The Hidden Role of the Metric System in the U.S.:

What You May Not Know!

Don Hillger, PhDUSMA Webmaster

 Presented to the

Colorado State University (CSU)Professional Development Institute (PDI)

Fort Collins CO

10 January 2012

Outline

• This talk is only very briefly about the SI metric system, enough to introduce the audience to the subject.

• Rather, this talk is about the metric system in the U.S., the only major country that has not adopted the metric system!

SI (International System of Units) aka, the metric system

MKS(meter,

kilogram, second) system

CGS(centimeter,

gram, second) system

One unified worldwide system since 1960

SI(meter,

kilogram, second, ampere,

kelvin, mole, candela)

• The CGS system was introduced by the British in 1874.

• But in that system, electrical units turned out to have bizarre sizes, so when they defined the ohm, volt, ampere, etc. in the 1880s those "practical units" weren't coherent with CGS.

• In 1889 the CGPM/CIPM introduced the MKS system

• In 1901 an Italian (Giorgi) came up with a way to add electrical units the MKS system to make a coherent system that included electrical units.

• After a lot of discussion they decided on the ampere, and the MKSA system was proposed in 1939 and approved by CGPM in 1946.

• Finally, in 1954, they added the kelvin and candela to create the 6 base units of the SI (though not so named until 1960).

• Then in 1971 they added the mole as the seventh base unit.

SI (International System of Units) aka, the metric system

Seven (7) SI base units

• meter m length• kilogram kg mass• second s time• ampere A electric current• kelvin K thermodynamic temperature• mole mol amount of substance• candela cd luminous intensity

SI prefixes

• …..

• Giga G 109 1,000,000,000

• mega M 106 1,000,000

• kilo k 103 1000

• - - 100 1

• centi c 10-2 1/100

• milli m 10-3 1/1000

• micro µ 10-6 1/1,000,000

• nano n 10-9 1/1,000,000,000

• …..

SI derived units

• m/s, km/h speed

• m2, cm2 area

• m3, cm3 volume

• kg/m3, g/cm3 density

• …..

SI derived units

SI derived units with special names

• newton N force• pascal Pa pressure = force/area• joule J work = force•distance• watt W power =

force•distance/time• hertz Hz cycles per second• degree Celsius °C kelvin - 273.15 K• …..• many more specialized units

SI base and (named) derived

units

QUIZ:How common are metric units in the

following?

Automobiles Yes or No?

Construction/farm machinery Yes or No?

Computers and electronics Yes or No?

Electrical units Yes or No?

Drugs (prescription and OTC) Yes or No?

Food labels Yes or No?

Wine and liquor Yes or No?

Metric units are common in the U.S.!

• Automobiles and construction/farm machinery: nearly 100% metric! (GM, Ford, Chrysler, Caterpillar, John Deere, etc.)

• Electronics: computers and entertainment products (90-mm diskettes, 120-mm CDs and DVDs, 8-mm tapes, etc.)

• Electrical units (volts, amps, watts)• Pharmaceuticals/drugs (nearly 100% metric)• Wine and liquor (100% metric, except beer)

Metric units are common in the U.S.!

• Drug Facts labels• Nutrition Facts labels• Light bulbs• Auto tires• Wine and liquor• Other bottled products• Eyeglasses and jewelry• Many more!

Drug Factslabels on most products use

grams (g) or

milligrams (mg),as well as

degrees Celsius (°C)

Nutrition Facts labels on most

consumer products use

grams (g)and

milligrams (mg)

Lighting Facts labels on most

bulbs uselumens (lm),kelvins (K),

andwatts (W)

Tire labelsuse

millimeters (mm),kilopascals (kPa),

andkilograms (kg)

Auto speedometers

show bothmiles per hour

(mph)and

kilometers per hour (km/h)

Check yours when you drive away!

Wine and liquor labels

always usemilliliters (mL)

or liters (L)

Bottled water commonly usemilliliters (mL)

orliters (L)

Mouthwashcommonly usesmilliliters (mL)

orliters (L)

Shampoocommonly usesmilliliters (mL)

orliters (L)

Many other bottled

productscommonly usemilliliters (mL)

orliters (L)

Eyeglass dimensionsalways usemillimeters

(mm)

Many jewelry dimensions

usemillimeters

(mm)

candelabra: E12 North America, E11 in Europeintermediate: E17 North America, E14 (SmallES) in Europemedium or standard: E26 (MES) in North America, E27 (ES) in Europemogul: E39 North America, E40 (GoliathES) in Europe.

