The US should switch to the metric system.
By Totakeke423
@Totakeke423 (18)
United States
November 9, 2008 11:20pm CST
I know this isn't a hot topic right now (politically), but I think it's still important, and it's about the US becoming a metric country. I just want to know, what do you think? Is there anyone out there who agrees with me? Disagrees?
Now, I know some people aren't too familiar with the metric system, so I'm just going to give a brief history.
The metric system was created in France, in an effort to create an easy, convenient, accurate, and international system. They based the entire system on the meter. To make the meter, they didn't use a piece of wood, they didn't use rope, they used something everyone has access to: the Earth! It was defined as 1/10,000,000th of the distance from the north pole to the equator. This way, if you really wanted to (it wouldn't become practical until years after the discovery of electricity) you could duplicate the meter yourself. To get smaller units, the meter is divided into 10ths, called decimeters. And those are divided into 10ths, called centimeters. And those are divided into 10ths, called millimeters.
Anyway, that's the meter. Now they needed to measure volume. They took a 10cm x 10cm x 10cm cube and filled it with something everyone has access to: water. This was the liter.
Now they needed weight. So they decided that the liter would weigh one kilogram. The same prefixes (such as centi, like centimeter), apply to the other measures, such as kilometer (1,000 meters) or milliliter (1/1000th of a liter). It's all based on 10
(Almost done. =P) This would eliminate the need for similar but very different units of measurement. Why have over 15 ways to measure length (such as the mile, foot, inch, yard, fathom, league, rod, furlong, chain, link, etc.) when all you really need is one (the meter)? It's also all based on 10, which means if you have a big unit and you want to go to a smaller unit, you just need to shift the decimal point. 500 meters equals .5 kilometers, 2 kilograms equals 2,000,000 milligrams. (I'm not going to post on how to shift the decimal, there are plenty of guides on the internet on how to do that).
So there you go. Nearly everything you'll need to know about the metric system. (There's obviously more, but that's pretty much all you'll ever need in day-to-day life.) Isn't it easy?
Oh, here's some news. The English system we use in the United States isn't American. It isn't an instrument of pride and doesn't even belong to us. (ENGLISH system; it came from England.) People are "proud" of their American system that didn't even come from America! Yes, it's English, the country we fought to gain our independence.
Anyway, questions? Comments? Life stories? =P What do you think? Should the United States switch to the metric system and why?
1 response
@KupoSin (680)
• United States
10 Nov 08
well i believe that the main problem right now is that there is so many things manufacturing our current system, such as nuts and bolts, that it is extremely difficult to have to change
it is kinda like the whole day light savings change. many electronics was not adapted for this change and could screw up things
it can also be the fact that Americans wants to be different