2 ms·

The US is on the metric system: The official definitions of US customary units are in metric. For example: https://www.regulations.gov/document/NIST-2019-0003-

by gwbas1c 2mo ago

The US is on the metric system: The official definitions of US customary units are in metric. For example: https://www.regulations.gov/document/NIST-2019-0003-0001 https://www.regulations.gov/document/NIST-2019-0003-0001 > After December 31, 2022, any data derived from or published as a result of surveying, mapping, or any other activity within the U.S. that is expressed in terms of feet shall only be based on the “foot” equal to 0.3048 meter (exactly), formerly known as the “international foot” in the 1959 Federal Register notice.

zdragnar 2mo ago
The US uses the metric system in some places, but that is not to say it is "on the metric system"- after all, all road speed limit signs are still in miles per hour, as an example. Fuel is priced in dollars per gallon. Consumer goods are almost always sold in measurements of pounds, ounces or gallons. People are measured in feet, inches and pounds on their ID cards and at doctor's offices. Metric has made almost no inroads at all in anyone's daily life here.
- gpm 2mo ago
  I believe their point is that a mile is defined to be exactly 1609.344 meters, a gallon is defined to be exactly 3.785411784 litres, a pound (mass) is defined to be exactly 453.59237 grams and so on. These are all just weird multiples of metric units at this point.
  - zdragnar 2mo ago
    Eh, I seriously doubt that we will be changing the distance a mile represents if, for some bizarre reason, a meter gets redefined. Likewise, pounds and gallons and so forth. These measurements "defined in metric" is really more of a "formal conversion rate" ala converting between degrees F and C.
    - Someone 2mo ago
      > if, for some bizarre reason, a meter gets redefined Miles, feet and yards were tied to the meter in 1893 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Order https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Order). The meter got redefined 3 times since then (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metre#Summary_of_definitions_since_1798 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metre#Summary_o...)

by gwbas1c 2mo ago

zdragnar 2mo ago

The US uses the metric system in some places, but that is not to say it is "on the metric system"- after all, all road speed limit signs are still in miles per hour, as an example. Fuel is priced in dollars per gallon. Consumer goods are almost always sold in measurements of pounds, ounces or gallons. People are measured in feet, inches and pounds on their ID cards and at doctor's offices. Metric has made almost no inroads at all in anyone's daily life here.

gpm 2mo ago
I believe their point is that a mile is defined to be exactly 1609.344 meters, a gallon is defined to be exactly 3.785411784 litres, a pound (mass) is defined to be exactly 453.59237 grams and so on. These are all just weird multiples of metric units at this point.
- zdragnar 2mo ago
  Eh, I seriously doubt that we will be changing the distance a mile represents if, for some bizarre reason, a meter gets redefined. Likewise, pounds and gallons and so forth. These measurements "defined in metric" is really more of a "formal conversion rate" ala converting between degrees F and C.
  - Someone 2mo ago
    > if, for some bizarre reason, a meter gets redefined Miles, feet and yards were tied to the meter in 1893 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Order https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendenhall_Order). The meter got redefined 3 times since then (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metre#Summary_of_definitions_since_1798 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metre#Summary_o...)