Re: Metric Time (was Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique))
Robert McGee (rmcgee@worldbank.org)
10 Oct 1995 16:50:07 GMT
In article <DG6Bnw.K8w@polo.demon.co.uk>, john@polo.demon.co.uk (John Winters) says:
>
[snipped a Drama in Real Life (tm) about the hazards of buying berries
by the pint]
>
>Me, I'm broadly in favour of the metric system but I can't let that
>one pass. Your problem here was converting from a volumetric
>measurement to a weight measurement, which would have been just as hard
>in a metric system.
Not at all. A liter (volumetric) is exactly 1000 cubic centimeters
(linear). And one cc of pure water weighs approximately one gram.
>Do *you* know how many litres of strawberries there
>are to the kilo?
Assuming that a strawberry's density is close to that of water, a
kilo of tightly-packed strawberries would fill about a liter.
>Nor do I. And if you can't remember how many pints
>there are in a quart, you're not much likelier to remember how many
>centimetres there are in a metre.
Every USAan (and every Canadian, New Zealander, Australian, Jamaican,
Zimbabwean, etc.) could tell you that a hundredth part of a dollar
is a cent.
On the other hand, the only way I can convert volume and weight
measurements in the U.S. system is to change everything to Tablespoons,
recalling that there are 8 Tsp. in a stick of butter, which come four
to a one-pound package.
rmcgee@worldbank.org | There is only one thing worse than *not*
rmcgee@clark.net | being talked about, and that is a lime
Washington, DC | Jell-O mold with pimento-stuffed olives
| and liverwurst chunks.
| --Mr. Cuttlefish
The opinions expressed here are mine and do not reflect the views
of the World Bank.
|