Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

The other foot is the "Survey foot". Before the adoption of the International Foot the exect definitions of Foot varied a bit. When the US adopted the International Foot they couldn't just go and redo the entire country's triangulation...

That the Foot has only been internationally normed for about half a century or so already tell as lot...

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

And the distance from the tip of my thumb to the first joint is 37 mm. Yet you keep claiming that the Imperial system is based on the human body...

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

Interesting.

The basic concept of the mile originated in Roman times. The Romans used a unit of distance called the mille passum, which literally translated into "a thousand paces." Since each pace was considered to be five Roman feet—which were a bit shorter than our modern feet—the mile ended up being 5,000 Roman feet, or roughly 4,850 of our modern feet.

If the mile originated with 5,000 Roman feet, how did we end up with a mile that is 5,280 feet? Blame the furlong. The furlong wasn't always just an arcane unit of measure that horseracing fans gabbed about; it once had significance as the length of the furrow a team of oxen could plow in a day. In 1592, Parliament set about determining the length of the mile and decided that each one should be made up of eight furlongs. Since a furlong was 660 feet, we ended up with a 5,280-foot mile.

More ➥ Why Are There 5,280 Feet in a Mile? Making Sense of Measurements | Mental Floss

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

Actually, I perform this experiment frequently (I don't like to accumulate a lot of change.) I'm guessing that 90% of clerks can deal with it just fine. Only very few get flummoxed--not enough to stop me from doing it again.

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

A couple of years ago I tried something similar at my doctor's office. Have to make a $25 copay on every visit. Usually I just hand them a credit card and done with it but this day I had just been to the bank and had cash so handed the clerk two twenties for a $25 fee.

She could not figure out how much change to give me (no cash register at the doctor's office) and started frantically searching for a calculator. I tried to explain but she was too flustered to listen. Finally another clerk saw there was a problem and came to offer help. The first clerk explained the situation so the second set about helping search for the calculator because she couldn't do the math either.

Now these weren't nurses or some other professional in the office but still to work behind the desk they had to have at the very least a high school diploma but neither could subtract 25 from 40 to get 15.

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

Then you have one freakishly long first joint on your thumb.

I just measured mine and it's around 26mm.

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

I wouldn't be suprised is there is a relationship to a furlong but this explaination is highly suspect:

I guarantee a healthy set of oxen can plow a furrow more than 660' long in a day.

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

Actually furlong came from the length a team of oxen could plow without resting.



Farm-derived units of measurement:
The rod is a historical unit of length equal to 5½ yards. It may have originated from the typical length of a mediaeval ox-goad. There are 4 rods in one chain.
The furlong (meaning furrow length) was the distance a team of oxen could plough without resting. This was standardised to be exactly 40 rods or 10 chains.
An acre was the amount of land tillable by one man behind one ox in one day. Traditional acres were long and narrow due to the difficulty in turning the plough and the value of river front access.
An oxgang was the amount of land tillable by one ox in a ploughing season. This could vary from village to village, but was typically around 15 acres.
A virgate was the amount of land tillable by two oxen in a ploughing season.
A carucate was the amount of land tillable by a team of eight oxen in a ploughing season. This was equal to 8 oxgangs or 4 virgates.

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

It's not freakish, mine is 36mm :smile:

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

So in the origin there's nothing royal in imperial units, only dirt and dung :whistling:

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

If you believe that imperial measurement helps with math capabilities you should consider using roman numbers... How many meters is MCMXV yards?

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Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

Yep.

Furlong:
" originally the length of a furrow in the common field of 10 acres... The "acre" of the common field being variously measured, the furlong was fixed 9c. on the classical stadium, one-eighth of a Roman mile. "


And:
"Dating back at least to early Anglo-Saxon times, it originally referred to the length of the furrow in one acre of a ploughed open field (a medieval communal field which was divided into strips). The system of long furrows arose because turning a team of oxen pulling a heavy plough was difficult. This offset the drainage advantages of short furrows and meant furrows were made as long as possible. An acre is an area that is one furlong long and one chain (66 feet or 22 yards) wide. For this reason, the furlong was once also called an acre's length"

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

Like the Metric system, the Imperial system was derived using the Hindu-Arabic math concept, only a lot earlier. the shortcoming of the Roman system was that it couldn't handle multiplication or division.
Like Common Core.:whistling:

Re: Convenience of the metric system
 

This is why the "inch" was never based on the length of someones thunb. The original definition of the inch was "three barleycorn".