Converting non-standard weights & measures.

[Rich_NYS]

How much does a metric shit-ton weigh?

How 'bout it's volume?

:hmm:

[Dangermouse]

A metric ton of shit weighs 2204 standard, or Imperial, pounds. Call it 2200lbs.

The volume would depend on the animal and its immediately preceding diet, I would assume.

[Rich_NYS]

A metric ton of shit weighs 2204 standard, or Imperial, pounds. Call it 2200lbs.

The volume would depend on the animal and its immediately preceding diet, I would assume.

Thanks...lol! :thumbup:

[Jonathan]

Is there something full of shit you need emptying Rich?

[Rich_NYS]

Is there something full of shit you need emptying Rich?

Nothing other than myself...LOL! :mechbull:

[Jonathan]

Nothing other than myself...LOL! :mechbull:

Haha. Wasn't sure if you were joking or seriously wondering about the metric system? :)

... I'll bite though... a lot of the metric system seems to have been based on keeping things simple and using multiplications of 10 or 0.1. The standards are generally based on somewhat known items like the length of a meter or weight of a kilogram. And going from weight to volume or length was meant to be easier to understand. 1 kilogram of water at a standard temperature and pressure is a volume equal to 1 litre. And 1,000 litres is equal to one cubic meter. That same water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees C. As things get bigger, you'll see them scaled up using kilo for 1,000, centi for 100 or mega for 1,000,000. Conversely, getting smaller by 1,000 (or 0.001 rather) is milli, nano, pico, etc. Just about all units can be derived from the basics like grams, meters, seconds, Newtons, and what not to get acceleration or velocity. Ok, enough of that... lol :)

I thought this thing was cool to show you the scale of the universe idea and how big or small certain units are. It's not solely metric system applicable here of course.

It's called The Scale of the Universe and the link is here: http://htwins.net/ (as I can't upload an Excel file here apparently, or a big one I guess).

[Rich_NYS]

Haha. Wasn't sure if you were joking or seriously wondering about the metric system? :)

I was just joking..hahaha!

I'm a big fan of the Metric system; Base 10 like you said, helluva lot simpler than the ridiculous U.S Standard system. I think we'd be converted if it wasn't for my Dad's generation hitting the panic button back when I was in grade school and we were supposed to convert.

Metric System is Base 10
Our money is counted in Base 10
We weigh & measure in Base #&(^@_)(!$&. and claim the Metric system is too hard...LOL!



I thought this thing was cool to show you the scale of the universe idea and how big or small certain units are. It's not solely metric system applicable here of course.

It's called The Scale of the Universe and the link is here: http://htwins.net/ (as I can't upload an Excel file here apparently, or a big one I guess).

Scale of the Universe thing is cool - wow, my head hurts now....yeow!

[beernpizzalover]

... I'll bite though... a lot of the metric system seems to have been based on keeping things simple and using multiplications of 10 or 0.1. The standards are generally based on somewhat known items like the length of a meter or weight of a kilogram. And going from weight to volume or length was meant to be easier to understand. 1 kilogram of water at a standard temperature and pressure is a volume equal to 1 litre. And 1,000 litres is equal to one cubic meter. That same water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees C. As things get bigger, you'll see them scaled up using kilo for 1,000, centi for 100 or mega for 1,000,000. Conversely, getting smaller by 1,000 (or 0.001 rather) is milli, nano, pico, etc. Just about all units can be derived from the basics like grams, meters, seconds, Newtons, and what not to get acceleration or velocity. Ok, enough of that... lol :)


I remember back in the late '70s, hearing that the U.S. conversion to the Metric System was right around the corner; I'm still waiting to see that happen...

[Rich_NYS]

I remember back in the late '70s, hearing that the U.S. conversion to the Metric System was right around the corner; I'm still waiting to see that happen...

Yup, I was in Elementary School when we got started. As I recall, the adults when into panic mode, we didn't complete the mission, and the rest is history.

[Jonathan]

I remember back in the late '70s, hearing that the U.S. conversion to the Metric System was right around the corner; I'm still waiting to see that happen...

lol, don't worry... a lot of the world is waiting and wondering when that will happen as well.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jdQMXJksLas/UOlwfEsPy4I/AAAAAAAABuA/1fq8QO113rE/s1600/800px-Metric_system_adoption_map.png

[Dangermouse]

When I lived in Alabama in the 90s, one year they spent tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars installing kilometer-markers on the Interstates (in addition to the existing mile-markers).


Complete waste of money, as they didn't add the km numbers to the directional signposts so travelers had no frame of reference. Such as "Birmingham 30 (48km)"

A few years later they paid a bunch more money to take them all down again. :hatchet:

[refugeefromcalif]

When I lived in Alabama in the 90s, one year they spent tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars installing kilometer-markers on the Interstates (in addition to the existing mile-markers).


