On 24 May 2008 05:09:04 -0400, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:

>
>  However, what are inches divided into? How would you express 7mm in
>inches?

Inches are divided into halves, quarters, eights, sixteenths and
thirtyseconds (1/32). We use thous (1/1000) in engineering. OK the
metric system is more logical but the imperial system is more
intuitive if you have taken the trouble to learn it so that you can
work in it without thinking. I use both. It is similar to using
fractions and decimals. You can also have fun with vulgar fractions
such as: the length is one and nine eights. ;)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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Stephen wrote:
> On Sat, 24 May 2008 16:36:07 +0200, andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom>
> wrote:
> 
>> You might. Probably my mistake, I should also have mentioned that we 
>> almost always abbreviate kilogram to kilo.
> 
> As do we in the UK
So, how would you call a device to measure kilos?

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Stephen wrote:
> On 24 May 2008 05:09:04 -0400, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> 
>>  However, what are inches divided into? How would you express 7mm in
>> inches?
> 
> Inches are divided into halves, quarters, eights, sixteenths and
> thirtyseconds (1/32). We use thous (1/1000) in engineering. OK the
> metric system is more logical but the imperial system is more
> intuitive if you have taken the trouble to learn it so that you can
> work in it without thinking. 
I think the point is that warp and me and everybody else raised in 
metric disagrees. The metric system is just as intuitive and more logical.
> I use both. It is similar to using
> fractions and decimals. You can also have fun with vulgar fractions
> such as: the length is one and nine eights. ;)
a tiny bit more than 1/3 meter?

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Stephen <mcavoysAT@aoldotcom> wrote:
> On 24 May 2008 05:09:04 -0400, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:

> >  However, what are inches divided into? How would you express 7mm in
> >inches?

> Inches are divided into halves, quarters, eights, sixteenths and
> thirtyseconds (1/32).

  So how exactly do you express 7/10 inches? (Compare to 7mm being 7/10 cm.)
How do you measure that with a ruler?

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:
>   Resistance to change, that's what it is. ;)

Could be that too, of course. Why learn something new when the old is 
just as good (or at least good enough).

Another more-convenient: acres.  About 200 feet on a side, a small house 
will have one-eighth acre of land.  A nice 3 bedroom job in an old 
spacious neighborhood will have half an acre.  A big mansion will be on 
  2 to 5 acres. A family farm would cover 100 to 200 acres, and a family 
ranch like 600 to 800 acres.  Just right for a nice range of measurements.

We still do floorplan sizes for houses in square feet, tho, so you wind 
up with 900 sq ft being a tiny house, 2000 being a 
comfortable-for-Americans size, 8000 being a big mansionish house. I 
think square meters would do better there, taking out one of the 
"useless" zeros in there.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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Eero Ahonen wrote:
> I think this is an opinion-question, 

Agreed. I'm not trying to get you to agree with my opinion. :-) I'm just 
expressing it.

> but IMO cm/m is pretty easy and 
> logical measurement for people. 197cm tells you that he's 3cm shorter 
> than a normal door, so he won't hit his head.

Doors here are, I think, seven feet, so that's even easier. :-)

And we say "He's five nine", and everyone knows that means "five feet 
nine inches tall".

> In below zero (C) temperatures air is dry and most of the normally-wet 
> places are freaking slippery. Practically I find it very useful 
> information in everyday life (the most important thing about outside 
> temparature is that is it + or - in certain times of year).

I think you, like Warp, are used to much colder weather. I want to know 
whether it's t-shirt, long sleeve, or sweater weather. :-)

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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scott wrote:
> But as soon as you need to do anything with those numbers (eg adding, 
> dividing etc) it's much easier to use 197 cm than 6 foot 5 (or whatever).

Certainly if you're doing math, you convert everything to one unit of 
measurement.

