Why does the US persist with avoidung using the metric system in daily life?
The USA has been 'officially' metric since 1866, but usage of the imperial system is commonplace.
Yes, the USA is officially a metric country, but only in the sense that Americans have been free since that time to use (or ignore) the metric system as much as they like (or not). The metric system has actually enjoyed strong support from American business leaders and scientists since the late nineteenth century, and American scientists and engineers have always been among the leaders in improving, extending, and revising the metric system. The general public, however, has lagged far behind.
References:
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/usmetric.html
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Celcius vs Fahrenheit
International travel is fantastic, and I love the challenge of having to learn new rules:
There are also other challenges, such as converting the TV weather forecast into information you can really use to decide what to wear. For example, "Temperatures will reach the low 30s" in the US means "Dress warmly, and you'll need a beanie, a scarf and probably gloves", where in Australia it means "Take a sun hat and you won't be needing that sweater".
Which gets me to wondering, why does the US persist with using Fahrenheit to describe temperature?
But first, two fascinating (I think) facts:
Now, a primer on Celsius vs Fahrenheit:
The Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius developed a scale in 1742 to describe temperature. He defined this scale with 0°C being the freezing point of water, and 100°C being the boiling point of water under a pressure of one standard atmosphere. The Celsius scale is also referred to in some countries as the Centigrade scale; in general terms, 'Centigrade scale' is any scale with 100 units of fixed distance between two points. Celsius is buried next to his grandfather in Uppsala Church.
Several years earlier, German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit defined a temperature scale with 32°F being the freezing point of water, and 212°F being the boiling point of water under a pressure of one standard atmosphere. He cleverly and intentionally positioned the boiling and freezing points of water exactly 180 degrees apart, so a single degree on the Fahrenheit scale is 1/180th part of the interval between the freezing point and the boiling point. Fahrenheit is buried in The Hague.
Conversion rules:
For quick conversion from F to C (as any Australian in the US will need to do regularly), subtract 32 then halve (e.g. 60 F = 14 C).
- road rules (drive on the left in Australia and the UK, on the right in the USA)
- prescription drug rules (don't carry certain cough medicines or sleeping pills in your purse outside the US)
- cultural rules (hand over your business card with both hands, while bowing, in Japan)
- language rules (learn how to at least say 'Hello' and 'Good bye' in the local language)
- etiquette rules (don't laugh with your mouth open in Japan if you are a woman)
There are also other challenges, such as converting the TV weather forecast into information you can really use to decide what to wear. For example, "Temperatures will reach the low 30s" in the US means "Dress warmly, and you'll need a beanie, a scarf and probably gloves", where in Australia it means "Take a sun hat and you won't be needing that sweater".
Which gets me to wondering, why does the US persist with using Fahrenheit to describe temperature?
But first, two fascinating (I think) facts:
Interesting fact #1: Only a handful of countries use Fahrenheit: the USA, Belize (population 320,000) and a couple more
Interesting fact #2: The USA has been 'officially' metric since 1866, but usage of the imperial system is widespread, even (dare I say it) rife. This includes the common use of miles, pounds and Fahrenheit, to name a few of the offending units.
Yes, that's right. The USA is officially a metric country, but have lagged big time in adopting the Celsius scale.
Now, a primer on Celsius vs Fahrenheit:
The Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius developed a scale in 1742 to describe temperature. He defined this scale with 0°C being the freezing point of water, and 100°C being the boiling point of water under a pressure of one standard atmosphere. The Celsius scale is also referred to in some countries as the Centigrade scale; in general terms, 'Centigrade scale' is any scale with 100 units of fixed distance between two points. Celsius is buried next to his grandfather in Uppsala Church.
Several years earlier, German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit defined a temperature scale with 32°F being the freezing point of water, and 212°F being the boiling point of water under a pressure of one standard atmosphere. He cleverly and intentionally positioned the boiling and freezing points of water exactly 180 degrees apart, so a single degree on the Fahrenheit scale is 1/180th part of the interval between the freezing point and the boiling point. Fahrenheit is buried in The Hague.
Conversion rules:
For accurate conversion between C and F, a temperature interval of one degree Fahrenheit is an interval of 5⁄9 of a degree Celsius. i.e. [°F] = [°C] × 9⁄5 + 32
For quick conversion from F to C (as any Australian in the US will need to do regularly), subtract 32 then halve (e.g. 60 F = 14 C).
Interesting fact #3: The Fahrenheit and Celsius scales converge at −40 degrees (i.e. −40 °F and −40 °C represent the same temperature).
The Fahrenheit scale was the primary temperature standard for climatic, industrial and medical purposes in most English-speaking countries until the 1960s, then in the late 1960s and 1970s, the Celsius scale was adopted by most countries as part of metrication.
References:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)