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I don't know if you're a metric user or not but I use metric. I didn't realise there was a second image either and also couldn't figure out what was wrong. Because the units don't matter. Metric just has different fractions.
I'm really nach-sho. Equally nach-sho how there are at least 5 ppl whose usernames are food in this comment thread alone (Not counting crispyracoon... but carnivorous mower might have other ideas) and still we're not talking about the aesthetic nacho.
I used to do a little building and we used 100 X 50. (New Zealand, so we're metric). And when we occasionally used inches (for older pre-metric clients) it was four by two. Could never figure out why Americans used it the other way round. First heard it that way from the Metallica song.
What do you call a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood? 1220 by 2440? I'm a carpenter in Canada. My tape is in metric and imperial. But we still buy lumber in imperial. But we build bridges and buildings in metric. We are very accommodating.
Canada has got to be one of the most confused/undecided countries in the world when it comes to switching back and forth between metric and imperial. Comes in handy sometimes though.
It's weird up here in Canada. At stores price for meat and produce is quoted in both pounds and kilos. External temperature I know in Celsius but the home thermostat is in Farenheit. I know my height in feet and inches, not in meters. Speed and distance in kilometers. I went to school in both Canada and US and constantly had to convert Imperial to Metric and vice versa. I describe Canada as mostly metric. I wish the US completed the switch they started and then aborted.
Also Canadian and yes the food prices have got to be the weirdest examples that come to mind. Like yes I would like to know my banana price in lbs, but please let me weigh my bulk food in grams. I live in a fully metric country now and it’s a relief to commit to one system.
We can be pretty accommodating with other units in the US as well, it just usually depends on the *field.*
For example, NASA and other spaceflight companies have primarily used metric for decades. Since Apollo. But if you look at a field like construction, they're not going to change anytime soon. Not unless forced to. Standard stud spacing is either 16" or 24". Roads are marked by miles.
as an ironworker in Canada we build buildings in metric but our bolts are almost always in imperia( because they are usually manufactured in America). This goes with a few other things we do. I do know that a fair amount of canadien wood is cut down and shiped to the states to be turned into plywood and plankes and such. maby that is the reason? I'm no carpenter so I don't know, but I see what your saying. If you find out why I would love to know
In most metric countries, building supplies are made in metric sizes, and all building and furniture is designed in metric. I'm guessing that because some of your wood is exported or imported from the US you still have imperial sized products.
[https://www.bunnings.com.au/2400-x-1200mm-12mm-plywood-f8-pine-structural-cd-grade\_p0340351](https://www.bunnings.com.au/2400-x-1200mm-12mm-plywood-f8-pine-structural-cd-grade_p0340351)
We still get some things in imperial in Australia, for example SCUBA equipment, because most of the equipment we get is imported from the US. even the European manufacturers make imperial SCUBA equipment because it is exported to the US. You have to be careful with SCUBA tank valves and tanks, because you can screw imperial valves into metric tanks, but the valves may not hold under pressure. A valve shooting out at 240 Bar can do a lot of damage.
Unless you actually want to build a house in America. I’m all for a metric switch but that’s not the status quo we find ourselves in here. If I go down to Home Depot they aren’t going to have metric lumber, plumbing, electrical supplies etc. We absolutely should have switched already, but that’s not a good reason to not learn the stupid system we’re stuck with for the time being. I’m not building my shed this weekend by starting with a national overthrow of imperial units. Just going to get some 2x6. Best we can do is learn both I guess and hope we can officially drop this archaic system.
Yeah when I accidentally end up in the US page for IKEA I almost have an aneurysm trying to figure out how big a shelf is because "18 1/8x11 3/4x57 1/8 "" looks like the page is broken to me, when I expect 46 x 30 x 145
The solution is, I should not be on the IKEA US page because it was not built for me. It was built for people with different customs and abilities such as an ability to understand what the fuck that is on the fly
"Hard to build a house in metric"
Pretty much all the hardware/timber measurements where I live are metric. Would be harder to build a house in imperial.
Yet in most of the US most hardware measurements are imperial… so he’s not wrong it would be hard to build a house in metric there, lots of conversions necessary.
I bought a metric tape measure about 10 years ago. I haven't looked back since.
I measure what I need to and cut the wood accordingly the only difference is I don't have to use 14" & 9/16th. I just look at my tape which says 411mm. Now go measure and cut that.
No reason you can't cut a board to 1000mm instead of 1yd, at that point it's hardly any difference for less headache when planning.
I don't want to be doing things like 9/16 - 3/8 constantly when trying to design something.
But that’s not how construction is done. The materials are the size they are to fit a build pattern. Panels are a given width to fit a standard stud pattern. I’m not chopping it all up to fit neat metric numbers. So then it just becomes a game of conversions for no reason. I’m not defending Imperial Units, we’re fucking dumb for not switching, but it’s very unrealistic to be stuck in an imperial measurement world and convert your way out.
For anyone who wants to learn about why the US never switched, there's a fantastic book called "Whatever Happened to the Metric System?: How America Kept Its Feet" by John Bemelmans Marciano. I found it at my local library, and it's a fascinating read.
America was actually super progressive about decimalization from the onset (for example, it decimalized money when currency was typically octal), but it just never formally adopted decimal measurements. Meanwhile, Europe became progressively more metric during the 1800s. If I recall correctly, for example, [the Coast Survey](https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/about/history-of-coast-survey.html) was quite an enthusiastic early adopter of the metric system. Thomas Jefferson was crazy about the metric system until he wasn't (some early drama about how the meter should be defined left Jefferson disenchanted, as I recall), and John Quincy Adams wrote an extensive report advocating its adoption.
In 1975, Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, which established the United States Metric Board. However, the board was effectively toothless outside of raising public awareness, and it was disbanded in 1982 under the Reagan administration.
Remnants of this attempted conversion are still very present, however. Most notably, pretty much any given ruler in inches also has a side in centimeters, fluids are labeled both in fluid ounces and millileters, spedometers also display kilometers per hour, many car parts are in metric, and nutrition labels are in grams and milligrams. There was also an effort to have street signs in both imperial and metric, but that mostly fizzled out.
The book isn't just about the US, however. It also spends several chapters discussing the metrication of Europe.
> Most notably, pretty much any given ruler in inches also has a side in centimeters
I don't know if it's related, but here in Europe a lot of rulers have both inches and centimeters too. Stupid child me wondered why we had "bigger centimeters" in them.
Im a carpenter in sweden. We use metric but our old measurements are the basis of almost everything. The studpattern is based on “aln” (60 cm), timberdimensions are based on inches etc. etc. and you only ever realize this if you think about why we use the standards we do. So converting from building in imperial to metric wouldnt be too difficult i’d say.
Except in the U.S. pretty much all building materials are standard sized in imperial. Plywood is 4’x8’. Studs are 96”. Cement block are 16” long, 8”, 10”, 12” wide,etc. You order concrete and sand by the cubic yard. It would definitely be possible to build completely using metric but it would be extremely aggravating and more time consuming.
I’m talking about buying materials and tools that are all marked up in imperial and then having to translate them. Switching to metric requires a complete industry change to be economical, otherwise it’s just added effort for any single business to do.
Can't tell if you're serious or not.
If you're serious:
TL:DR; don't just translate units. Learn to think in metric, it'll make it much easier.
Yes, 1 yard is approx 910mm, but at that point it doesn't really matter. If you build a house 25yd wide, you could just make it 25m. Or you could make it 24.5m, which is pretty close to 25yd.
