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Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
Items in Metric Units
During class today we learned a little bit about measurements, specifically metric measurements. Metric units in general are very easy to use and are even favored over customary units by people living in countries and places using customary units and systems. Now, while both systems have a purpose, metrics are much easier to use because they go by sets of tens and therefore they are easier to convert and they have basic concepts. For example, 1 centimeter is 10 millimeters. Simple, right? If you want to convert between cm and mm just multiply your number by ten or divide it by ten. And even if some numbers are not 10 or something, metric units still go by ten. So 55 millimeters is 5.5 centimeters. In science classes metrics are almost ALWAYS asked for.
Customary units are not as simple and seem almost abstract to many. When converting between two different types of customary units you do not get very clean numbers often or even at all. Sure, 5.5 cm is not that clean since it is not an integer, but most customary units had many numbers after the decimal that do not go in any type of a pattern like "3.4535.." With customary units you usually multiply or divide by a certain number you have to memorize. Here is an example of customary conversion: 1 inch = 0.0277778 yards.
Moving on though, I found three objects in my own room that have metric measurements on them. Here they are:
A Poland Spring water bottle: 591 mL or 29 fluid oz. So if the bottle is full at the right amount it would contain 591 mL in volume. Milliliters are a measurement of volume.
A Poland Spring water bottle: 591 mL or 29 fluid oz. So if the bottle is full at the right amount it would contain 591 mL in volume. Milliliters are a measurement of volume.
A single sheet of paper from a "Caliber" brand pack of paper: 216 mm x 279 mm in length AKA 8.5 x 11 inches. Millimeters are a measurement of length.
An antacid tablet from an Antacid bottle: Each tablet individually has 400 mg of calcium in it and 500 mg of calcium carbonate. Milligrams are a measurement of mass.
I tried to get different types of measurements as variation is important and as many products are not the same. Some are liquids and some are solids and some are measured by volume and some are not, it all varies.
Let me illustrate one point, almost anything can be measured in metrics or in customary units it is just that these items had metric units on them. Some products and things do not have metrics at all or vice versa, it depends. I could easily measure anything in metrics or in customary units, it is just these items already have metric units on them. And most products in general will have metric units on them.
So why do I think these items are in metric units? Well, one reason might be because many people are not familiar with the customary units so they might need the metric units. Or maybe because having units from both systems is good for reference. Maybe since metrics are easy to use people prefer their products measured in metrics. Or maybe metrics are easier to visualize and/or think about. Also, some measurements are more practical to use for somethings so maybe these products needed the metric measurements. Each system does have its own uses and what not even though they are used for similar things.
Or maybe there are some historical/cultural reasons behind it all, maybe they have generally always been measured with metric units and they want to keep both sides of the coin or possibly they want to use whatever is best for their product. (Note: not everything measured in metrics is really a "product" I just use that word a lot because the things I found are products and because I mainly think of products when it comes to this).
Or maybe there are some historical/cultural reasons behind it all, maybe they have generally always been measured with metric units and they want to keep both sides of the coin or possibly they want to use whatever is best for their product. (Note: not everything measured in metrics is really a "product" I just use that word a lot because the things I found are products and because I mainly think of products when it comes to this).
I mean a water bottle use mL and oz because it does not contain and huge quantity of liquids or anything and because maybe people need to use one unit or the other. Sometimes science and other things require these units and so people make our lives easier by converting everything for us. Maybe it is just some product criteria imposed by the government or something. But I mean some products can use small units like mm even if the product has a large quantity, but products with huge quantities do not use small units for practicality so maybe that relates to why some items have metric units on them. I am not entirely sure, but I am sure that people are not just wasting ink and stuff on it so I am glad I at least know there is a reason for it.
But that is my take on it all, good evening everyone!
Excellent post! We often have things in both english and metric on our bottles because most of the world uses metric, thus making it easy for everyone to now what they have in front of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ms.Reid. And that makes sense, plus they are really easy to work with, I am sure many people even in America prefer metrics over the customary system.
DeleteIf we would just teach children metric, the whole world would be easier. But for now, it's only for us smart cookies. ;)
DeleteYes vwv, aww ;;//w//;;, how nice~. But yes x33.
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