Can anyone come up with a GOOD reason that the US should switch the metric system?

Dixon

Other than international consistency the obvious reason is that by making all units powers of ten, the base of our number system, it is childishly simple to convert between units, ie when you need to change the scale of your units because they have become inappropriate. Tell me how long is 2137 inches, in feet? How long is 5/8th of an inch, in feet? How long is 1000 lots of 5/8th of an inch, in feet Similar version in metric: 5428cm = 54.28 meters 15mm = 1.5cm = 0.015m 1000 x 15mm = 1.5m Hers's a thing; T 000 G 000 M 000 k 000 . 000 m 000 u 000 n 000 p I can convert the whole range from Terra to pico for any SI unit prefix in my head without even engaging in mathematics. Try doing that with Tons to ounces and see how far you get!

Quentin

It's the 21st Century, time to use SI units! Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter. (CNN) -- NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used Imperial units of measurement while the agency's team used the more conventional Metric system for a key spacecraft operation, according to a review finding released! Gas is cheaper in Litres! Children have trouble with inches per foot, feet per perch, yards per mile. Square inches per acre. Ounces per pound, pounds per stone, stones per ton. Fluid ounces per pint. Pints per gallon. Gallons per Olympic pool.

MARK

The reasons are metric systems are decimal-based systems and are therefore straightforward to use. Most of the rest of the world used metric systems. If the USA used a metric system there would be the economic benefit of not having to convert units. There would also be the safety aspect of no errors being made in conversion. The SI system of units is the one that is used in science to express physical quantities in a consistent way and it means everyone is as they say, 'on the same page'. There is nothing unique about the system of weights and measures used in the USA that makes it American. It is mainly derived from the Imperial system. That, too, is all too widely still used here in the UK. There is nothing British about it either. For example, the ounce is a unit that came from Italy. Degrees Fahrenheit should not be used because Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit did not understand that it was necessary to determine the melting and boiling points of a pure substance. There are many good reasons why the USA , and the UK, should switch to full metric systems. There no good reasons not to. I know someone who argues that they do not understand the metric system. For example, they do not understand what a metre is. This is an argument without merit because the same person could not actually explain what a foot is.

PhotonX

Conforming to the de facto global standard, for one thing. For another, we wouldn't have formed a new crater on Mars with the $200 million Mars Climate Orbiter if there had been no confusion between metric and English measurements. . I'm too old, though, and I'll never be able to think in any terms but miles and inches, ounces and pounds. As a youngster, you'd be wise to become intimate with the SI system, especially if you're envisioning a science career. . .

oikoσ

Actually, we do. Anything produced for use outside the USA is measured in metric. Any scientific publication uses metric measures. We are the only major country that has not adopted it officially.