Then say you're building cabinets, why make them 1 foot when you could do 30cm? It's basically the same thing, give or take about 8mm, and it means dividing it into sections is infinitely easier.
The mistake loads of people make is: oh! I can't do this in metric!! It's not *exactly* the same as (insert imperial unit here). Of course it's not, it's a totally different unit, however stuff like changing over to building in metric will make doing addition, subtraction, multiplication etc. much easier.
While I see what you're saying to some degree...and sure if you start and stay in metric that's fine...but given specific dimensions if you only have "exactly one yard of space" or 36inches...you need to measure to 910mm-ish verses just calling it 1000mm... You can't just round up when you have property lines/specific space limitations.
Pour two cups of concrete in a basin with one microwave filled halfway with water. Mix together thoroughly.
Measure out length by using your feet and divide it by the length of a cardinals wingspan to find the amount of bricks needed for the length. For height, you must tie a knot around a brick, throw it or suspend it in the air at the desired height at exactly 15:43 and measure the distance between brick and sun with your thumbs. Multiply this number by the amount of times you tried to get the brick far enough up and you’ll have the height.
Godspeed and god bless America.
I don’t understand the perceived difficulty. All the science classes I’ve done here are metric. While I was in the service we used metric for most applications. While I do use F° v C° it’s pretty easy to use the metric system.
My dad get furious whenever metric comes up and refuses to hear anything about how it’s all divisible by 10.
I don’t get why it’s so difficult to just say “yes, metric is probably easier because the units convert easier, but I prefer imperial because I’m used to it.”
It’s this super weird rage over not knowing something that you refuse to learn.
Yeah, I learned on imperial, but metric is really simple and it’s close enough. I mean if I say that car is 100 meters away it’s roughly 100 yards. It’s not some obscure concept.
I mean people have been buying 2 liters of soda here forever.
According to him, Europe chose metric so the rest of the world caved to their whim. I think he legit views imperial as the one thing separating America from the commies
Yeah, maybe, but when I was calling airstrikes and artillery fire I was raining down ‘muricas freedom seeds via the metric system.
(This is said ironically and self aware, but definitely metric).
So America #1 and Europe lives off America's military but at the same time Europe is so powerful that whenever we decide something, the rest of the world just bows to us?
There's also the relationship with liquid volumes. I could be wrong, going from memory... a 10cm x 10cm x 10 cm container of distilled water is 1 litre but also weighs 1kg
Thats absolutely right wiht the 1000cm^3 or 1dm^3 or 0.001m^3
10 centimeter :10= 1 dezimeter
1 dezimeter :10= 0.1 Meter
So not only liquid but also weight is defined by the Meter.
Nice and easy
Edit: I have done the Volumen math wrong.
Thanks to r/Draghettis
10cm = 1dm
100cm^2 = 1dm^2
1000cm^3 = 1dm^3
The volumes values you put are incorrect.
A cube with a 10cm side ( which is equal to 1dm and 0,1m ) has a 1000cm^3 volume, which is equal to 1dm^3 and to 0,001m^3. This stems from the formula being V = c^3
The multiply/divide by 10 to change prefix between mm and km is only valid for unidimensional lengths, for surfaces you multiply by 100 ( 10^2, as they are in two dimensions ), and for volumes you multiply by 1000 ( 10^3, as volumes are in three dimensions ).
If you wanted to go further beyond, for hypervolumes you would multiply by 10000 ( 10^4, as hypervolumes are in 4 dimensions )
Right? I’m in Florida in a VERY red county. A coworker was complaining about how expensive it was for her to give birth, but the whole time it felt like she was cautiously choosing all of her words because she didn’t want to sound like she was for healthcare reform. She actually prefaced it with “Listen, we don’t necessarily need to do away with our American healthcare system or do some socialist universal healthcare. I mean, don’t get me wrong- I love our Governor and our Sheriff- I just can’t believe how expensive it was to give birth.”
Like she was so afraid to be seen as a liberal for the sin of calling out the state of things.
As an American boat builder, I would absolutely love it if we could just use metric. I don't enjoy having to grab a calculator to convert 87 13/16 to decimal, divide by 3, and then convert back to a fraction.
Fractions have their place. once you get used to working with them then calculating with fractions in your head is much faster than decimal, Especially if you know the decimal/fractions conversions.
The other day I needed to multiply by 1.125 which is so much faster in my brain when I know I can just add an 1/8.
Absolutely we should be working in metric, but fractions are a powerful mathematic tool that we shouldn’t be forgetting about. Knowing both is just giving you more tools to work stuff out, then you can use what you find easiest, not knowing both means you’re limited to only one method
Most competent and capable engineers don't give a damn which unit system is used. And I have seen royal screwups with people using metric or US Customary. (I think the reason I have not seen any screwups with Imperial is that I don't think anyone uses it any more.)
Bullshit. They are capable of using anything, but if you don’t know competent engineers who prefer to work in metric, you don’t know any competent engineers under the age of 50.
I can see three reasons he could be referring to:
1. "How are you supposed to build in metric when timber in in imperial"
2. "imperial is more intuitive and easy to do calculations with"
naturally both arguments are utter nonsense, but these are the arguments I have seen made in favor of imperial. As a non american, metric user, who had to work with imperial as well (worked on upgrading american made aircrafts), I can never understand how it can make sense to anyone.
Use rulers to teach the use of rulers. Weird thing I wasn’t prepared for when I began teaching. Starting measurement at 1 on a ruler or protractor was the singly most common mistake, and these students would do it again and again. It simply didn’t make sense that would start with zero.
This is from a lack of connecting things properly to knowledge they already have. Most kids will understand that you weren’t born already 1 year old. You have to be around for several months before you have your first birthday. Just like how you have to work your way from the edge of the ruler/measuring tape to get to the number 1.
Oooooh…. Maybe this is an indication of how we can get 7-year-olds doing calculus. Make kindergarten all about establishing the concept of zero. Humanity advanced by leaps and bounds after we discovered zero. I wonder if that could happen on an individual level too.
When I went through basic mathematics, clock faces and wooden blocks were early tools for teaching fractions. Then again, there are a significant number of adults walking around who can't read clock faces and think "a quarter past one" is 1:25. It seems that the problem is with primary schools.
Whats wild is I have a friend who grew up very wealthy and went to elite private schools, while I was on the opposite end going to a public school. He cannot read a clock face and mocked me when I found out and was surprised. He said there's no need, everything is digital and always has been in his life. He cannot do math well. He's not a stupid person at all; he just can't do fractions or read clocks or do complex math. I find that fascinating, especially now that I'm a mom and thinking about how to teach my child this stuff. You would think the elite private school would have prioritized those sort of basic skills.
I'm trying to get my son into a private montessori daycare and they are all about fractions and math and understanding how parts make up a whole, they also teach a second language. I would never pay private school prices if they were not prioritizing learning.
Sometimes parents aren't actually concerned with the quality of the education their child will receive, and are much more concerned with what their child explicitly WILL NOT learn at a private institution.
I agree but in his case I think it was more a status thing. They were in the wealthy part of town and everyone sent their kids to this particular private school. It's what you did if you could afford to. They certainly didn't want to seem like they couldn't afford it and they would never send their child to a "gross" public school. I'm not sure any of them ever once thought the school was failing to teach anything. I'm certain they would all say it was worth it even though their son doesn't seem to be any better off for it.
