Metric vs. other measurement systems - chart

**Bony** · Sep 25, 2022, 02:17 AM

In response to Hemmjo, in Australia tyre sizes use inches to signify wheel diameter. So 255/65 R17 is an example the 17 being inches. The only other aberration I am aware of is altitude measurement for aircraft which is in feet, I guess for safety reasons. Similarly aircraft airspeed and nautical speed is measured in knots or nautical miles per hour, a nautical mile being, I think an arbitrary division used for increments of latitude and longitude which assists in navigation calculations.

**mklotz** · Sep 25, 2022, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by Bony

... a nautical mile being, I think an arbitrary division used for increments of latitude and longitude which assists in navigation calculations.

A nautical mile (6076 ft) is approximately the length of one arc minute of latitude on the earth's surface. The length of an arc minute of longitude is different at different latitudes.

**Ralphxyz** · Sep 6, 2022, 12:42 PM

So it just made a splash?

**mklotz** · Sep 6, 2022, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by Ralphxyz

So it just made a splash?

Probably a fairly large splash.

Imagine, if you can, a ball of rock 3 meters in diameter hitting the ocean at 19 km/sec (42500 mph) !

**Jon** · Sep 24, 2022, 01:30 PM

Another measurement gem is the story of how A&W restaurants tried to market a 1/3 pound burger (larger than the standard 1/4 pound burger) but it failed. A&W hired a market research firm, who determined that Americans thought it was foolish to pay more for a 1/3 pound burger than a 1/4 pound burger, because 3 is less than 4. It's possible that there may be other reasons that this strategy failed, but this signal suggests that the research firm was probably correct. This has entered restaurant lore with an official entry on the website of A&W Restaurants: https://awrestaurants.com/blog/aw-th...rger-fractions

This is especially ironic because Americans' innumeracy was so great that it overcame their legendary love of both burgers and portion size increases. Note how modern fast food marketing strategy eschews fractions and instead focuses on increasing the number of burger patties, even if they are thinner and weigh less.

I searched on "math is hard meme" for an image to accompany this post, and there are some beauties:

**thevillageinn** · Sep 24, 2022, 02:30 PM

This is also why many times a 50% off sale will be accompanied with the statement: …that’s half!

**mklotz** · Sep 24, 2022, 02:35 PM

My contribution...

$Metric vs. other measurement systems - chart-rational-get-real-opyright-2007-6scalkina-mightywombat-com-math-50855316.png$

The legend at the bottom is so true. DAMHIKT.

**Jon** · Sep 25, 2022, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by mklotz

My contribution...

$Click image for larger version. Name: be-rational-get-real-it-opyright-2007-6scalkina-mightywombat-com-math-50855316.png Views: 208 Size: 97.1 KB ID: 43761$

The legend at the bottom is so true. DAMHIKT.

Well, if we are doing pi jokes:

**schuylergrace** · Sep 24, 2022, 06:25 PM

Well, there was a study done a while back that showed somewhere north of 80% of Americans believe they are either in the top 20% of income earners or close to it. I never knew it was so crowded at the yacht harbor!

**Frank S** · Sep 25, 2022, 07:30 AM

Originally Posted by schuylergrace

Well, there was a study done a while back that showed somewhere north of 80% of Americans believe they are either in the top 20% of income earners or close to it. I never knew it was so crowded at the yacht harbor!

And that is the reason why most are broke and don't even know it, even if they all woke up one morning to find they no longer owed anything on any type of credit, and those who play the stock markets found out they no longer held any investment capital aside from their original cash investment none of them would be able to last 6 months on what little real income or actual cash on hand they possessed before once again finding themselves up to their eyebrows in debt.