>> Having numbers that go below zero for everyday temperatures seems less 
>> convenient.
> 
> No, it's obvious that 0 is "freezing", 

Ehn. I think zero being "way colder than you want to be outside in" and 
100 being "somewhat hotter than you want to be outside in" is more 
convenient. Having to wear different clothes based on it being 32 vs 35 
degrees doesn't seem right on this side of the pond. YMMV, of course.

>> Not if you're constructing something. Then you want to be able to take 
>> a third of it, for example.
> 
> And what if you need more accuracy than 1 inch (which is required in 
> most household items), do you say 5 foot 10 point 7 or what?

Nah. You say "a hundred ninety seven point three inches".  Or, more 
likely, "a hundred ninety seven and a quarter". If you need even better 
than that, you're probably doing science and should be using metric 
anyway. ;-)

Screws here go down to 1/32nd or 1/64th of an inch, rather than a 
milimeter. It is kind of annoying that they reduce the fractions, tho. 
Going "3 32nds is too small, 5 32nds is too big..." and having to do the 
mental math to figure out what 4 32nds is does make me pause sometimes. 
I suppose if I did it more than a few times a year, I'd internalize it 
just like I know 4 feet is 48 inches without thinking.

> What if 
> you need 5 foot 3 point 85 divided into 2?  Dividing 158.3 cm into 2 is 
> much easier.

You'd cast everything to inches. That's how construction work is done. 
Studs are 16 inches apart, for example. I went to the store and bought 
20-inch hoses to connect wall to sink.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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Warp wrote:
>   So how exactly do you express 7/10 inches? (Compare to 7mm being 7/10 cm.)
> How do you measure that with a ruler?

You don't do it that way. You measure in quarters and eighths.

You don't measure 7/10ths of an inch here any more than you measure a 
sixteenth of a meter where you are.

All the rulers are marked in half-inch, quarter-inch, eight-inch, etc.

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_65/11497665910bMuRS.jpg

Now, sure, if you're doing science or engineering or something where you 
need to express 7/10th of an inch for some reason, then you express it 
as 7/10th of an inch. But at that point you're not likely using a ruler 
to measure it.

(Weren't the original DIP IC packages using 1/10th inch spacing between 
pins? Was that the same in Europe?)

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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On Sat, 24 May 2008 17:26:36 +0200, andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom>
wrote:

>Stephen wrote:
>> On Sat, 24 May 2008 16:36:07 +0200, andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> You might. Probably my mistake, I should also have mentioned that we 
>>> almost always abbreviate kilogram to kilo.
>> 
>> As do we in the UK
>So, how would you call a device to measure kilos?

Scales, kitchen scales for up to 1.5 kilos, bathroom scales for
people. Vehicles are weighed on a weighbridge. Sometime scales are
called a balance if they are very accurate.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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On Sat, 24 May 2008 17:43:53 +0200, andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom>
wrote:

>Stephen wrote:
>> On 24 May 2008 05:09:04 -0400, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
>> 
>>>  However, what are inches divided into? How would you express 7mm in
>>> inches?
>> 
>> Inches are divided into halves, quarters, eights, sixteenths and
>> thirtyseconds (1/32). We use thous (1/1000) in engineering. OK the
>> metric system is more logical but the imperial system is more
>> intuitive if you have taken the trouble to learn it so that you can
>> work in it without thinking. 
>I think the point is that warp and me and everybody else raised in 
>metric disagrees. The metric system is just as intuitive and more logical.

Darren and I understand that but we both work in both systems and feel
that the imperial system is more homely (British usage not American
usage)

>> I use both. It is similar to using
>> fractions and decimals. You can also have fun with vulgar fractions
>> such as: the length is one and nine eights. ;)
>a tiny bit more than 1/3 meter?

It would be 53.975 millimetres as only inches are talked about in
eights. If it were feet we would say 2 ft one and a half (inches are
understood). 
The joke is that nine eights is a vulgar fraction and should not be
used in polite society.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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