Complete waste of money, as they didn't add the km numbers to the directional signposts so travelers had no frame of reference. Such as "Birmingham 30 (48km)"

A few years later they paid a bunch more money to take them all down again. :hatchet:

When I moved to Alabama in 1991, I remember those markers being up. Kinda confusing if you didn't notice the km part on the sign.
On the 4 lane roads I travel into town on, I would've prefered that they spent the money re-paving them.

George

[LEVY]

I own a business related to the oil industry, it is a pain sometimes, customers ask for a holding tank with a capacity in litters, others in gallons and others ask in tons, which mean Metric Tons.

LEVY

[MML]

"The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it."
- Grampa Simpson

[Jonathan]

Canada is officially the metric system, but it's not without a mix of the others too.

I always quote my weight in pounds and height in feet & inches and wouldn't even know what to tell you in kilograms or centimeters (although I could look my height up on my driver's license!! lol)

I still find myself saying "it's about 5 miles from here" even though I have never driven on roads here in this country that were ever marked in miles, always kilometers. I'd be more likely to say "it's about 5 minutes from here" actually :tongue_stick:

And for all the years I worked in water treatment where most of our customers were places in the US, we always manufactured systems with instruments in psi, gpm, so many cubic feet of volume inside a vessel, etc. You can imagine the odd look I would get when working at a Canadian facility and I'm quoting stuff in Imperial units and then buddy with his kPa and m^3/s is looking at me funny.

I'm just happy we all drive on the RIGHT side of the road!!!! hahahaha

[Rich_NYS]

I own a business related to the oil industry, it is a pain sometimes, customers ask for a holding tank with a capacity in litters, others in gallons and others ask in tons, which mean Metric Tons.

LEVY

So maybe you can answer the question: "how much is in a metric shit-ton?"

(BTW, I bought that car yo....)

[Rich_NYS]

Canada is officially the metric system, but it's not without a mix of the others too.

I always quote my weight in pounds and height in feet & inches and wouldn't even know what to tell you in kilograms or centimeters (although I could look my height up on my driver's license!! lol)

I still find myself saying "it's about 5 miles from here" even though I have never driven on roads here in this country that were ever marked in miles, always kilometers. I'd be more likely to say "it's about 5 minutes from here" actually :tongue_stick:

And for all the years I worked in water treatment where most of our customers were places in the US, we always manufactured systems with instruments in psi, gpm, so many cubic feet of volume inside a vessel, etc. You can imagine the odd look I would get when working at a Canadian facility and I'm quoting stuff in Imperial units and then buddy with his kPa and m^3/s is looking at me funny.

I'm just happy we all drive on the RIGHT side of the road!!!! hahahaha


I thought everything up there was Metric or Imperial..... are you rebelling against the system?

[LEVY]

So maybe you can answer the question: "how much is in a metric shit-ton?"

(BTW, I bought that car yo....)

I don't even want to think about it!

What car you are talking about?

LEVY

[LEVY]

So maybe you can answer the question: "how much is in a metric shit-ton?"

(BTW, I bought that car yo....)

Congratulations on your purchase!

I didn't knew you bought that car after all!

LEVY

[dustybarn]

I don't have a strong preference and can work in either US customary units or in metric units. All measurement systems are to a great degree arbitrary. The meter was originally defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator, measured along the meridian that passes through Paris (which the surveyors measured a little bit wrong). So the definition of the meter is essentially arbitrary, no less so than a foot, and was chosen because it's a convenient size. as long as your measurement system is internally consistent, it doesn't matter. I guess I don't have the disdain for the USCS system that others have.

[Dangermouse]

When I moved to Alabama in 1991, I remember those markers being up. Kinda confusing if you didn't notice the km part on the sign.
On the 4 lane roads I travel into town on, I would've prefered that they spent the money re-paving them.

George

Just for George and I:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-156/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-156.htm

Seems like Alabama was in the vanguard of metric conversion in the US in the '90s, spending $1.1M on km-marker posts and estimating $420M to convert all their road signs

[Dangermouse]

Canada is officially the metric system, but it's not without a mix of the others too.

I always quote my weight in pounds and height in feet & inches and wouldn't even know what to tell you in kilograms or centimeters (although I could look my height up on my driver's license!! lol)

I still find myself saying "it's about 5 miles from here" even though I have never driven on roads here in this country that were ever marked in miles, always kilometers. I'd be more likely to say "it's about 5 minutes from here" actually :tongue_stick:

And for all the years I worked in water treatment where most of our customers were places in the US, we always manufactured systems with instruments in psi, gpm, so many cubic feet of volume inside a vessel, etc. You can imagine the odd look I would get when working at a Canadian facility and I'm quoting stuff in Imperial units and then buddy with his kPa and m^3/s is looking at me funny.

