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Our Friend, The Meter

Posted by timothy on from the you-mean-people-like-nasa dept.

dbirchall writes "Upon hearing that SpaceShipOne reached 100km today, I did some hasty math based on the altitude in feet sttated by Scaled Composites in their press release, and was surprised to come up with a number under 100,000 meters. Fortunately, a friend pointed out that my inches-to-meters conversion was flawed. Some quick Googling determined that lots of people still have no idea how many inches are in a meter, even after some folks have had big problems because of conversion errors."

6 of 1,672 comments (clear)

  1. Re:American bashing? by drag88 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Base 10 system?
    Using prefixes to express multiples of base units?
    No memorizing antiquated and imprecise ratios?

    You have a base unit for every type of measurement; length(m), mass(g), weight(N), pressure(Pa), energy (J), etc. Just add prefixes and numerical values and you're all set! So easy..

  2. It's not hard... Use "units" by vip223 · · Score: 5, Informative
    Need to know the conversion factor? Use the (lesser known?) unix utility, units
    [lupin:~] josh$ units
    500 units, 54 prefixes
    You have: metres
    You want: inches
    * 39.370079
    / 0.0254
    You have: rods/hogshead
    You want: kilometres/litre
    * 1.5816358e-05
    / 63225.68
    Oh, and by the way, in Australia, we spell it Metre, not meter (that's what the gas man checks)
    Josh
  3. Re:It matters because by mopomi · · Score: 5, Informative
    Dude, this Dan Birchall is not a NASA administrator of any kind (look at his home page). He's a freelance writer/web page designer/executive director of SpamCon, if I have the right Dan Birchall.

    There is, in fact, no Birchall in administration at NASA, and as far as I can find, there is no Birchall associated with NASA.

    The program director of NASA's Mars program is Scott Hubbard. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/00 -10-26.html (search for mars program director)

  4. Re:It matters because by dbirchall · · Score: 5, Informative
    Actually, I did submit it... I should probably have just included all the HTML of the linked page instead. :)

  5. We already have by mlg9000 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The metric system (SI now) is the only official unit of measurement the US government has ever adopted. It did so way back in 1893. (1866 it became a legal unit of measure). What they didn't do though, was require it's use. So since the older imperial system was still widely in use it lived on. (Some of it anyway.. nobody knows what a stone is for example) Congress went back and required the metric system's use for all goverment purposes in 1988 (unless the infomation is for public use where it can be either).

    So really we use a mix of both here. In school they teach almost entirely in metric... makes the math easier to deal with when to have to convert to smaller/larger units. Common stuff like speed limits, weight, tempature, and long distances are measured in mph/pounds/fahrenheit/miles. If you go to the store, or use any tools though it's 50/50.. so smaller units like liters/grams/centimeters I think most people know pretty well.

  6. Re:THIS IS NOT FUNNY 1.0 inch = 2.540000cm by thedillybar · · Score: 5, Informative
    Actually 1 inch exactly equals 2.54 cm.

    The US Metric Law of 1866 said that one meter was equal to 39.37 inches, exactly. In 1959, the relationship between inches and centimeters was redefined to be that one inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters, exactly. Maps produced by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey continued to use the old standard. To clarify which foot you are talking about, the old foot, derived from 1 meter = 39.37 inches (exactly), is referred to as the "US survey foot". The new foot, derived from 1 inch = 2.54 cm (exactly), is referred to as the "international foot".