(Hao Su) Confusing Units of Measurement in America

Confusing Units of Measurement in America

I came to the United States more than a year ago. I still fail to figure out the metrology of the United States. I do not know how hot the weather is; I do not know the weight of the meat; I do not know how fast I drive, I do not know how much oil I add and I do not know the sizes of the shoes and clothing I am wearing. Here the relevant units of account with life all changed. Kilometers are changed into miles; Voltage changed to 110 volts; Centimeters and meters changed to inches and feet respectively; Kilograms into pounds and ounces; Gasoline’s weight into gallons and quarts, even temperature changed from, Celsius into Fahrenheit. My life is muddled.

I want to live off campus in last summer, so I rented a house near Hicksville. When I started to decorate the new house, I used a tape which to measure was bought from china. I carefully measured every corner of the house and draw an ichnography. Then I went to IKEA to buy furniture. Before I came, I thoughts this European's Furniture Company should be using metric. But I was surprised to find that all the dimensions are imperial units. The length of the carpet is 7-foot 7-inch；mattress is 79-foot half-inch long and 59 feet seven-eighths inches wide. I was totally confused. I have no idea what these lengths are, so my first time to IKEA get nothing. Finally, I decided to replace my most favor furniture’s units to metric units. Although this is very troublesome, but it still better than let me calculate how much is 6 feet 7 inches plus 4 feet 5 inches.

Americans are also confused about these units by themselves. When I went to supermarket and bought salmon. Because I do not know how much a pound of salmon, so I have to talk to sales that I want to buy 15 dollars salmon. But the sales said: “7.5 dollar a pound, how many pounds you want?” He didn’t know how much salmon is 2 pounds. It seems Americans also cannot calculate. I never buy clothes online, because just look at the conversion formula will bring me headache. I do not know how much a gallon of gasoline, but I only know that can be used to run 24 miles road. The road signs really let me depressed; how far is 1.5 miles away from the exit, I do not know. Olympic is using meters but The U. S. television has to convert them into feet and inches.

I was not adapted to the temperature forecast when I started listening to the radio in the United States. I really feel insensitive when a Fahrenheit temperature is given. Until I am completely converted the figure into Celsius, I could understand exactly what the temperature is. I remember someone told me that the weather of today maybe more than 85 degree when I was first in America. I was surprised.

American’s measurement units conversion is very confusing, unlike metric system’s decimal system. For example, 1 foot equals 12 inches, 1 mile equals 1760 yards, 1 gallon equal to 8 pints and 1 pound equals 16 ounces. The conversion between every unit is different; it is very difficult to remember. I think American’s math education is not high, one important reason is the measurement system chaos. America student’s mathematical foundation already is poor and imperial conversions add a problem to them.

The entire world is using the international metric system of weights and measures. But why the United States are still remaining with the Imperial. Americans also will not adapt to metric system when they go abroad. Americans have also paid a great price to its different weights and measures units. In September 2002, NASA launched a satellite for probe Mars weather. At the time of arrival in Mars, the satellite did not enter the preset orbit and suddenly plunged into the Martian atmosphere. 125million dollars of the satellite disappeared like that. After subsequent investigation, they found that problem is the unit of measure, some figures was not converted to metric from imperial.

Nobody knows why the United States stubbornly adhere to imperial which is a measure system that the British had already abandoned for a long time. It seems that most Americans are not enthusiastic to change imperial to metric.

There is a psychological factor about why the American people are not enthusiastic to change. American people are very proud of their own country and they are enjoying to overlooking the world. According to their own interests, Americans can do anything they want. Naturally, the American people would intentionally or unintentionally try to maintain this sense of superiority. You want to intimate with American? You must first learn the imperial. Now if I go out, I will prepare an imperial and metric conversion tables. It really help me a lot.