSchultz]

How come nobody's advocating metric time?