Comment on Everyday, as an American
ricecake@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks agoHard disagree on the fractional units. Using rational numbers for those things derives from the frequency with which people need to double and halve things in the fields that use those conventions. Doubling 3/8 to get 6/8 or 3/4 is much easier than doubling .375 to get .75
That one’s nothing to do with the metric system vs imperial, aside from the fields that rely on the convention being largely the ones that created imperial in the first place. If they all switched to metric tomorrow they’d just say they need 3/5 meter spacing.
Windex007@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Does Germany use 3/5m spacing?
ricecake@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I looked it up and they use 2/5 meter spacing. Some other countries nearby use 3/5th though.
Windex007@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
And it’s described locally as 2/5 and 3/6, rather than 40 or 60 cm?
ricecake@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
From everything I’ve heard it’s a hodge podge, since the US, with the worst system, is the only one to use it consistently. Building plans would reference it by cm however.
What I was more referring to was from the perspective of the carpenter doing the work.
Fractions or decimals aren’t specific to us customary or metric. You see decimal inches perfectly often, or at least I do.
Fractions are a more convenient way of dealing with multiplying or dividing numbers without a lot of mental effort. 1/3 of .125 is gonna take a second to figure out. 1/3 of 1/8 is 1/24. 5 1/8 units is just ”5/8”, rather than the .625 in decimal.
It’s definitely less effective for numerical sorting in your head, but if I’m sorting screws or something, I’m probably gonna just look at them rather than compare the labels.