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21 Jul 08
Originally posted by AThousandYoungThe thing with metricising the clocks is that you can't do it thoroughly. You can have 10 days to the week, 10 hours to the day, 100 minutes to the hour and 100 seconds to the minute, but what you can't do is make the Earth go round the Sun in exactly 100 times the period in which it turns around its own axis, nor make the Moon go round in a neat number of days.
They tried to change the clocks, but it never caught on.
So while you can give us 100 cents to the euro, and 100 cm to the metre, instead of 12 pence to the shilling (or was it 12 s. to the L.?), or 13 furlongs to the firkin, and have that whole system completely stitched up with round factors to the last unit, no matter what you do with time, you'll always end up with weird factors there. So, most people apparently conclude, you might as well not bother to come up with half a solution.
Richard
21 Jul 08
Originally posted by FabianFnasYou asked about the university level. At the casual level we use Imperial. I'm 6'.
This means that I can tell an engineer from a scientist bu just asking him how tall he is?
Does he answer 6 foot 8, then he is an engineer. Does he answer 180 centimeter, then he is a scientist. Does he answer 4 gallon, he is... eh, what?
How tall are you, AThousandYoung?
21 Jul 08
Originally posted by Shallow BlueThat is because we are so fixed on making the day and year both critical parts of our time system. Most other measuring systems would have similar problems if we insisted on similar constraints.
The thing with metricising the clocks is that you can't do it thoroughly. You can have 10 days to the week, 10 hours to the day, 100 minutes to the hour and 100 seconds to the minute, but what you can't do is make the Earth go round the Sun in exactly 100 times the period in which it turns around its own axis, nor make the Moon go round in a neat number ...[text shortened]... apparently conclude, you might as well not bother to come up with half a solution.
Richard
I would welcome a decimal time system even if the years didn't fit in. We could still keep track of the seasons etc without too much trouble.
It must also be noted that many parts of the world do use a yearly and monthly calendar quite different from the western standard.
21 Jul 08
Originally posted by twhiteheadAstronomers use Julian day number. Within a day they use decimals. The same time all over the planet, no time zones, no daylight saving time. Makes it very easy to calculate the position of celestial bodies.
That is because we are so fixed on making the day and year both critical parts of our time system. Most other measuring systems would have similar problems if we insisted on similar constraints.
I would welcome a decimal time system even if the years didn't fit in. We could still keep track of the seasons etc without too much trouble.
It must also be ...[text shortened]... ts of the world do use a yearly and monthly calendar quite different from the western standard.
21 Jul 08
1 edit
Originally posted by FabianFnasWe use almost entirely metric units in University, as well as in industry for most engineering applications. That doesn't mean that I don't give my height in ft and in though, because even though most people know how far a meter is, it's just not common usage for height of a person.
Yes, I read something about that. Some mixup between inch and centimeters, wasn't it?
At university level, what kind of units are used, nowadays?
England switched to decimal system in some respect, Australia has done it. How much progress is US doing?
Noone thinks that 100 cents on a dollar is awkward. On the other hand everone accepts 60 minutes an hour... 😕
Same with speed in miles/hour...if I'm doing a calculation in a physics/engineering class, I would convert that to m/s, but it's not common usage for vehicles.
21 Jul 08
Originally posted by FabianFnasWell then, the way is obvious: We speed up the rotation of the Earth to exactly 25 hours, move the moon's orbit to make it exactly 50 days, move the Earth's orbit out a bit to make the year exactly 500 days. It seems the only thing to do......
Astronomers use Julian day number. Within a day they use decimals. The same time all over the planet, no time zones, no daylight saving time. Makes it very easy to calculate the position of celestial bodies.