Edison (light bulb) screw sizesDesignation

Base Diameter(Crest of thread)

Name IEC 60061-1 standard sheet

E05 !E5 05 mm Lilliput Edison Screw (LES) 7004-25

E10 10 mm Miniature Edison Screw (MES) 7004-22

E11 11 mmMini-Candelabra Edison Screw (mini-can)

(7004-06-1)

E12 12 mmCandelabra Edison Screw (CES)

7004-28

E14 14 mm Small Edison Screw (SES) 7004-23

E17 17 mmIntermediate Edison Screw (IES)

7004-26

E26 26 mm[Medium] (one-inch) Edison Screw (ES or MES)

7004-21A-2

E27 27 mm [Medium] Edison Screw (ES) 7004-21

E29 29 mm[Admedium] Edison Screw (ES)

E39 39 mmSingle-contact (Mogul) Giant Edison Screw (GES)

7004-24-A1

E40 40 mm(Mogul) Giant Edison Screw (GES)

7004-24

Metric units are given alongside of inch-pound units of many products sold in the U.S.!

• All FDA/FTC controlled products are supposed to have dual-unit labels under the FPLA (Fair Packaging and Labeling Act).

Metric units are also be found on some road signs in the U.S.!

• Metric road signs are not unknown in the U.S.

• For example, the stretch of I-19 between Tucson AZ and Nogales, Mexico uses metric signs exclusively.

Many uses of metric units in the U.S. are hidden!

• Automobiles are designed and built in metric units, except for speedometers and odometers, so that most of the driving public is unaware that their automobiles are metric.

• Weather reports are given in Fahrenheit, but nearly all weather research is done in metric units, including satellite imagery, radar, and numerical model predictions. Conversion is done for the sake of “consumers”.

Metric is simpler because it’s decimal!

• Just like our decimal money– 1 dollar = 100 cents– 1 dime = 10 cents

• Fractions can be difficult in calculations

Here’s why decimal!

Question: Which column would you rather add?

Inch-pound units Metric units

1 yard 2 feet 3-1/4 inches 1.607 meters 1 foot 11-3/16 inches 0.589 meters 2 feet 5-1/2 inches 0.749 meters 3 yards 1 foot 6-5/8 inches 3.216 meters ------------------------- ----------- ? yards ? feet ? inches ? meters

(The two sums are the same.)

Answer: 6 yards, 2 feet, 2-9/16 inches; or 6.161 meters

Here’s why decimal!

A room measures 15 ft. 3-3/4 in. by 21 ft. 7-1/2 in.(4.667 m by 6.591 m).

Questions:

What is its floor area in square yards?What is its floor area in square meters?

Answers:

36.79 sq. yd., or 30.76 m2

Metric has simpler length, mass, and volume relationships!

< 1 cm >

1 cm3 = 1 mL = 1 g (when filled with water)

<-----------------1 m ------------------->

1 m3 = 1000 L = 1000 kg (when filled with water)<---10 cm -->

(10 cm)3 = 1 L = 1 kg (when filled with water)

Metric has simpler

length, mass, and volume

relationships!

Why should we want to switch to metric?

• Mistakes can be made in the confusion caused the use of two systems of units– Mars Climate Orbiter crash

– Medical mistakes

NASA Mars Climate Orbiter1999 Disaster

• Caused by use of dual units, different units between NASA and their contractor Lockheed, in controlling the spacecraft, causing it to crash into the Mars surface instead of landing softly

• As a result, the NASA Inspector General issued a report in 2001 recommending NASA:– “… develop a new approach for converting to the

metric system”– “use the metric system as the preferred system for

interactions with the public”

Remember the Mars Climate Orbiter incident from 1999?

Or even more humorously, poking fun at NASA!

Europe, Central, and

South America

British Commonwealth

Nations

France

Advance of Metric Usage in

the World

Chronology of metric in U.S.

• 1866: Metric Act: legalized metric in U.S.

• 1875: U.S. signed Convention of the Metre (or Treaty of the Metre) for international agreement on matters of weights and measures.

• 1893: Mendenhall Order: Defined our current units (yard and pound) in terms of metric units. (1 inch = 25.4 millimeters; 1 pound = 453.592 37 grams; 1 gallon = 3.785 411 784 liters)

• 1959: Inch standardized as exactly 2.54 cm between U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. Previously there were differences on the order of 2 parts in 106.

Chronology (cont.)

• 1960: Metric system standardized as the International System of Units (SI).

• 1971: The U.S. Metric Study resulted in a Report to the Congress: A Metric America, A Decision Whose Time Has Come. The 13-volume report concluded that the U.S. should, indeed, "go metric" deliberately and carefully through a coordinated national program, and establish a target date 10 years ahead, by which time the U.S. would be predominately metric.

• 1970s: Most of the English-speaking countries of the world pursued a path towards metric. (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore, etc.) This was the “golden age” of metric conversion, when it looked like metric would take over the entire world.