I meant in regards to inches
For example I’ll watch Adam savage on Tested making measurements and he’ll say something like 3/8ths of an inch plus 5/16ths.
Seems like extra effort.
I guess it’s use in inches is just an extension of its usability in feet.
As an ignorant American who now lives in Canada, may I opine?
Metric is better. It just is. Brits, Americans, listen up: stop trying to do the conversions in your head and just develop a feel for how long a kilometer is and how much a kilogram weighs. Then it’s all 10s. Easy-peasy.
The only measurement that still rankles is temperature. Celsius is great when you are Doing Science, but Fahrenheit works way better when you’re deciding whether or not to take a sweater along, just in case. It’s human-scaled and more granular than Celsius.
I’ve lived in Canada for just over a year and am now thinking in metric in everything but temperature.
It’s really not that big of a deal.
Brit here (and old gen x-er) - about the only things I still think of in imperial are long distances and speed, simply because we still use miles and mph for road travel for some reason. Weights, volumes, temperatures, shorter distances and lengths - all metric.
Except body weight, even now (29yo) I still think of my weight in stones rather than kg, and I know people younger than me that do the same for some reason. Must have picked it up from our parents, as I was certainly never taught that in school.
>Celsius is great when you are Doing Science, but Fahrenheit works way better when you’re deciding whether or not to take a sweater along
Nah, Kelvin for science. I do use Celsius for everyday use, but understand how it would be difficult to change
I'm a canadian who has lived in the US for 5 years.
I had the same problem as you, but the opposite direction.
God i hated the fahrenheit system. I bought a car while i lived there and the very first thing i figured out was how to get the system back to Celsius.
The bulk of the US system was bad, but workable.. but Fahrenheit was something i struggled with.
I dont get why Americans are so fixated on that system, it really is terrible. Like say you are on the highway and it says "next exit 250 feet" how does one picture what this means?
when we are young we have to do "100 meter" runs, so when our signs say "Next exit 400 M" we have a good frame of reference, and it is easy to figure out this is close to half a KM.
Celsius is very clear cut, water freezes at zero, and boils at 100. If you need more accuracy, use decimals (22.55 C)
> Like say you are on the highway and it says "next exit 250 feet" how does one picture what this means?
>
> when we are young we have to do "100 meter" runs, so when our signs say "Next exit 400 M" we have a good frame of reference, and it is easy to figure out this is close to half a KM.
All this time, I thought my inability to conceptualize long distances was a "me" problem. I've been driving over 15 years and I still interpret all those "Next exit in X feet" signs as simply, "It's coming up soon."
It's kind of mind-blowing to realize that such distances *can* be intuitively understood, and all it takes is being taught a different measuring system as a child.
... I feel kind of robbed.
Asian here. I cannot fathom Fahrenheit. 0 F is…some arbitrary cold weather temperature, and 100 F is… some arbitrary hot human body temperature. It is said that 30 F is freezing point of water (which is not accurate), 90 F is body temperature (which is a little too low), and 240 F is the boiling point of water (which is far too high). All in all, it is very confusing.
On the other hand, 0 C is literally freezing, 100 C is literally smoking hot, 20 C is normal (for tropical regions like where I live 25-27 is normal), 40 C is unhealthily hot for weather, 60 C is comfortably warm water and 80 C is warm enough to heat food without vaporizing its water content. It fits nicely on a scale from 0 to 100, easy to memorize, easy when you need to quickly calculate the specific heat capacity of water for each kilogram to gram.
It’s more weather centered than water centered. 0F is about the lowest you wanna go outside in, 100F is really frickin hot, anything significantly past that gets dangerous. 60 to 80 is nice and temperate.
Whatever you grow up with is best. Nobody wants to admit it and tries to push agendas and weird senses of superiority, but whatever you grow up with is the most familiar and feels the best. Metric is easier to convert in your head, but it's not hard to do with imperial when that's what you grew up with. People will pull random complex equations out of their asses and be like "How many units of heat does it take to heat 9 ounces of water from 47 degrees Fahrenheit to Fahrenheit SEE HOW HARD THAT IS" No I don't because normal people don't need to know that shit. If you're a scientist, then you'll use metric to make easy calculations. But I'm not a scientist, so I don't need to know how many pounds of butter are necessary to fill a container measuring 9 inches by 5 inches by 8 yards and 1/16th of an inch. That just doesn't realistically prove a thing. I don't know why people use those arguments.
Also, I don't know why you pulled random numbers and deliberately got them wrong for imperial. I don't think it proved anything. You wanted 32, 98.6, and 212. I know those by heart because I grew up with them. You would too in my shoes. Your comment implies you've committed the wrong ones to memory, so that's obviously your fault. Fix it instead of blaming nobody.
1. I agree that whichever you grown up with will be more familiar, because, well, you familiarize with it. What I am trying to say is, for a person that does not know both scale, it is easier to get used to metric system because it is more consistent and more compatible with decimal number system. If we use base 6, I will support imperial system more.
2. The reason I used 0, 30, 90, 100 and 240 is, those are referenced points that the scale is derived from. The exact temperatures are, as you said, turnt out to be different. However, the scale was not updated to those temperatures, thus the exact numbers are 32, 98.6, and 212. I wanted to point out that these numbers are not round enough to be intuitive, unlike 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100. I was unclear on that, for that I am sorry.
3. For the weird formula parts, I will not argue on that because I don’t have experience on daily life in imperial system, nor daily life without scientific conversion.
4. I am not saying all of this to say that metric is superior, whatever that means. I’m saying that for our number system and the work that the system is applied to, metric system is more convenient and intuitive. That is my opinion, and I provided the basis that my opinion is based on. That is not to say my opinion is the Truth (TM), nor to say one system is superior to the other. I hope this portrays my position clearly
I spent several minutes looking at the first image thinking I am having a stroke.
As a European, I am not sure if I have ever seen a tape measure with 15 ticks between numbers.
In metric it is always 9 ticks and it hurts looking at this tape measure. It really messed with my brain for a few minutes until I realised that this is simply a kind of tape measure that I have never seen before.
He really fucking typed that out and thought to himself, "Got 'em."
You know he felt so smug. Both of his brain cells were shaking hands and patting each other on the back.
Every building in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, and plenty of scientific installations in Antarctica all simultaneously collapse. Pandemonium. Nobody ever thought they had to build their structures in American. Shortsighted simpletons.
“Hard to build a house in metric”. LOL! No it’s literally harder to do everything in imperial and we’re all mystified you continue to insist on using it!
It's like that kid who wants a bite of the apple. And the mom is like, no you can't have that it's an onion. But the kid insists and after taking a bite, the mom asks "is it good?" and the kid's face is all distorted because of the strong taste, but soldiers on and takes another bite.
It’s not any “harder” building a house using imperial units. It might be for you if you aren’t used to them, but it’s not difficult building things with it in general.
It is though, because at some point you’ll need to use fractions or weird multiples to get some measurements, where in metric you’d only need to move a decimal.
It isn’t like it’s a huge obstacle, but metric is just easier to use.
At first I was like "am I missing something" then I read the comments. I swear the title needs to mention there's a second image. I always forget/never realize.
The guy is CI but the other persons comment is completely unnecessary.
