Comment on Are metric measurements like decameters and hectometers ever used?
ravenford@startrek.website 9 months agoI think the point op is making is with ‘stones’ or ‘furlongs’ etc you need to already know what that unit represents to make sense of it. With metric units, even the infrequently used increments can be reasoned out just from the name of the unit, as it’s a standard prefix in fixed multiples of 10, not a random number that must be learnt. So they’re neither similar or exactly the same in principle really.
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 9 months ago
In fairness, you also need to already know what grams, meters, and seconds represent. And the prefixes are hardly self-explanatory. You’d still have to look up the unfamiliar ones. Just like you have to look up nautical miles or knots.
ravenford@startrek.website 9 months ago
Well with metric there are alot less words you need to know to use them I think is the point of difference.
Like you need to know that a stone represents a weight, and that that weight is 14 pounds. What’s a pound? Oh it’s 12 ounces. None of those words are the same out of context but all describe a weight and the size of the weight.
In metric you only need to know that grams measure weight, metres length, litres volume. Then everyday use is normal prefix increments like OP said.
And again the prefixes apply consistently across units too, so a millimetre, a millilitre or a milligram will all be the same fraction of their base.
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 9 months ago
It seems that we’re both fans of SI units. I’m not arguing against metrics. But you still have to know what the words mean, and to do that, you have to look them up. You can also look up fleebles if necessary.
And not to pick nits, but grams measure mass, not weight. Weight is newtons. A pound is 16 ounces, not 12. A lot of the measures, such as weights and volumes, use powers of two: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 63, 128.
It’s easy to get imperials confused. That’s why I’d rather call a pound about a half kilo in my head and be done with it.
ravenford@startrek.website 9 months ago
Haha, I promise I didn’t intentionally make my point about how obscure imperial units are in conversion. I looked it up but clearly transcribed wrong!