The units?

[PiotrSatan]

Yes, hey, I had a long break from SDC so you could breathe free air without communist tension, but the good days are over! *muahahahahaha*. Anyway to the topic:
Why do people say that metric system is cheaper than that imperial system (you know, lbs, feet and so on)? It makes no sense to me. I mean, they are units, what difference would it make if you sent to space 20 kg rock or 60 lbs (I think its around the same) rock? I mean it DOES weigh the same except its measured in different units. Can someone explain this to me why is metric system cheaper?

PS. Yes I know that would be better topic for freespace, but it is about units which fits into physics, about costs so to space business so I decided to post here.

 

[Shpaget]

I can honestly say I haven't heard anybody say that.

And you're right, it doesn't make any sense.

 

[PiotrSatan]

I can honestly say I haven't heard anybody say that.

And you're right, it doesn't make any sense.

I saw it 5 times, I think I remember only one example, it was in the nuclear spaceship thread, where they talked about LEO and then one guy jumped off with "it would be much easier to lift up 25 kg than 500000 lbs" or something like that, I think he ment that metric system is cheaper at this point, I had very clear black-on-white examples, but I cant manage to find them, I am sorry.

 

[Shpaget]

Well 500000 lbs is 226796 kg so I guess it really is cheaper to lift 25 kg.
Maybe that's what you missed.

 

[neutrino78x]

Metric/SI ("Syteme Internationale" in French, or "International System" in English; the French invented it) makes a lot more sense.

Take the temperature scale for example. The metric/SI scale of temperature is Celsius/centigrade. Water freezes at 0 on that scale, and boils at 100. This makes sense for the experiences of mankind, because we are familiar with the freezing temperature of water, and experience it as being cold, so we would expect the freezing point of water to be zero. In Fahrenheit, which is the temperature scale used in the USA, freezing is 32.

Then there is the issue of sizes. The kilo- prefix means "one thousand", regardless of what you are measuring. Hence, a kilometer is one thousand meters, a kiloliter is one thousand liters, a kilogram is one thousand grams. You can't shorten things that way in "the imperial system": you have to say "230,000 gallons." There is no such thing as "230 kilogallons."

There is also the issue of fractions. In the imperial system, you would say "that is about 1/4 inch". In SI, it would be "about 6 millimeters", and, again, just by hearing the milli prefix, you know that it is 6 thousandths of a meter, or 6 tenths of a centimeter.

I am an American, and very proud of the country in which I was born, and I served in the US Navy. However, I am strongly in favor of the USA "converting" to metric. We really should join the other G7 nations in this regard.

--Brian

 

[MeteorWayne]

We should really join the rest of the world. Our exports are at a competative disadvantage because of our adherence to an antiquated system when 99% of the rest of the world uses a system standardized throughout.

 

[vulture4]

Good point. If we trade, we need metric. If we ever expect to export manufactured products again, we'd better be able to produce the sizes the rest of the world uses. In medicine and science only metric is used worldwide, so you can't do anything in those fields unless you understand the metric system. And I work with structures only a few nanometers in size. Are you seriously going to try to measure them in inches? AS a pilot I think meters and kilometers take less time to think about and would reduce mental errors.

 

[PiotrSatan]

Yes, yes I am all for that world should unify by simple steps, starting with science. I agree that meters and liters are easier to understand but I have a problem with one thing, so I will ask you again,
WHY DO SOME OF YOU SAY THAT, THE METRIC SYSTEM WOULD BE CHEAPER FOR SPACE AND OTHER STUFF!?

 

[Shpaget]

AS a pilot I think meters and kilometers take less time to think about and would reduce mental errors.

True (where do you live, if I may ask?), but there is some logic in units being used in aviation. For example:
When you hear that something is expressed in nautical miles, even if the frequency is poor and reception is partially garbled, you'll immediately know that it refers to distance from something.
If kilometers (or meters) are used you know right away that somebody is talking about visibility.
Feet are used for vertical distances.

I also grew up in a country where only SI is used, but i understand usage of both.

WHY DO SOME OF YOU SAY THAT, THE METRIC SYSTEM WOULD BE CHEAPER FOR SPACE AND OTHER STUFF!?

Give us a link.
Like I told you, it makes absolutely no sense unless that person was saying that it's easier to lift 25 kg than 500000 lbs (which is in fact 226796 kg) in which case it's not about the units themselves but about what those units mean.

 

[access]

I would think that there may be a many small amounts of time saved type of effect in doing calculations and such in developement as many physics equations easier done in metric (This may just be because I'm in Canada). I don't think that simply measuring something differently is going to change anything so i suspect the difference would be more in preparations for space flight and some kind of savings created by using simpler units.