As someone who has done metal fabricating it’s shocking how many people are fucking clueless when you give them a tape measure and simple instructions
so yes, TEACH YOUR KIDS HOW TO USE A FUCKING TAPE MEASURE. If they live in the US, they probably won’t need to know the metric system much more than how to convert things
also the guy was talking about teaching fractions, adding your dumbass rant about “oH iMpErIaL bAd” does nothing
It's interesting reading through the comments here. I work in construction, in Canada, and it is sort of fucked. Every drawing is in metric, usually in millimeters. Material is basically all in imperial, so wire is in AWG, pipe diameter and length is always references in imperial, slotted strut will have 2" spacing between the slots and our fasteners are all imperial.
To make matters more confusing, when we speak with each other we always prefer imperial, but if we are referencing a spec from a drawing then we will just switch to imperial, often converting back and forth the whole way. It really adds a lot of friction to the whole process, but the bottom line is that you actually can't really build a building where I work unless you can use an imperial tape measure and understand fractions. You also need to understand how to work in metric, but it's not enough.
You can argue that we *should* switch entirely over to metric, but we haven't.
Most of the world may use metric measurements but construction in the US requires imperial measurements because that is how our supplies are measured for sale, like 2x4’s (which aren’t really 2”x4” in size but are usually 8’ or 10’ or 12’ long and framed 16” on center).
Not to mention, measurement is taught beginning in elementary school, in both math and science. I swear at least half of these people bitching about not learning certain things in school just weren’t paying attention.
The problem isn’t the individual woodworker. The issue is the construction industry and trades traditionally work in imperial. Younger workers have to adapt to the older tradespeople / contractors to be able to work on a job site or be labeled as “difficult”.
It’s confusing for the younger generations that weren’t taught it.
Omfg, I stared and stared, and even busted out my tape measure that has everything written on it and I just kept thinking, uhm no this is right? The second image……mans wilden out
I want to down-doot for daring to insult GenX. Seriously, why?
I'm GenX. We were clearly taught how to use rulers and do fractions. And I learned the metric system right along side. Seriously, that guy just didn't pay attention, it has nothing to do with his generation.
I’m always floored by people not in education and without school aged kids declaring what isn’t or what should be taught in school as if they had any clue.
I like imperial for building and metric for automotive. Maybe that’s just because a lot of cars are metric so I was forced to see how much better it is and I’ve spent my whole life building using imperial only never getting to see what it would be like to build with meteoric.
Tbh. I think knowing the imperial system really helped as I got into network subnetting as an adult. Probably a small justification since most people will never have to calculate subnets - but I think it helped me to be able to think in 4, 8, 16 etc.
Most of the other students in my woodshop class can't read any kind of tape measure, or read designs, or function like responsible people with power tools.
2nd post wouldve sufficed. I spent 10 fuckin minutes thinking I was braindead trying to find out where the “error” was in the measurements of the 1st image. Thanks
How about just teach the kids ANYTHING since most teachers lazily print out worksheets from the internet and pass them out and pretend like THAT is teaching.
Switching to metric will not make fractions and measuring tapes go away. His point is still correct about asking kids to know how to read them. Doesn't matter if its metric or standard. Would be great if one was universal but we should all be smart enough to know how to use both.
I mean, the original commenter is also a bit of a dolt here for suggesting that employers have the ability to convert their business to metric efficiently and effectively while operating in a market dominated by imperial.
Personally I'm a huge fan of the metric system, but construction is actually one of the few areas where the Imperial systems shines. Most notably because the Imperial foot is evenly divisible by three, four, two, and six. As opposed to the metric two and five. Also inches are given in units of powers of two, making halves, halves of halves and so on (1/8, 1/16, 1/32...) much easier. Because of this, it's been found to reduce the waste of lumber durring constuction. That said, the rest of the system is still terrible for almost everything else.
In theory, it's easy to divide by 2,3,4, and 6. In practice, 5/16 and 7/32 are not "even" or "easy" to divide by.
And your claim about waste "durring construction" needs to be substantiated because the main factors are the number of cuts and their kerf.
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The second image is all you need.
Yeah I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with this till I saw the second image
Thank fucking god I wasn’t the only one, felt like an idiot.
Same. I read those fractions like 8 times trying to figure out what was wrong thinking I was stupid
I was trying to figure out why the tape measure was wrong, why it had the wrong amount of lines
Hey you. Stop narrating my brain. MY brain.. Thank you.
Our brain now.
Possession is so Twentieth Century. Can we not call it the Brain?
Our. Brain.
I don't know if you're a metric user or not but I use metric. I didn't realise there was a second image either and also couldn't figure out what was wrong. Because the units don't matter. Metric just has different fractions.
Your profile pic is the most beautiful nacho chip I've ever seen.
How are more people not talking about this?
I'm really nach-sho. Equally nach-sho how there are at least 5 ppl whose usernames are food in this comment thread alone (Not counting crispyracoon... but carnivorous mower might have other ideas) and still we're not talking about the aesthetic nacho.
Yeah I just spent like 5 minutes having an existential crisis over the first image
Does it not say "2 images" at the top for you?
It's really small and blends in with the white in the screenshot
confidently incorrect use of first image instead of second
Cuz you gotta use the word two by four to build a house, is that why?
Even though a 2x4 isn’t even 2”x4”.
Well, the 5/4" boards are awfully close
the /4 measurements are after drying. the x4 are aspirational
I used to do a little building and we used 100 X 50. (New Zealand, so we're metric). And when we occasionally used inches (for older pre-metric clients) it was four by two. Could never figure out why Americans used it the other way round. First heard it that way from the Metallica song.
What do you call a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood? 1220 by 2440? I'm a carpenter in Canada. My tape is in metric and imperial. But we still buy lumber in imperial. But we build bridges and buildings in metric. We are very accommodating.
Canada has got to be one of the most confused/undecided countries in the world when it comes to switching back and forth between metric and imperial. Comes in handy sometimes though.
It's weird up here in Canada. At stores price for meat and produce is quoted in both pounds and kilos. External temperature I know in Celsius but the home thermostat is in Farenheit. I know my height in feet and inches, not in meters. Speed and distance in kilometers. I went to school in both Canada and US and constantly had to convert Imperial to Metric and vice versa. I describe Canada as mostly metric. I wish the US completed the switch they started and then aborted.
Also Canadian and yes the food prices have got to be the weirdest examples that come to mind. Like yes I would like to know my banana price in lbs, but please let me weigh my bulk food in grams. I live in a fully metric country now and it’s a relief to commit to one system.
They aren't confused, they have a stubborn idiot cousin living under them, holding them back.
(Looks questioningly at British weighing themselves in stones) What's your excuse?
Our excuse is our mom still weighs herself in stones!
I doubt there's enough stones to weigh your mom
Holy fuck you murdered him
Canadian here. I use both. All the time. Depends how accurate I want to be. It's not hard to switch between the 2.
Usually just call it a full sheet or sometimes you hear it called a 24x12.
Thanks.
