Originally posted by AThousandYoungThe prefixes hecto-, deka-, deci-, and centi- are widely used in everyday life but are generally avoided in scientific work. Contrary to the belief of some scientists, however, the SI does allow use of these prefixes.
[b]SI units only use the prefixes associated with powers of 3 (milli is 10^-3, kilo is 10^3 however centi is 10^-2)
That's not what the website steerpike gave the address to says. I have a degree in biochemistry; I don't recall anyone ever saying SI prefixes had to be in powers of 3, either. I think you made that up.[/b]
from: http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/prefixes.html
I admit I was incorrect they are are still allowed under the SI system but frowned upon in scientific work.
I did not however make it up (and slightly resent the implication that I would) I just incorrectly recalled what I was told about them in the distant past of Graphics.
Originally posted by XanthosNZThat's interesting. I don't remember ever hearing that I should avoid using cm in scientific work. It would seem intuitively awkward to me to use 10 mm instead of 1 cm.
The prefixes hecto-, deka-, deci-, and centi- are widely used in everyday life but are generally avoided in scientific work. Contrary to the belief of some scientists, however, the SI does allow use of these prefixes.
from: http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/prefixes.html
I admit I was incorrect they are are still allowed under the SI system but frown ...[text shortened]... I would) I just incorrectly recalled what I was told about them in the distant past of Graphics.
Originally posted by AThousandYoungWell - that is the convention to go in powers of of 3.
[b]SI units only use the prefixes associated with powers of 3 (milli is 10^-3, kilo is 10^3 however centi is 10^-2)
That's not what the website steerpike gave the address to says. I have a degree in biochemistry; I don't recall anyone ever saying SI prefixes had to be in powers of 3, either. I think you made that up.[/b]
What is so hard about measuring in meters and millimeters?
Originally posted by WulebgrSeriously - how do you measure volume or weight under one ounce in imperial? Do pharmaceutical companies really work in drams or is there a level of measurements I don't know about? Thousandth of an ounce?
Schools must prepare the children for work or more school. If the kiddies will be travelling or otherwise dealing with folks and measurements anywhere outside the US, if they are gonna go to college and take any science classes, or if they are gonna join the US military, they will deal with the metric system. As you point out, if they're gonna work on forei ...[text shortened]... roofer, someone asked for a metric crescent wrench once--I gave him one with a 20cm handle!).
And if you add trace quantites measured in milligrams, do you then add other ingredients measured in pounds and ounces?
Can you use imperial in high tech science?
When the Roman Empire passed into history about six hundred years after the time of Christ, Europe then drifted into the Dark Ages. For six or seven hundred years mankind generally made little progress with regard to standardizing measurement. Sometime after the Magna Charta was signed in the Thirteenth Century, King Edward I of England took a step forward. He ordered a permanent measuring stick made of iron to serve as a master standard yardstick for the entire kingdom. This master yardstick was called the "iron ulna", after the bone of the forearm, and it was standardized as the length of a yard, very close to the length of our present-day yard. King Edward realized that constancy and permanence were the key to any standard. He also decreed that the foot measure should be one-third the length of the yard, and the inch one thirty-sixth. King Edward II, in 1324, reverted back to the seed concept of the ancients and passed a statute that "three barleycorns, round and dry," make an inch. However, seeds as well as fingers and feet were no match for a world that soon was to emerge from the ignorance and unrefined practices of the Dark Ages.
Originally posted by steerpikeI think you go by halves, fourths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds of an oz.
Seriously - how do you measure volume or weight under one ounce in imperial? Do pharmaceutical companies really work in drams or is there a level of measurements I don't know about? Thousandth of an ounce?
And if you add trace quantites measured in milligrams, do you then add other ingredients measured in pounds and ounces?
Can you use imperial in high tech science?
Originally posted by DreamlaXI think Chancermechanic answered this earlier - high tech industries use metric - medicine, pharmaceuticals, NASA and all scientists, plus any one dealing with foreign made goods or designing and building exported goods.
That's crazy! Some drugs have micrograms of an active ingredient. What is smaller than an ounce? Or do they just put 0.00000003527 oz, or 3.527 * 10 ^ (-8) oz?
So if you are happy to see your daughter spending her working life serving quarter-pounders at Maccas- don't bother teaching her the metric system.