Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to send me any questions that aren't answered here! Email me at: webmaster@themetricsystem.info.

Categories:

• Questions about the metric system
  
  
  • Don't the colloquial units, like inches and pounds, have more natural and convenient sizes? And isn't it better to have a system that uses multiples of 12 or 16 instead of 10?
    
    
  • Isn't the metric system something that the French invented?
    
    
  • How do I convert x centimeters to inches (or gallons to liters, or kilograms to pounds, etc.)?
    
    
• Questions about the United States' conversion
  
  
  • Wouldn't it cost too much for the country to convert to metric?
    
    
  • The United States is big and powerful, so why can't we just measure our own way?

Questions about the metric system

• Q: Don't the colloquial units, like inches and pounds, have more natural and convenient sizes? And isn't it better to have a system that uses multiples of 12 or 16 instead of 10?
  
  A: The inches, pounds, and gallons currently in use in the Unites States are standardized versions of units that existed in thousands of varieties in Europe long ago. These are the ones we happened to end up with; they are no more "natural" than are the cubit, the Troy ounce, or the chinese jin.
  
  The fact that 12 and 16 have more factors than the number 10 has often been cited as a reason for the inferiority of the metric system. While occasionally useful, this "feature" results in a myriad of units with very random and inconsistent relationships between them (see why metric?, item number 2). Meanwhile, in metric you can get the even more divisibility if you choose the unit right (a letter-size sheet of paper is 280 mm long; the number 280 is divisible by 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 14, 20, 28, 35, 40, 56, 70, and 140).
  
  
• Q: Isn't the metric system something that the French invented?
  
  A: The French invented the original version of the system in the late 1700's. A few units have continued from that time essentially unchanged (such as the meter). However, the modern metric system, called SI, has many important differences from that early system. The SI has been developed by scientists from around the world, including the United States. It has more precise unit definitions than the original metric system, as well as additional units. It is a modern system in use throughout the world, including the United States, and so it is now no more French than it is American or Chinese.
  
  
• Q: How do I convert x centimeters to inches (or gallons to liters, or kilograms to pounds, etc.)?
  
  A: For two reasons, this website does not have a units conversion utility. First, there are already plenty of converters freely available. For example, look at Google's converter and the converter at World Wide Metric. For a fairly comprehensive conversion utility, try onlineconversion.com.
  
  Secondly, this website has a very different purpose. This website is intended to encourage people to use metric and to show them how, not to go back and forth between measurement systems.
  
  

Questions about the United States' conversion

• Q: Wouldn't it cost too much for the country to convert to metric?
  
  A: It depends who you ask, of course. For a person who doesn't want to use metric, any amount is too much. In practice, though, conversion is very practical. Experiences from other countries show that expenses are insignificant compared to a total economy. Australia converted their country in only a few years, including their entire construction industry. It worked fine, and in fact they used the conversion as an opportunity to simplify their building codes.
  
  Certainly, some business and government agencies will have expenses, but there can also be expenses from not converting. For example, Japan and South Korea already have banned the importation of products with any non-metric indications on the label. The European Union will do the same in a few years.
  
  
• Q: The United States is big and powerful, so why can't we just measure our own way?
  
  A: Well, we have been, to a degree. We could have also kept using 8-track tapes if enough people had wanted to. That doesn't mean it would have made much sense or that other countries would follow suit.
  
  When you consider the power and influence of the United States, think of the following facts. It has been during our reign as superpower that the rest of the world has been converting to metric. Our influence hasn't stopped that, and it does not look like it will in the future, either. Our share of the world economy has been falling ever since World War II.