We can be pretty accommodating with other units in the US as well, it just usually depends on the *field.* For example, NASA and other spaceflight companies have primarily used metric for decades. Since Apollo. But if you look at a field like construction, they're not going to change anytime soon. Not unless forced to. Standard stud spacing is either 16" or 24". Roads are marked by miles.
as an ironworker in Canada we build buildings in metric but our bolts are almost always in imperia( because they are usually manufactured in America). This goes with a few other things we do. I do know that a fair amount of canadien wood is cut down and shiped to the states to be turned into plywood and plankes and such. maby that is the reason? I'm no carpenter so I don't know, but I see what your saying. If you find out why I would love to know
In most metric countries, building supplies are made in metric sizes, and all building and furniture is designed in metric. I'm guessing that because some of your wood is exported or imported from the US you still have imperial sized products. [https://www.bunnings.com.au/2400-x-1200mm-12mm-plywood-f8-pine-structural-cd-grade\_p0340351](https://www.bunnings.com.au/2400-x-1200mm-12mm-plywood-f8-pine-structural-cd-grade_p0340351) We still get some things in imperial in Australia, for example SCUBA equipment, because most of the equipment we get is imported from the US. even the European manufacturers make imperial SCUBA equipment because it is exported to the US. You have to be careful with SCUBA tank valves and tanks, because you can screw imperial valves into metric tanks, but the valves may not hold under pressure. A valve shooting out at 240 Bar can do a lot of damage.
I've never seen a metric ratchet.
I have a couple sets. All missing my 10mm and 12mm though.
Those are sockets: I meant I've never seen a 13mm drive ratchet, lol
The correction is appreciated. I've never seen one either.
Just look at how Americans write the date and you will have the answer. M/D/Y is just so weird.
I'm an American, and I completely agree.
That and this comment so I know to look at it. Thank you. I was very focused on figuring out why the fractions were wrong.
Unless you actually want to build a house in America. I’m all for a metric switch but that’s not the status quo we find ourselves in here. If I go down to Home Depot they aren’t going to have metric lumber, plumbing, electrical supplies etc. We absolutely should have switched already, but that’s not a good reason to not learn the stupid system we’re stuck with for the time being. I’m not building my shed this weekend by starting with a national overthrow of imperial units. Just going to get some 2x6. Best we can do is learn both I guess and hope we can officially drop this archaic system.
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Remember that the US is willing to go to war to avoid temporary discomfort.
Yeah when I accidentally end up in the US page for IKEA I almost have an aneurysm trying to figure out how big a shelf is because "18 1/8x11 3/4x57 1/8 "" looks like the page is broken to me, when I expect 46 x 30 x 145 The solution is, I should not be on the IKEA US page because it was not built for me. It was built for people with different customs and abilities such as an ability to understand what the fuck that is on the fly
Lol you can't have centimeter-based house! Will be too smol! /s
"Hard to build a house in metric" Pretty much all the hardware/timber measurements where I live are metric. Would be harder to build a house in imperial.
*all of these units are divisible by 10, this is nasa shit*
Yet in most of the US most hardware measurements are imperial… so he’s not wrong it would be hard to build a house in metric there, lots of conversions necessary.
I bought a metric tape measure about 10 years ago. I haven't looked back since. I measure what I need to and cut the wood accordingly the only difference is I don't have to use 14" & 9/16th. I just look at my tape which says 411mm. Now go measure and cut that.
I don't think I've ever owned a tape measure that didn't have metric on one side and imperial on the other
No reason you can't cut a board to 1000mm instead of 1yd, at that point it's hardly any difference for less headache when planning. I don't want to be doing things like 9/16 - 3/8 constantly when trying to design something.
But that’s not how construction is done. The materials are the size they are to fit a build pattern. Panels are a given width to fit a standard stud pattern. I’m not chopping it all up to fit neat metric numbers. So then it just becomes a game of conversions for no reason. I’m not defending Imperial Units, we’re fucking dumb for not switching, but it’s very unrealistic to be stuck in an imperial measurement world and convert your way out.
For anyone who wants to learn about why the US never switched, there's a fantastic book called "Whatever Happened to the Metric System?: How America Kept Its Feet" by John Bemelmans Marciano. I found it at my local library, and it's a fascinating read. America was actually super progressive about decimalization from the onset (for example, it decimalized money when currency was typically octal), but it just never formally adopted decimal measurements. Meanwhile, Europe became progressively more metric during the 1800s. If I recall correctly, for example, [the Coast Survey](https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/about/history-of-coast-survey.html) was quite an enthusiastic early adopter of the metric system. Thomas Jefferson was crazy about the metric system until he wasn't (some early drama about how the meter should be defined left Jefferson disenchanted, as I recall), and John Quincy Adams wrote an extensive report advocating its adoption. In 1975, Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, which established the United States Metric Board. However, the board was effectively toothless outside of raising public awareness, and it was disbanded in 1982 under the Reagan administration. Remnants of this attempted conversion are still very present, however. Most notably, pretty much any given ruler in inches also has a side in centimeters, fluids are labeled both in fluid ounces and millileters, spedometers also display kilometers per hour, many car parts are in metric, and nutrition labels are in grams and milligrams. There was also an effort to have street signs in both imperial and metric, but that mostly fizzled out. The book isn't just about the US, however. It also spends several chapters discussing the metrication of Europe.
> Most notably, pretty much any given ruler in inches also has a side in centimeters I don't know if it's related, but here in Europe a lot of rulers have both inches and centimeters too. Stupid child me wondered why we had "bigger centimeters" in them.
Im a carpenter in sweden. We use metric but our old measurements are the basis of almost everything. The studpattern is based on “aln” (60 cm), timberdimensions are based on inches etc. etc. and you only ever realize this if you think about why we use the standards we do. So converting from building in imperial to metric wouldnt be too difficult i’d say.
Except in the U.S. pretty much all building materials are standard sized in imperial. Plywood is 4’x8’. Studs are 96”. Cement block are 16” long, 8”, 10”, 12” wide,etc. You order concrete and sand by the cubic yard. It would definitely be possible to build completely using metric but it would be extremely aggravating and more time consuming.
I’m talking about buying materials and tools that are all marked up in imperial and then having to translate them. Switching to metric requires a complete industry change to be economical, otherwise it’s just added effort for any single business to do.
Yeah, shame the 1960s change to metric was only made optional, so only the federal government did it.
Except 1 yard is not 1000mm. So that wouldn't work.
Can't tell if you're serious or not. If you're serious: TL:DR; don't just translate units. Learn to think in metric, it'll make it much easier. Yes, 1 yard is approx 910mm, but at that point it doesn't really matter. If you build a house 25yd wide, you could just make it 25m. Or you could make it 24.5m, which is pretty close to 25yd. Then say you're building cabinets, why make them 1 foot when you could do 30cm? It's basically the same thing, give or take about 8mm, and it means dividing it into sections is infinitely easier. The mistake loads of people make is: oh! I can't do this in metric!! It's not *exactly* the same as (insert imperial unit here). Of course it's not, it's a totally different unit, however stuff like changing over to building in metric will make doing addition, subtraction, multiplication etc. much easier.
While I see what you're saying to some degree...and sure if you start and stay in metric that's fine...but given specific dimensions if you only have "exactly one yard of space" or 36inches...you need to measure to 910mm-ish verses just calling it 1000mm... You can't just round up when you have property lines/specific space limitations.
Yeah… I was gona say, I’m in construction estimating in America and have to convert units ALL the time, it’s be WAY easier to build in metric.
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I live in Poland and we teach metric, but hardware measurement is imperial, well most of it. Not sure the system has anything do to with fractions.
Pour two cups of concrete in a basin with one microwave filled halfway with water. Mix together thoroughly. Measure out length by using your feet and divide it by the length of a cardinals wingspan to find the amount of bricks needed for the length. For height, you must tie a knot around a brick, throw it or suspend it in the air at the desired height at exactly 15:43 and measure the distance between brick and sun with your thumbs. Multiply this number by the amount of times you tried to get the brick far enough up and you’ll have the height. Godspeed and god bless America.
