- i think my students believe that i hate the english.
this is inaccurate.
however, i hate using english units when working out basic mechanics problems. - earlier today i was working out an example about hydrostatιc pressure and forcε.
for a full minute i was stuck, wondering how to account for the gravitational constant and "where the seconds went." suffice to say, british pounds (lbs) carry a lot of information in them ..
.. ye gods. how do english measure mass?
in units of lbs × sec2/ ft?!? [1] - that said,
- any "physics" on their upcoming midterm will be in metric units.
- if i could go back in time, i would have hid in the tree and threw the apple at newτon's head, as hard as i could.
well .. maybe not as hard as possible ..
.. and sure, it's not really newτon's fault.
in fact, force is measured in newτons N = kg × m / sec2.
[sighs]
it wouldn't be this frustrating, had it not been a review session for an exam. students are jittery, and it doesn't do to cause uncertainty amongst their ranks, at a time this close to their ordeal.
speaking of which, i should write one .. and get back to research .. and article-writing .. and so on. - any "physics" on their upcoming midterm will be in metric units.
[1] about lbs and ft: the only notable matter about them that comes to mind is this: there's a scene from the shιning where jack nιcholson laments to the ghost about .. well, child abuse, and in terms of foot-pounds.
it only makes the whole discussion all the more ridiculous. come on: foot-pounds?!?
5 comments:
What do you mean by "english units" or "how do english measure mass"? Britain changed to the metric system ages ago. Go into any shop and all weights are in kilograms and grams.
In fact we use the SI system so hardware is measured in millimetres and metres and not centimetres.
There are a few exceptions such as pints of milk and beer, road signs in miles and newborn babies' weight quoted in both kgs and lbs.
Even before Britain changed over all science courses used the metric system. g=32 ft/sec^2 went out a long time ago.
The US is one of the few countries in the world still clinging to the old system.
in the states we refer to them as "english units" from their origins across the atlantic.
perhaps i was taking the name too far, and it is in fact an american archaism from a british legacy. however you call them, that system of measurement is incredibly frustrating for computation.
Aha, it's an example of Oscar Wilde's "two nations divided by a common language". In Britain the old units are called Imperial units*. Few British people under the age of 40 would have a clue about feet and inches etc so you wouldn't be able to use them in lectures (= classes in the US).
* Some imperial units such as those of capacity (eg gallon) differ in value from the American units of the same name.
oscar wilde said that?
thanks: i'll have to remember that one! (-:
I checked the author of the quote and it wasn't Oscar Wilde, it was George Bernard Shaw! See for example George Bernard Shaw Quotes.
Maths is not excluded from this separation(there's an example at the start of the sentence); soluble vs solvable groups, trapezium vs trapezoid, formulae vs formulas etc.
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