Australian postage stamps

South Africa first-day-cover

Chronology (cont.)

• 1975: Metric Conversion Act: Established 17-member U.S. Metric Board (USMB) to coordinate voluntary transition of the U.S. to the metric system.

(The key and fateful word was “voluntary”, which left the U.S. behind the rest of the English-speaking world in the transition to metric.)

Chronology (cont.)

• 1977: Road signs were to have changed to metric units for distances and speeds. But due to lack of positive publicity for metric, negative public reaction stopped the change.

• Late 1970s: Proposals to convert weather reports into metric units were never implemented.

• Early 1980s: A large number of gas stations converted their pumps to liters, but when not all stations switched, after several years all pumps were returned to gallons.

Chronology (cont.)

• 1982: After many years and much progress towards metric in the U.S., the USMB was disbanded. (However, because its members disagreed on the role of the USMB towards metric, the USMB was ineffective.)

(Responsibility for metric conversion was transferred to the Metric Program office under the U.S. Department of Commerce/NIST.

Chronology (cont.)

• 1988: Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act strengthened the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, to make the metric system the preferred system of units for the U.S. government.

• 1991: Executive Order 12770 directed government agencies to use metric system.

(This caused a flurry of government pro-metric activity at the time.)

Chronology (cont.)

• 1992: The Construction Metrication Council was formed within the National Institute of Building Sciences to promote metric use in federally-funded building construction (such as federal office buildings, court houses, embassies, etc., including Pentagon renovations and new Skaggs federal building in Boulder CO)

(At that time, this resulted in $10-15 billion annually in federal metric building construction.)

Chronology (cont.)

• 1994: Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) was amended by FDA to require dual-unit labels (inch-pound and metric) on most consumer products.

• 1996: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) moved towards metric for all federally-funded highway construction. Congress later changed the year to 2000 and finally deleted the year entirely, meaning states can still do construction in metric, but are not required to do so. So, those states that had gone metric have now reverted to inch-pound units again.

Chronology (cont.)

• 2001: U.S. stock markets went to decimal trading following Canada’s lead in 1996.

(No more fractions for stock quotes and prices.)

(Being the last non-decimal holdout is interesting, because the U.S. pioneered the world’s first decimal currency, the dollar, in 1786.)

(Historically: From the 1950s to the 1970s over 60 countries including the U.K. converted to decimal currencies from the former British system of pounds, shillings, and pence. This was in advance of their later switch to the metric system.)

Which countries are not metric?

• Liberia

• Myanmar / Burma

• United States !!!

Fact: The U.S. is the only significant holdout of non-metric usage in the world! Even Great Britain is mostly metric, although miles are still used on roadways and pints are used in pubs.

Where are we headed?

• 2009 December 31: All products sold in the European Union (with limited exceptions) were to be required to have only SI metric units on their labels. But that deadline has recently been eliminated by the EU. In return, the EU is hoping that the U.S. will voluntarily allow metric-only labeling on products made in the U.S.

(It is hoped that the FPLA will be amended to allow metric-only labeling on consumer products, such as 2-liter bottles, etc., thereby eliminating inch-pound designations.)

Other worldwide activity

• 2005 January 20: Road signs in Ireland switched from miles to kilometers.– To accompany this, new cars sold in Ireland now have kilometers

as the primary speed displayed on their speedometers.– Pressure for metric transition is coming from the European Union.

– This leaves only the U.S. and Great Britain using miles on their roads.

Other worldwide activity

• 1999-2011: Several Caribbean nations are vowing to complete their metrication efforts, stalled since the 1970s:– St. Lucia

– Jamaica (Jamaica Bureau of Standards)

– Antigua and Barbuda (Metric Advisory Committee, Antigua and Barbuda Bureau of Standards (ABBS)

Other worldwide activity

• 2009-2011: United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues it’s metric transition (Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA))– Gasoline pumps

– Land area (real estate)

Other worldwide activity

• Up thru 2011: Various other transitions to metric, of which little is commonly known at this time:

– Sierra Leone

– Myanmar / Burma

Metric on the Moon!

• 2007 January 08: In a press release, NASA has decided to use metric units for all operations on the lunar surface when it returns to the Moon

– NASA’s Constellation Program is to be metric, according to a Program Management Directive issued on 19 December 2007, with the metric system as the “primary system of measure” for the Constellation Program, Projects, Systems, and Mission.

– There however has been an attempt to overturn this requirement, probably led be short-term cost considerations! But, the latest is that the entire Constellation Program has been pared back, and the U.S. government is looking to private industry for space leadership.

– Some press releases from NASA use metric units, others do not!

Conversion is not just a matter of exchanging “feet” for “meters”

Again, why go metric?