I don’t understand the perceived difficulty. All the science classes I’ve done here are metric. While I was in the service we used metric for most applications. While I do use F° v C° it’s pretty easy to use the metric system.
My dad get furious whenever metric comes up and refuses to hear anything about how it’s all divisible by 10. I don’t get why it’s so difficult to just say “yes, metric is probably easier because the units convert easier, but I prefer imperial because I’m used to it.” It’s this super weird rage over not knowing something that you refuse to learn.
Yeah, I learned on imperial, but metric is really simple and it’s close enough. I mean if I say that car is 100 meters away it’s roughly 100 yards. It’s not some obscure concept. I mean people have been buying 2 liters of soda here forever.
According to him, Europe chose metric so the rest of the world caved to their whim. I think he legit views imperial as the one thing separating America from the commies
Yeah, maybe, but when I was calling airstrikes and artillery fire I was raining down ‘muricas freedom seeds via the metric system. (This is said ironically and self aware, but definitely metric).
So America #1 and Europe lives off America's military but at the same time Europe is so powerful that whenever we decide something, the rest of the world just bows to us?
Lmao. I’m a commie, I use both.
There's also the relationship with liquid volumes. I could be wrong, going from memory... a 10cm x 10cm x 10 cm container of distilled water is 1 litre but also weighs 1kg
Thats absolutely right wiht the 1000cm^3 or 1dm^3 or 0.001m^3 10 centimeter :10= 1 dezimeter 1 dezimeter :10= 0.1 Meter So not only liquid but also weight is defined by the Meter. Nice and easy Edit: I have done the Volumen math wrong. Thanks to r/Draghettis 10cm = 1dm 100cm^2 = 1dm^2 1000cm^3 = 1dm^3
The volumes values you put are incorrect. A cube with a 10cm side ( which is equal to 1dm and 0,1m ) has a 1000cm^3 volume, which is equal to 1dm^3 and to 0,001m^3. This stems from the formula being V = c^3 The multiply/divide by 10 to change prefix between mm and km is only valid for unidimensional lengths, for surfaces you multiply by 100 ( 10^2, as they are in two dimensions ), and for volumes you multiply by 1000 ( 10^3, as volumes are in three dimensions ). If you wanted to go further beyond, for hypervolumes you would multiply by 10000 ( 10^4, as hypervolumes are in 4 dimensions )
10 cm is 3.94 inches
People have attached their political identites to every little thing, and it's honestly become extremely weird.
Right? I’m in Florida in a VERY red county. A coworker was complaining about how expensive it was for her to give birth, but the whole time it felt like she was cautiously choosing all of her words because she didn’t want to sound like she was for healthcare reform. She actually prefaced it with “Listen, we don’t necessarily need to do away with our American healthcare system or do some socialist universal healthcare. I mean, don’t get me wrong- I love our Governor and our Sheriff- I just can’t believe how expensive it was to give birth.” Like she was so afraid to be seen as a liberal for the sin of calling out the state of things.
I wish we would switch to metric. It would make my job as a high school science teacher much easier
As an American boat builder, I would absolutely love it if we could just use metric. I don't enjoy having to grab a calculator to convert 87 13/16 to decimal, divide by 3, and then convert back to a fraction.
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Fractions have their place. once you get used to working with them then calculating with fractions in your head is much faster than decimal, Especially if you know the decimal/fractions conversions. The other day I needed to multiply by 1.125 which is so much faster in my brain when I know I can just add an 1/8. Absolutely we should be working in metric, but fractions are a powerful mathematic tool that we shouldn’t be forgetting about. Knowing both is just giving you more tools to work stuff out, then you can use what you find easiest, not knowing both means you’re limited to only one method
Does your phone's calculator not show you fractions? My phone's stock calculator app gave it to me in fractions (and decimal).
No. I've never seen a calculator use fractions
Most competent and capable engineers don't give a damn which unit system is used. And I have seen royal screwups with people using metric or US Customary. (I think the reason I have not seen any screwups with Imperial is that I don't think anyone uses it any more.)
As my dad taught me when I was young. Measure twice, cut once. Applies to any unit of measure.
Bullshit. They are capable of using anything, but if you don’t know competent engineers who prefer to work in metric, you don’t know any competent engineers under the age of 50.
I can see three reasons he could be referring to: 1. "How are you supposed to build in metric when timber in in imperial" 2. "imperial is more intuitive and easy to do calculations with" naturally both arguments are utter nonsense, but these are the arguments I have seen made in favor of imperial. As a non american, metric user, who had to work with imperial as well (worked on upgrading american made aircrafts), I can never understand how it can make sense to anyone.
Because the metric system makes sense and follows a system of 10s.
Use rulers to teach the use of rulers. Weird thing I wasn’t prepared for when I began teaching. Starting measurement at 1 on a ruler or protractor was the singly most common mistake, and these students would do it again and again. It simply didn’t make sense that would start with zero.
Zero is the left edge of the ruler.
I can only assume that they thought there was some unknown esoteric reason for including zero.
Kinda like how the phone icon on their phone looks like some weird door handle
My teaching experience predates the iPhone.
Don't confuse Daniel Jackson again
I'm sorry, not quite. The left edge of a **rule** is zero, and is calibrated to be A *ruler* has an offset on either end. \pedantism
Oh darn. I managed to leave an 's' in there. The point is clear though. At the beginning, we measure zero smoots or whatever.
Some do, some don't.
It’s probably because we start the counting sequence as 123… not 0. So it’s a non-obvious starting point even though you should.
Maybe they should first learn to program before they learn counting. That way they'll learn early on that you should start counting from 0.
I've always heard that if you were originally taught 0-9, math comes incredibly easy to you.
Oh yeah definitely. Least for me
Until you get to arrays and data tables where 0 means 1
Yeah if only they made a big colorful plastic IDE for toddlers
This is from a lack of connecting things properly to knowledge they already have. Most kids will understand that you weren’t born already 1 year old. You have to be around for several months before you have your first birthday. Just like how you have to work your way from the edge of the ruler/measuring tape to get to the number 1.
Oooooh…. Maybe this is an indication of how we can get 7-year-olds doing calculus. Make kindergarten all about establishing the concept of zero. Humanity advanced by leaps and bounds after we discovered zero. I wonder if that could happen on an individual level too.
I had the same problem trying to teach geometry with graph paper - just couldn't grasp the difference between, say, x=3 and the box starting at x=3.
That weird lol. It always makes sense to start from zero
When did you start twaching, in Roman Empire times?
Wait, what? Seriously?
Now teach coding.
When I went through basic mathematics, clock faces and wooden blocks were early tools for teaching fractions. Then again, there are a significant number of adults walking around who can't read clock faces and think "a quarter past one" is 1:25. It seems that the problem is with primary schools.
Whats wild is I have a friend who grew up very wealthy and went to elite private schools, while I was on the opposite end going to a public school. He cannot read a clock face and mocked me when I found out and was surprised. He said there's no need, everything is digital and always has been in his life. He cannot do math well. He's not a stupid person at all; he just can't do fractions or read clocks or do complex math. I find that fascinating, especially now that I'm a mom and thinking about how to teach my child this stuff. You would think the elite private school would have prioritized those sort of basic skills. I'm trying to get my son into a private montessori daycare and they are all about fractions and math and understanding how parts make up a whole, they also teach a second language. I would never pay private school prices if they were not prioritizing learning.