I'm just happy we all drive on the RIGHT side of the road!!!! hahahaha

You are not alone:

In the UK, distance is in miles, speedometers are in mph, mileage is measured in mpg, yet gas is bought by the liter
In Ireland, distance is in km, speedometers are in mph, mileage is measured in mpg, and gas is bought by the liter
In Europe, distance is in km, speedometers are in kmph, mileage is measured in l/km, and gas is bought by the liter. Almost fully metric, yet the wheels on the car are still measured in inches. Odd.

All the electric motors I buy are rated in HP, but their power is measured and displayed as kW or kW/h. Why not just sell the motors as kW rated, I ask you? And the vendors. Most engineering drawings I see are marked for dual dimensions so it's just a question of will to change.

It's coming. More and more packaging equipment is set up for metric standards. Sodas are already sold in liter and 2 liter bottles, this printer cartridge in my had is in ml, most goods in my kitchen are dual marked in lbs and grams. The machine packing 1lb of flour (454g) can easily be recalibrated to pack 500g without any physical change except for the bag itself. The palletizing machine for those bags of flour already has a pallet design to optimally load the new size (as it is the same size the rest of the world is already using) .

(I'm not sure how they package shit, sorry).

I can cope with feet and inches, but the thing I wish "they" would do first is decimalize dimensions. Do away with fractions and replace it with the decimal equivalent. Is 7/16 more than 11/32? Pass me a pencil. Is 0.44 more than 0.34. I know immediately. Old designs can stay fractional, but new designs just need to be developed in easy to use decimal. IMHO.

[Rich_NYS]

I can cope with feet and inches, but the thing I wish "they" would do first is decimalize dimensions. Do away with fractions and replace it with the decimal equivalent. Is 7/16 more than 11/32? Pass me a pencil. Is 0.44 more than 0.34. I know immediately. Old designs can stay fractional, but new designs just need to be developed in easy to use decimal. IMHO.

Agreed...

Real conversation from last year with a friend of mine at work (a generation or two older)

Me: Why are we not Metric yet?!
Him: It's too hard
Me: It's easier
Him: Easier for you younger people
Me: I'm not that young, Metric is still easier....the money you're used to counting (and using calculators to count) is base 10....same as metric.
Him: Well imagine if you used tools all the time
Me: OK, standard units. What's the next size up from 3/4"?
Him: .... .... ..... ...... ..... ..... 13/16"
Me: Next size down?
Him: .... .... ..... .... .... ..... 5/8" -no - 11/16" well, wait....it depends.
Me: OK, what's the next size up from 11mm?
Him: 12mm
Me: Next size down?
Him: 10mm
Me: :bang:

[Jonathan]

Most engineering drawings I see are marked for dual dimensions so it's just a question of will to change.

Yea, there are tons (tonnes) of inconsistencies here in the land of metric too. Just pick one and go with it! haha A generational thing maybe like if someone is pouring a drink and puts in a shot of rye (that's whiskey for you non-Canucks), you know it's one ounce but I have no clue how many millilitres it is.

The 2 litre pop bottle is a good example. Or like the gallon of milk maybe... but we got around that and put our milk in bags (yes, if you want to see some goofy Canadiana, come have a glass of milk out of a bag, lol). There are three smaller bags in a larger bag that adds up to 4 litres. So how much is in a smaller bag? Just the right amount to fit in your milk jug :)

I like the horsepower one too. Especially when you measure it on things like nuclear reactors or space shuttle rockets. Seriously, does it mean anything when we're quoting something is 3 million horsepower? Not sure how many light bulbs it will turn on, but it's a shit ton of power I know that.

We do save a lot of space on packaging by not putting both systems of measurement though... just enough to fit everything on there TWICE in FRENCH!!!!! haha...

[Rich_NYS]

Jonathan, how did you learn both...do they teach the kids both in school? Do a lot of people up there use both systems?

[dustybarn]

Let us not forget...There are two metric systems. There's the more familiar SI system (which is derived from the meter-kilogram-second system), and CGS (centimeter-gram-second) system. Derived units in CGS are all different than in SI. Force is expressed in dynes, acceleration in gals, pressure in baryes, and energy in ergs.

I don't mind feet, inches, pounds, shillings, what-have-you, but CGS makes me insane.

[DMC5180]

I'd like to what's up with soft drink packaging or the marketing behind it.

We have packaging marketed in Primary units in both metric and US standards.

2-liter
1-liter
Then it reverts back to US Primary measurements
20 oz.(1.25pt) 591 ml
16.9 oz (1.06pt) 500 ml (not sure why 0.5 L or 1/2-liter wouldn't suffice)
12 oz. 355 ml
8 oz