12 Apr 05
Originally posted by Ringtailhunter'For nine months, the Mars Climate Orbiter was speeding through space and speaking to NASA in metric. But the engineers on the ground were replying in non-metric English.
The metric system and schools in the United States.
My daughter came to me the other night with a math problem involving the metric system....why? Why do they keep cramming that system down our throats if we are never going to use it?
I have yet to roll open a blue print of a building and have it be in metric (although it would make life a lot ...[text shortened]... k on a foreign car (or try to take off every other part on a ford),it is totally useless.
RTh
"Engineers on the ground calculated the size of the rocket-firing using feet-per-second of thrust, a value based on the English measure of feet and inches.
However, the spacecraft computer interpreted the instructions in Newtons-per-second, a metric measure of thrust. The difference is 1.3 metres a second."
Communication signals stopped when the craft passed behind Mars and have not been heard since. '
Two systems of measurement is crazy. One day you will catch up with the rest of the world.
12 Apr 05
Originally posted by PullhardOh you would know about it, but the rest of the world is full of terrorists and requires American influence to be corrected.
If the rest of the world is using the metric system (which is a lot easier), why shouldn't the USA use it? There is a whole wild world beyond the US borders, although you wouldn't know it going by the US media.
12 Apr 05
Originally posted by PullhardI must admit, when I get data from US colegues I dispair when they have used units such as "BTUs per square foot in degrees Farenheit" (BTU = British Thermal Units, but from a looong time ago). To convert that to metric is a nightmare.
If the rest of the world is using the metric system (which is a lot easier), why shouldn't the USA use it? There is a whole wild world beyond the US borders, although you wouldn't know it going by the US media.
12 Apr 05
4 edits
if you ever play a frenchman ... just exchange your queen ... or get their bishops and knights because they think:
1.00 pawns = 0.25 knights = 0.25 bishops = 0.125 rooks = 0.05 queen.
if you ever play an american then you will not know what the hell to do - but neither do they, because they think:
193 pawns = 65 knights = 47 rooks = 67 bishops on sundays mondays and wednesdays = 69 bishops saturdays, tuesdays, and thursdays = 64 bishops on fridays = 23 queens.
12 Apr 05
Originally posted by PullhardThe US media, especially the local television news, cares more about a car wreck 1000 miles away than about the local boys and girls in Iraq, and it cares more about the locals in Iraq than anything else in other countries.
If the rest of the world is using the metric system (which is a lot easier), why shouldn't the USA use it? There is a whole wild world beyond the US borders, although you wouldn't know it going by the US media.
Aside from the ball scores of economics (dow jones up 1/4 today), reporting on the state of the economy (such as the growing gap between the rich and poor) is a no-no. The world outside our borders only matters when a Pope or Princess dies or engages in inappropriate sexual conduct, or if Americans are harmed through kidnapping or violence.
We avoid the metric system precisely because the rest of the world uses it.
12 Apr 05
Originally posted by RingtailhunterIf you're going to go into science, you need the metric system. Plus it's just a better system. If we can get the US to switch to it entirely it will become easier to educate more of the populace since it's easier to work with.
The metric system and schools in the United States.
My daughter came to me the other night with a math problem involving the metric system....why? Why do they keep cramming that system down our throats if we are never going to use it?
I have yet to roll open a blue print of a building and have it be in metric (although it would make life a lot ...[text shortened]... k on a foreign car (or try to take off every other part on a ford),it is totally useless.
RTh
I could just as easily say "why teach the old English system? I have yet to look at a scientific paper that uses anything but metric".
13 Apr 05
Originally posted by KneverKnightYou know, wheh I first read this book, I thought 20 000 leagues under the sea meant how deep the submarine went.
I guess the old system was good if you didn't have a ruler, they had feet and hands (for horse's heights) and so forth, but calculators like the decimal system.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea sounds better than 40,000 Kilometers Below the Surface Of the Ocean.
14 Apr 05
Originally posted by DreamlaX1 litre is actually 1000 cubic centimetres 😏
We are brought up into this world counting and calculating in base 10. Why throw ourselves problems by measuring in a different base?
The metric system is by far easier to learn and use than having to remember various names for various different lengths (foot, yard, mile etc). A metre is a unit of length, instead of giving a fraction of a metre an entire ...[text shortened]... in Japan yet many want to learn it. I do not see anyone rushing to American Measuring Units 101.
14 Apr 05
Originally posted by RingtailhunterAre you finally ready to admit that you are rapalla7? This post is packed with clues, both subtle and obvious.
The metric system and schools in the United States.
My daughter came to me the other night with a math problem involving the metric system....why? Why do they keep cramming that system down our throats if we are never going to use it?
I have yet to roll open a blue print of a building and have it be in metric (although it would make life a lot ...[text shortened]... k on a foreign car (or try to take off every other part on a ford),it is totally useless.
RTh