I would argue that the imperial system is more practical for some applications. Say, for example, you have a recipe that calls for a cup of water and makes 6 servings of whatever, and you want to cut it down to 1 serving. So you need 1/6 of a cup, or 8 teaspoons. But if a similar recipe calls for 250 ml of water, you'd cut it down to 41.67 ml. Sure, you could round down to what is apparently 2 metric tablespoons and it would probably be fine, but that's not more precise and logical, is it?
That's not for a different application though, just for dividing by a different number. That cuts both ways. If you needed to cut it down to a fifth, metric would be easier. If you needed a seventh, neither one divides that neatly.
A better question is, which more easily handles the cases where it doesn't divide so neatly? I'd say the answer is metric, simply because we have a decimal system. Either system, you could try to approximate, with varying degrees of success. If you want a greater degree of precision, however, it's easier to work that out in the decimal-based system. (Which I imagine is why grams and millimeters seem to dominate in science-related areas, even in America).
I'd say the answer is metric, simply because we have a decimal system.
Base ten, man, base ten. So much easier. I wish we used it. That's math I can always do in my head.
Well,I'm not really meaning to make the case that the imperial system is superior, just that it's not ridiculous. The metric system is fantastic for anything very large or very small, and I can't really think about physics using imperial measurements, myself, but for every day usage they both serve pretty much equally well.
I prefer to give my weight in stones.
Ugh. Just woke up on the couch from a dream that combined my job doing something about managing location shooting on Nantucket and a house infested with
setient tarantulas
. shudder
But it's not coed. Or SFW.
Ugh, insomnia.
Frontline's kept my cat bloodsucker-free, and I take him for outdoor walks several times a week. I wish we had similar stuff for humans. But I hadn't heard there's a generic for it--I'll have to look it up. Thanks!
Someone once commented that if the U.S. ever really did go metric, the only people who'd be comfortable with it would be scientists and drug dealers.
The problem is that I learned metric and imperial in school, but I don't have a frame of reference for imperial. Cookbooks aren't written in metric, my car does not display metric, I don't think in metric (although I used to for temperature, not anymore). It would be almost like learning a new language. I would have to mentally convert all the time.
new web tool to help those with auto repairs:
[link]
