A most embarassing mistake - I ripped that message off rather
quickly...  a cubic foot is indeed 1728 cubic inches, and a cubic metre
of water is 1000 kg at about 4 degrees C.

-Sean


On Fri, 8 Oct 1999 00:14:30 -0700, Travis Pawliuk wrote:

>Actually the cubic foot is 1728 cubic inches, not 144.  I needed a calcualtor
to find 12 cubed, well I didn't need it.  But that problem wouldn't happen
during conversions in SI.  This problem is only expanded when you come to
larger numbers.  4.8763 ft^3 is 8426.2464 in^3, that one I really did need a
calculator for, that or a decent amount of time with pen and paper and I'd also
want to recheck my answer; I simply wouldn't want to try that in my head. 
Compare to 4.8763 m^3 being 4.8763*10^6 cm^3 or simply 4876300 cm^3.  
>I mean, this highlights Sean's point.  There really shouldn't be any argument
about the ease of use and manipulation.  The two imperial measures I use in my
personal life are length and weight because most people (in North America)
would probably sit there and blink if I said I was 1.9 m and 94.5 kg, besides
we don't have an SI scale at my gym.  But if I'm doing a thermodynamic
calculation, I'd have to be a sadist not to use SI.
>
>PS:  A cubic metre isn't necessarily 1000kg.  It depends on the density of the
water, which in turn is dependent on temperature.  The weight only varies a few
kg, but in some applications it makes all the difference.
>
>Travis
>
>>From: "Sean T. Stevenson" <ststev@un*.co*>
>>Date: Thu, 07 Oct 1999 16:57:57 -0800
>>Reply-To: "Sean T. Stevenson" <ststev@un*.co*>
>>Subject: Re:
>>
>>I have to disagree with your statement that English units are more
>>intuitive.  Metric (or more appropriately, SI) units are inherently
>>interrelated, and decimal system based.  For example, the mass of one
>>cubic metre of water is one thousand kilograms, (one kg per litre), or
>>exactly one million millilitres (cc's).  This decimal relationship
>>makes mental calculations much easier than the English system, where
>>one cubic foot of water masses 1.94 slugs, weighs 62.4 pounds, and is
>>144 cubic inches.
>>
>>The United States influence worldwide is probably the only reason the
>>English units are still widely used.  Once the US officially converts,
>>SI will become standard worldwide.
>>
>>As far as diving is concerned, one atmosphere is ten metres depth, as
>>opposed to thirty-three feet in the English system.  This would make me
>>want to lean to the SI system for diving applications.
>>
>>-Sean
>>
>>
>>On Thu, 7 Oct 1999 12:27:18 -0500, Steve Lindblom wrote:
>>
>>>Because while the big multinationals and one-world-government types all
>>>push the metric system, the we-actually-have-to-use-the-stuff people in
>>>most non-metric nations vastly prefer the old units.
>>>
>>>From a human factors point of view, the old units are far superior. They
>>>are also much better for estimating, measuring in the field and doing quick
>>>mental calculations. The entire metric system is based on a basic
>>>misconception about how people use information.
>>>
>>>So one set of units fine, but don't be so fast to assume it should be metric.
>>
>>--
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>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>Mr Hat's Hell Hole - We ARE South Park - http://www.thehellhole.com
>




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