The Hidden Role of the Metric System in the U.S. : What You May Not Know!

1. The Hidden Role of the Metric System in the U.S.: What You May Not Know! Don Hillger, PhD USMA Webmaster Presented to the Colorado State University (CSU) Professional Development Institute (PDI) Fort Collins CO 10 January 2012

2. 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!

3. SI (International System of Units) aka, the metric system One unified worldwide system since 1960 MKS (meter, kilogram, second) system SI (meter, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole, candela) CGS (centimeter, gram, second) system

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

5. 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

6. 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 µ10-6 1/1,000,000 • nano n10-9 1/1,000,000,000 • …..

7. SI derived units • m/s, km/h speed • m2, cm2 area • m3, cm3 volume • kg/m3, g/cm3 density • …..

8. SI derived units

9. 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

10. SI base and (named) derived units

11. 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?

12. 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)

13. 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!

14. Drug Facts labels on most products use grams (g) or milligrams (mg), as well as degrees Celsius (°C)

15. Nutrition Facts labels on most consumer products use grams (g) and milligrams (mg)

16. Lighting Facts labels on most bulbs use lumens (lm), kelvins (K), and watts (W)

17. Tire labels use millimeters (mm), kilopascals (kPa), and kilograms (kg)

18. Auto speedometers show both miles per hour (mph) and kilometers per hour (km/h) Check yours when you drive away!

19. Wine and liquor labels always use milliliters (mL) or liters (L)

20. Bottled water commonly use milliliters (mL) or liters (L)

21. Mouthwash commonly uses milliliters (mL) or liters (L)

22. Shampoo commonly uses milliliters (mL) or liters (L)

23. Many other bottled products commonly use milliliters (mL) or liters (L)

24. Eyeglass dimensions always use millimeters (mm)

25. Many jewelry dimensions use millimeters (mm)

26. Edison (light bulb) screw sizes candelabra: E12 North America, E11 in Europe intermediate: E17 North America, E14 (SmallES) in Europe medium or standard: E26 (MES) in North America, E27 (ES) in Europe mogul: E39 North America, E40 (GoliathES) in Europe.

27. 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).

28. 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.

29. 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”.

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. Metric has simpler length, mass, and volume relationships! 1 cm3 = 1 mL = 1 g (when filled with water) < 1 cm > 1 m3 = 1000 L = 1000 kg (when filled with water) <---10 cm --> (10 cm)3 = 1 L = 1 kg (when filled with water) <-----------------1 m ------------------->

34. Metric has simpler length, mass, and volume relationships!

35. 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

36. 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”

37. Remember the Mars Climate Orbiter incident from 1999?

38. Or even more humorously, poking fun at NASA!

39. France Europe, Central, and South America Advance of Metric Usage in the World British Commonwealth Nations

40. 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.

41. 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.

42. Australian postage stamps South Africa first-day-cover

43. 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.)

44. Chronology (cont.) • 1977: Road signswere 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 pumpsto liters, but when not all stations switched, after several years all pumps were returned to gallons.

45. 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.

46. Chronology (cont.) • 1988:Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Actstrengthened 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.)

47. 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.)

48. 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.

49. 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.)

50. Which countries are notmetric? • 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.