• Metric is simpler, with divisions of 10, 100, 1000; instead of 2, 3, 12, 16, 1760, 5280, etc.

• It’s the worldwide trend, as is international trade, and the increasing interconnectivity of the people of the world.

(No countries have abandoned metric and instead decided to use our inch-pound measures.)

• The U.S. is no longer the world leader in some areas, nor as much of a driving force in the world economy.

• U.S. measures are no longer the norm, and are increasingly not acceptable in other countries.

Again, why go metric? (cont.)

• There is a cost involved in going metric

• There is also a COST involved in NOT going metric.

The cost of not going metric is often not easily quantifiable, but is not negligible or insignificant:– cost of dual inventories,

– loss due to producing products that are increasingly not accepted in an otherwise metric world.

Why are we not metric?

• Inertia (resistance to change): People like they way they currently measure things (no mater what units they use), and they therefore resist change.

• Fear of change: People fear change - from the familiar - to the unknown.

• Ignorance of metric: People don’t realize the simplicity and advantages of metric

Metric:A better way even then!

"You, in this country, are subjected to the British insularity in weights and measures; you use the foot and inch and yard. I am obligated to use that system, but I apologize to you for doing so because it is so inconvenient, and I hope all Americans will do everything in their power to introduce the French metrical system ... I look upon our English system as a wickedly brain destroying piece of bondage under which we suffer. The reason why we continue to use it is the imaginary difficulty of making a change, and nothing else; but I do not think in America that any such difficulty should stand in the way of adopting so splendidly useful a reform."

Excerpt from a lecture delivered by Lord Kelvin (William Thomson) in Philadelphia, 29 September 1884

After transition to metric:We would never go back!

“It is safe to say that after the metric system has been adopted by the U.S. and our people have become accustomed to its use we would no more dream of going back to the present system of weights and measures than we would think of carrying on the processes of arithmetic through the medium of the old Roman letters in place of the Arabic numerals we now employ.”

Alexander Graham Bell, 1906(published in National Geographic magazine)

When will the U.S. go metric?

• Many products and services have changed to metric and others are changing, with some progress being made each year. (The worldwide trend for metric and standardization cannot be avoided.)

• Conversion: Maybe not in 10 years, but 10 years from now we will certainly be further along than we are now. (The liter is making rapid progress in the consumer products.)

• For faster and more complete conversion, nearly every country that has switched has found it in their national interest to do so. Many large (especially multi-national) companies have switched to reduce long-term costs.

When?

• Don’t look for road signs or weather reports or other outward signs of metric transition to go metric anytime soon.

• Rather, what we are seeing in the U.S. is mostly hidden conversion.

• Education is also a key to metric. Only then will the younger generation ask for metric in all aspects of their lives, and rid us of the dual units that are now commonplace. Unfortunately, there is no universal agreement in the U.S. to teach metric at all grade levels.

More metric humor that occasionally appears in the cartoons!

What you can do!

• Spread the word that metric is not dead, and is already used much more that most people realize.

• Don’t be afraid to use metric. Use examples of metric products in classrooms, lectures, everyday talk.

• Don’t resist the change to metric. It’s not a matter of “if” we go metric, but “when”.

• Help prepare the younger generation, teach them to use metric primarily, so that they are not saddled with antiquated (or dual) measurements, or grow up to find the U.S. even more isolated in an otherwise metric world.

• Metric is inevitable for the U.S.! It’s just a matter of time.

U.S. Metric Association• Established in 1916 as a voluntary non-profit organization to

promote metric in the U.S.

• Metric Today newsletter (6 issues/year)

• Metric System Guide and other publications, products, and services: including bumper stickers, rulers, tapes, thermometers, etc.

• Metric experts in many fields and occupations.

• Metric resources, including a huge Metric Bibliography (over 14,000 references) on CD.

• Co-sponsor with NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics ) of National Metric Week each October (10th month), the week that contains the 10th day.

How can we help you, so that we can work together?

U.S. Metric Association (USMA) contact information:

• USMA Headquarters, 10245 Andasol Avenue, Northridge CA 91325-1504; phone: 818-363-5606

• USMA Web site:– http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger

– www.metric.org (alias)

• USMA e-mail: hillger@cira.colostate.edu

Follow the worldwide trend:

Speak in English,

and Measure in Metric

About your presenter

• Research meteorologist by profession (satellite meteorology)

• Metric advocate by passion or “hobby”• Became interested in metric in the 1980s after the rest of

the English-speaking world converted to metric and only the U.S. remained. (The U.S. had passed Metric Conversion Act in 1975.)

• Joined USMA and decided to help the cause• Became Webmaster for the U.S. Metric Association

(USMA) since 1996.

LA Times interview, as a scientist in support of U.S. adoption of the metric system.