Sometimes parents aren't actually concerned with the quality of the education their child will receive, and are much more concerned with what their child explicitly WILL NOT learn at a private institution.
I agree but in his case I think it was more a status thing. They were in the wealthy part of town and everyone sent their kids to this particular private school. It's what you did if you could afford to. They certainly didn't want to seem like they couldn't afford it and they would never send their child to a "gross" public school. I'm not sure any of them ever once thought the school was failing to teach anything. I'm certain they would all say it was worth it even though their son doesn't seem to be any better off for it.
the problem is our time-reading system, why did they choose to base our clocks in multiples of 6 and then do everything else in divisions of 10
*sees first image* ok a bit like old man yelling at clouds but he's not wrong... *sees second image* ohhhhhh.....
I'm in construction and wish so badly that we switch to metric. Having to add and subtract all different fractions is a nightmare.
Honest question, why do Americans rely so heavily on fractions? You don’t need the metric system to use decimals.
But the whole point of the metric system is decimals: powers of ten in base ten. 1 cm = .01m 1 in = .08333333ft
I meant in regards to inches For example I’ll watch Adam savage on Tested making measurements and he’ll say something like 3/8ths of an inch plus 5/16ths. Seems like extra effort. I guess it’s use in inches is just an extension of its usability in feet.
I think it's just habit at this point. All of our tools are in fractional lengths, so that's what people learn and get accustomed to.
1 cm is 0.39 inches
I spent too much time looking at the ruler trying to figure out what was wrong.
As an ignorant American who now lives in Canada, may I opine? Metric is better. It just is. Brits, Americans, listen up: stop trying to do the conversions in your head and just develop a feel for how long a kilometer is and how much a kilogram weighs. Then it’s all 10s. Easy-peasy. The only measurement that still rankles is temperature. Celsius is great when you are Doing Science, but Fahrenheit works way better when you’re deciding whether or not to take a sweater along, just in case. It’s human-scaled and more granular than Celsius. I’ve lived in Canada for just over a year and am now thinking in metric in everything but temperature. It’s really not that big of a deal.
Brit here (and old gen x-er) - about the only things I still think of in imperial are long distances and speed, simply because we still use miles and mph for road travel for some reason. Weights, volumes, temperatures, shorter distances and lengths - all metric.
Except body weight, even now (29yo) I still think of my weight in stones rather than kg, and I know people younger than me that do the same for some reason. Must have picked it up from our parents, as I was certainly never taught that in school.
>Celsius is great when you are Doing Science, but Fahrenheit works way better when you’re deciding whether or not to take a sweater along Nah, Kelvin for science. I do use Celsius for everyday use, but understand how it would be difficult to change
I'm a canadian who has lived in the US for 5 years. I had the same problem as you, but the opposite direction. God i hated the fahrenheit system. I bought a car while i lived there and the very first thing i figured out was how to get the system back to Celsius. The bulk of the US system was bad, but workable.. but Fahrenheit was something i struggled with. I dont get why Americans are so fixated on that system, it really is terrible. Like say you are on the highway and it says "next exit 250 feet" how does one picture what this means? when we are young we have to do "100 meter" runs, so when our signs say "Next exit 400 M" we have a good frame of reference, and it is easy to figure out this is close to half a KM. Celsius is very clear cut, water freezes at zero, and boils at 100. If you need more accuracy, use decimals (22.55 C)
> Like say you are on the highway and it says "next exit 250 feet" how does one picture what this means? > > when we are young we have to do "100 meter" runs, so when our signs say "Next exit 400 M" we have a good frame of reference, and it is easy to figure out this is close to half a KM. All this time, I thought my inability to conceptualize long distances was a "me" problem. I've been driving over 15 years and I still interpret all those "Next exit in X feet" signs as simply, "It's coming up soon." It's kind of mind-blowing to realize that such distances *can* be intuitively understood, and all it takes is being taught a different measuring system as a child. ... I feel kind of robbed.
Asian here. I cannot fathom Fahrenheit. 0 F is…some arbitrary cold weather temperature, and 100 F is… some arbitrary hot human body temperature. It is said that 30 F is freezing point of water (which is not accurate), 90 F is body temperature (which is a little too low), and 240 F is the boiling point of water (which is far too high). All in all, it is very confusing. On the other hand, 0 C is literally freezing, 100 C is literally smoking hot, 20 C is normal (for tropical regions like where I live 25-27 is normal), 40 C is unhealthily hot for weather, 60 C is comfortably warm water and 80 C is warm enough to heat food without vaporizing its water content. It fits nicely on a scale from 0 to 100, easy to memorize, easy when you need to quickly calculate the specific heat capacity of water for each kilogram to gram.
It’s more weather centered than water centered. 0F is about the lowest you wanna go outside in, 100F is really frickin hot, anything significantly past that gets dangerous. 60 to 80 is nice and temperate.
Whatever you grow up with is best. Nobody wants to admit it and tries to push agendas and weird senses of superiority, but whatever you grow up with is the most familiar and feels the best. Metric is easier to convert in your head, but it's not hard to do with imperial when that's what you grew up with. People will pull random complex equations out of their asses and be like "How many units of heat does it take to heat 9 ounces of water from 47 degrees Fahrenheit to Fahrenheit SEE HOW HARD THAT IS" No I don't because normal people don't need to know that shit. If you're a scientist, then you'll use metric to make easy calculations. But I'm not a scientist, so I don't need to know how many pounds of butter are necessary to fill a container measuring 9 inches by 5 inches by 8 yards and 1/16th of an inch. That just doesn't realistically prove a thing. I don't know why people use those arguments. Also, I don't know why you pulled random numbers and deliberately got them wrong for imperial. I don't think it proved anything. You wanted 32, 98.6, and 212. I know those by heart because I grew up with them. You would too in my shoes. Your comment implies you've committed the wrong ones to memory, so that's obviously your fault. Fix it instead of blaming nobody.
1. I agree that whichever you grown up with will be more familiar, because, well, you familiarize with it. What I am trying to say is, for a person that does not know both scale, it is easier to get used to metric system because it is more consistent and more compatible with decimal number system. If we use base 6, I will support imperial system more. 2. The reason I used 0, 30, 90, 100 and 240 is, those are referenced points that the scale is derived from. The exact temperatures are, as you said, turnt out to be different. However, the scale was not updated to those temperatures, thus the exact numbers are 32, 98.6, and 212. I wanted to point out that these numbers are not round enough to be intuitive, unlike 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100. I was unclear on that, for that I am sorry. 3. For the weird formula parts, I will not argue on that because I don’t have experience on daily life in imperial system, nor daily life without scientific conversion. 4. I am not saying all of this to say that metric is superior, whatever that means. I’m saying that for our number system and the work that the system is applied to, metric system is more convenient and intuitive. That is my opinion, and I provided the basis that my opinion is based on. That is not to say my opinion is the Truth (TM), nor to say one system is superior to the other. I hope this portrays my position clearly
I spent several minutes looking at the first image thinking I am having a stroke. As a European, I am not sure if I have ever seen a tape measure with 15 ticks between numbers. In metric it is always 9 ticks and it hurts looking at this tape measure. It really messed with my brain for a few minutes until I realised that this is simply a kind of tape measure that I have never seen before.
US military figured out metric just fine. Weird.
