Whats wrong with the Imperial (British) system of measurement?
(Why Imperial unit questions in calculus classes can be confusing.) • Conversions have strange factors (1 mile = 5280 feet). • Basic units can mean several things (there are 4 quarts, 3 tons, 2 miles, 3 barrels, etc.). Americans contribute to this anarchy by using their own gallons. • Obscure names and conversions for larger or smaller units (12 lines = 1 in). • The pound is a unit of weight not mass; the unit of mass is obscure (a slug). • Liquid volume and distance units are not related (whereas in the metric system 1 ml = 1 cm^3 ~= 1 gm water). • Electric units do not exist since Volt, Amp, Ohm, etc. are metric. • Clarity of thought is impeded by the disorganization of the system. For a simple minded example consider this: It is difficult to convert the price of crude oil per barrel into a price per gallon and so it is difficult to compare price changes in crude with price changes at the pump. • Metric units are more fundamental in the sense that many of the imperial units are defin
