Should the United States Adopt the Metric System

Should the United States Adopt the Metric System? Donielle Allen NCSU Maths 103 Ms. Blackman June 29, 2010 Abstract This paper is to inform my readers on the question â€Å"Should the United States Adopt the Metric System? † In this paper you will see the difference between the US and the Metric System. You will also see how easier it is the go with the Metric System instead of the US System. The Metric System makes life easier for everyone.I think the United States should adopt the Metric System, because nearly every other major country in the world uses it as their primary system of measurements of distance, volume, temperature, energy and so forth. It is comparatively simple to make conversion in the Metric System as the system was designed for making conversions. It will greatly simplify life for us students when we have only to learn that a kilometer is 1000 meters instead of learning that a mile is 5280 feet.The Metric System would not only simplify life for us students, it will also simplify life for Scientist and engineers, making their computations less error prone and consequently, the products better and cheaper. The question is always been asked, why not use the US System instead of switching to the Metric System. But it is always known that the Metric System is better. To compare both systems here, I will list all English Imperial units in use, and all SI units describing the same range of the same physical quantities. These are: Length, area, volume, mass, force, pressure, energy, power and temperature.For a fair comparison, we omit those SI units which are commonly used in both systems, like second, ampere, volt, ohm etc. To measure the above mentioned quantities in the English Imperial system, all the following units can occur: * Length: inch, foot, yard, mile, fathom, rod, furlong, league, mil, pole, perch, hand, link, chain * Area: square inch, square foot, square yard, acre, square mile, township, square fathom, square rod, square furl ong, square league, square mil, square pole, square perch, square hand, square link, square chain. Volume: gallon, liquid quart, dry quart, liquid pint, dry pint, fluid ounce, teaspoon, tablespoon, minim, fluid dram, gill, peck, bushel, cubic inch, cubic foot, cubic yard, cubic fathom, cubic rod, cubic furlong, cubic mile, cubic league, cubic mil, cubic pole, cubic perch, cubic hand, cubic link, cubic chain.* Mass: pound, apoth. pound, ounce, apoth. ounce, dram, apoth. dram, grain, spoth. scruple, pennyweight, short hundredweight, long hundredweight, short ton, long ton. * Force: pound, ton. Pressure: pounds per square inch, pounds per square foot, pounds per square yard, pounds per acre, pounds per square mile, pounds per township, pounds per square fathom, pounds per square rod, pounds per square furlong, pounds per square league, pounds per square mil, pounds per square pole, pounds per square perch, pounds per square hand, pounds per square link, pounds per square chain, tons pe r square inch, tons per square foot, tons per square yard, tons per acre, tons per square mile, tons per township, tons per square fathom, tons per square rod, tons per square furlong, tons per square league, tons per square mil, tons per square pole, tons per square perch, tons per square hand, tons per square link, tons per square chain. Energy: calorie, inch-pound, foot-pound, yard-pound, mile-pound, fathom-pound, rod-pound, furlong-pound, league-pound, mil-pound, pole-pound, perch-pound, hand-pound, link-pound, chain-pound, inch-ton, foot-ton, yard-ton, mile-ton, fathom-ton, rod-ton, furlong-ton, league-ton, mil-ton, pole-ton, perch-ton, hand-ton, link-ton, chain-ton.* Power: horsepower, inch-pound per second, foot-pound per second, yard-pound per second, mile-pound per second, fathom-pound per second, rod-pound per second, furlong-pound per second, league-pound per second, mil-pound per second, pole-pound per second, perch-pound per second, hand-pound per second, link-pound per second, chain-pound per second, inch-ton per second, foot-ton per second, yard-ton per second, mile-ton per second, fathom-ton per second, rod-ton per second, furlong-ton per second, league-ton per second, mil-ton er second, pole-ton per second, perch-ton per second, hand-ton per second, link-ton per second, chain-ton per second. * Temperature: degrees Fahrenheit. To measure the same range of the same quantities in the metric system, only the following units can occur: * Length: meter * Area: square meter (are) * Volume: cubic meter (liter) * Mass: gram (metric ton) * Force: newton * Pressure: pascal * Energy: joule * Power: watt * Temperature: kelvin (degrees Celsius) Now, by looking at the list above we can all come to an agreement that the Metric System is way easier than the US System, and that the United States should adopt it. The best thing about the metric system is that it is easily divisible and convertible.Instead of having to remember that there are 12 inches in a foot, three feet in a yard, and 5280 feet to a mile, you just have to remember that there are 10 millimeters to a centimeter, 10 centimeters to a decimeter, and 10 decimeters to a meter. It is much easier to remember and much easier to convert.Reference Stans, M. (1971). Should The U. S. Approve Pending Recommendations To Adopt Officially The International Metric System? PRO. Congressional Digest, 50(12), 298. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. The Historian, Initials. (2007, December 26). Metric system. Retrieved from http://scienceray. com/mathematics/mathematical-theory/reasons-why-the-united-states-should-adopt-the-metric-system/