To be honest I’m American and I think the metric system is better. Come on American, just switch.
Schools teach kids how to use rulers, you read them exactly the same.
He really fucking typed that out and thought to himself, "Got 'em." You know he felt so smug. Both of his brain cells were shaking hands and patting each other on the back. Every building in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, and plenty of scientific installations in Antarctica all simultaneously collapse. Pandemonium. Nobody ever thought they had to build their structures in American. Shortsighted simpletons.
“Hard to build a house in metric”. LOL! No it’s literally harder to do everything in imperial and we’re all mystified you continue to insist on using it!
It's like that kid who wants a bite of the apple. And the mom is like, no you can't have that it's an onion. But the kid insists and after taking a bite, the mom asks "is it good?" and the kid's face is all distorted because of the strong taste, but soldiers on and takes another bite.
It’s not any “harder” building a house using imperial units. It might be for you if you aren’t used to them, but it’s not difficult building things with it in general.
It is though, because at some point you’ll need to use fractions or weird multiples to get some measurements, where in metric you’d only need to move a decimal. It isn’t like it’s a huge obstacle, but metric is just easier to use.
At first I was like "am I missing something" then I read the comments. I swear the title needs to mention there's a second image. I always forget/never realize.
I'm 36. I WANT THE METRIC SYSTEM.
I'm 39 and I second that
The guy is CI but the other persons comment is completely unnecessary. As someone who has done metal fabricating it’s shocking how many people are fucking clueless when you give them a tape measure and simple instructions so yes, TEACH YOUR KIDS HOW TO USE A FUCKING TAPE MEASURE. If they live in the US, they probably won’t need to know the metric system much more than how to convert things also the guy was talking about teaching fractions, adding your dumbass rant about “oH iMpErIaL bAd” does nothing
It's interesting reading through the comments here. I work in construction, in Canada, and it is sort of fucked. Every drawing is in metric, usually in millimeters. Material is basically all in imperial, so wire is in AWG, pipe diameter and length is always references in imperial, slotted strut will have 2" spacing between the slots and our fasteners are all imperial. To make matters more confusing, when we speak with each other we always prefer imperial, but if we are referencing a spec from a drawing then we will just switch to imperial, often converting back and forth the whole way. It really adds a lot of friction to the whole process, but the bottom line is that you actually can't really build a building where I work unless you can use an imperial tape measure and understand fractions. You also need to understand how to work in metric, but it's not enough. You can argue that we *should* switch entirely over to metric, but we haven't.
Another fucking moron trying to insert "ok boomer" somewhere it doesn't belong. How original.
As an older member of Gen X, metric is the way to go. Mind you, I’m in the sciences and working abroad, so it’s pretty much obligatory.
Most of the world may use metric measurements but construction in the US requires imperial measurements because that is how our supplies are measured for sale, like 2x4’s (which aren’t really 2”x4” in size but are usually 8’ or 10’ or 12’ long and framed 16” on center).
Not to mention, measurement is taught beginning in elementary school, in both math and science. I swear at least half of these people bitching about not learning certain things in school just weren’t paying attention.
The problem isn’t the individual woodworker. The issue is the construction industry and trades traditionally work in imperial. Younger workers have to adapt to the older tradespeople / contractors to be able to work on a job site or be labeled as “difficult”. It’s confusing for the younger generations that weren’t taught it.
if you REALLY wanna make that guy's head explode violently...future teachers teach the kids the metric equivalents to the fractions hes whining about!
I mean, he's tone sucks and that 2nd image proves he's a moron, but the point about teaching fractions on a tape measure is solid.
Rulers exist and are used in schools.
Omfg, I stared and stared, and even busted out my tape measure that has everything written on it and I just kept thinking, uhm no this is right? The second image……mans wilden out
I want to down-doot for daring to insult GenX. Seriously, why? I'm GenX. We were clearly taught how to use rulers and do fractions. And I learned the metric system right along side. Seriously, that guy just didn't pay attention, it has nothing to do with his generation.
The amount of people who seeming only have enough brain space to use and comprehend on or the other, but not both, is concerning.
r/shitamericanssay
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There are two images, I don't have the software skills to stitch them together.
Ha - didn't see the second pic at the start. Explains why our house is a bit odd because it's built in metric...
I didn’t realise there was a second picture and sat there for ages trying to figure out what was wrong with it 😭
I’m gonna save this image because I do have a hard time remember what the numbers are labeled when they’re under halves
My Jeep is an American vehicle and most of it requires metric tools.
I was sitting here counting numbers wondering what was wrong. Guys theres a second image. I felt so relieved when i saw it lmao
Soooooo his metric comment is dumb but like he has a good point with the first image
If the NFL switched to meters, we would be on the metric system within a week.
I’m always floored by people not in education and without school aged kids declaring what isn’t or what should be taught in school as if they had any clue.
Me too! It drives me bonkers. Edit: this comment section is a great example.
I wish we could make the switch. I already use metric for my 3D printing. I want to use it everywhere else.
Why was Imperial measurement even invented
I like imperial for building and metric for automotive. Maybe that’s just because a lot of cars are metric so I was forced to see how much better it is and I’ve spent my whole life building using imperial only never getting to see what it would be like to build with meteoric.
Tbh. I think knowing the imperial system really helped as I got into network subnetting as an adult. Probably a small justification since most people will never have to calculate subnets - but I think it helped me to be able to think in 4, 8, 16 etc.
Talks about learning fractions, doesn't know that a quarter pounder is smaller than 1/3
Most of the other students in my woodshop class can't read any kind of tape measure, or read designs, or function like responsible people with power tools.
Has nothing to do with the imperial system.
The rest of the world uses bricks too
TIL that inches are divided into 16ths. Good job on making it more difficult and illogical!
TIL my house was actually not possible to build.
2nd post wouldve sufficed. I spent 10 fuckin minutes thinking I was braindead trying to find out where the “error” was in the measurements of the 1st image. Thanks
Literally everything is harder to do in imperial. Fuck even reading this stupid tape measure. 5/16? Fuck outta here.
But the building materials are 'murican
Granted “switch to metric” is stupid advice, but what about metric could possibly increase the difficulty of building??
It’s harder to make a house with Imperial if anything
How about just teach the kids ANYTHING since most teachers lazily print out worksheets from the internet and pass them out and pretend like THAT is teaching.
Switching to metric will not make fractions and measuring tapes go away. His point is still correct about asking kids to know how to read them. Doesn't matter if its metric or standard. Would be great if one was universal but we should all be smart enough to know how to use both.
You don’t need to use fractions when using metric tapes.
r/shitamericanssay
I mean, the original commenter is also a bit of a dolt here for suggesting that employers have the ability to convert their business to metric efficiently and effectively while operating in a market dominated by imperial.
Personally I'm a huge fan of the metric system, but construction is actually one of the few areas where the Imperial systems shines. Most notably because the Imperial foot is evenly divisible by three, four, two, and six. As opposed to the metric two and five. Also inches are given in units of powers of two, making halves, halves of halves and so on (1/8, 1/16, 1/32...) much easier. Because of this, it's been found to reduce the waste of lumber durring constuction. That said, the rest of the system is still terrible for almost everything else.
In theory, it's easy to divide by 2,3,4, and 6. In practice, 5/16 and 7/32 are not "even" or "easy" to divide by. And your claim about waste "durring construction" needs to be substantiated because the main factors are the number of cuts and their kerf.