Imperial units of measurement and the future?

On the news a couple of nights ago "We have more than 54 gritting lorries out". So does that mean 59, and if so why not just say 59, or is it more like 200 lorries out....

 

This sentence contains up to three or more misleading statements.

 

In 1929 the Nautical mile was internationally agreed at 6076 feet, which at the time was the recognised standard unit of measure throughout most of the world. The rounded off metric conversion is almost 1852 meters, but the agreement was 6076 feet. A great many measurements which are quoted in metric units are simply facts which used to be known and which were measured /calculated and stated in imperial units and which have subsequently been converted to metric and rounded off to the nearest kilometer/meter/tonne/centigrade or whatever, which, if the original measure were correct, makes the quoted metric statistic less accurate.

OK. Genuine question. How can the circumference be different if measured from the middle of the Indian ocean as opposed to the Gulf of Guinea? My unscientific brain cannot comprehend how a circle can have anything other than one measurement for its circumference

 

The earth is not a perfect globe - so there will be differences depending on where it is measured. It is also not a solid body but a crust floating on a liquid which is unlikely to stay absolutely stable.

 

I wouldn't mind an explanation for that one either ..... given "sea level" is interspersed with constanly, if slowly, moving land masses around the entire equator (where they've been for quite a while now), coupled with the readily observable fact there's a very large lump of rock orbiting the planet, receding fractionally each time it goes round, yanking everything (including the 'solid' mass of the earth) hither and thither and only appearing at exactly the same point in the sky every 18.6ish years .... which applies equally to any measurement derived from the earth's dimensions and will continue to do so for as long as our planet has a large satellite companion.

No wonder the definition of the metre was replaced, more than once (!) and is currently taken to mean: The meter is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.... which ought to do, until some smartarse physicist bags a Nobel Prize by proving light has certain properties we don't yet know of.

I refer those with nothing better to do to the following url, where all will be made clear ..... or at least, clearer than it is right now. https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/meter.html

Is this any more or less fraught than basing a unit of measure on the length of the foot of some dead bloke in a fancy hat made at some random point in his life? And before anyone says "yes, but everyone knows how long 'a foot' is and it's always been the same". No ... they don't and No ... it hasn't!

Was said measurement defined when said bloke had (a) been in bed all night, or (b) been standing up all day? And had he been stuffing his face for days, or was he recovering from a week-long bout of the trots? Was it his left foot, right foot or the average of the two? All these factors tend to mitigate against getting the same measurement on any two separate occasions .... so I reckon we should be told!

And how the FinL does one link that all to another linear unit of distance originating with (but not equal to) the distance convered by a cohort of a long extinct empire's soldiers in 1000 paces (presumably on clear level ground, though I've yet to see that stated anywhere)?

Is it even worth trying to link either or the above to the area of land (of unspecified consistency and in unstated weather conditions) one bloke (of uncertain experience and probably without a fancy hat) with one horse (of unknown size, age or breed) can plough (with what type of plough?) in a working day, which itself varies between sunrise and sunset, according to time of year?

And is there anyone reading this who doesn't reckon train lengths in 'carriages' anyway?

Anyone want to do units of weight next?

Shall I make myself another pot of tea? Yes .... that seems more likely.

 

Hopefully plenty. Would they be 4 wheelers, 6 wheelers, 8 wheel rigid, or bogie stock (8 or 12 wheels)?

As a former freight operator, I think in train lengths of SLU (standard length units = 21 feet), which were formerly known as SWL (standard wagon lengths), since a SLU used to be regarded as one tenth of a SWL (as shown on the "excess length" figure on a wagon data panel).

Of course towards the end of my railway service train and wagon lengths were listed on TOPS in metres, but written on train lists in feet and SLU.
I had a yard plan marked with reception road lengths in metres, with the rounded down capacity in SLU (minus three for a loco of course).

Loop and refuge siding capacities used to be shown in Sectional Appendices in SLU, always allowing for a loco and brake as well. (Which meant that fully fitted trains without brakevans could have 1 more SLU of train length).

I expect the use of SWL for length was abandoned due to possible confusion with its safe working load meaning.

 

No its not a perfect globe, Its a saucer.

 

Considering what I take to be a saucer, does that men the Flat Earth Society almost got it right?

 

There or t

Of course. Clearly the completely flat theory can not work, all the sea would drain off the edges.

 

I tend to work in Lengths of track.

 

Don't be daft, that's why it's a saucer - it holds the water without it spilling over the edge
(just like your tea when you slurp it from the saucer).

Only a total fool would have tried building the world on an upturned saucer, not only would the water fall off, but we'd constantly be sliding towards the edge as well!

 

not true, from the town of Lancre in the ramtop mountains you can see the edge of the discworld, the Widdershins Ocean and the Rim Ocean, and they has not run out of sea yet

Colin
UU alumnus

 

I believe the Swindon branch of the flat earth society do believe in the upturned saucer model, which in the local dialect they call “hay cock”. Outside Swindon, they are indeed widely regarded as total fools

Tom

 

Don’t laugh. “The Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe”

 

Tommy speak truth, t'is so: https://theflatearthsociety.org/home/
..... and they evidently have thriving local chapter in Southwold!

 

Does the Iarnród Éireann in the ROI solely use the metric System? How is it handled in NI (the engineers probably use the metric system too). Is the speed and the length still officially measured in miles (ROI and NI)? If it is, then do the trains have dual dual speedometers?

And how will the brexit affect the final railway metrication process of the UK (units of distance and speed as well as the implication of the ERTMS).
As one will see in the following link, the metrication process of the railway system is actually 97% finished. New built lines are built with the help of SI units and the only old remains are miles and mp/h.
I don't know when this last imperial remain will dissappear (many engineers would probably cheer no double work anymore, to recalculate the distances and the speeds back to miles...).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_of_British_transport

 

Yeah, right, Railboy - Imperial and Metric measurements, absolute rocket science to deal with, eh?

Take a look at the speedo in your car; I haven't seen one for decades which didn't show speeds in both mph and km/hr. And all that work in converting between metric and imperial . . . wander into your local supermarket and treat yourself to the latest in super-super-highest-of-high-tech - the hand held calculator! You can even buy one with all the scientific functions on it for less than the price of an Imperial Pint!

As for trains crossing the border between North and South - has it occurred to you that this shatteringly complex problem was solved years ago on the Channel Tunnel trains?

Having talked to a driver on those trains, the biggest problem they had to cope with had nothing to do with measurements - it was the language. Bear in mind that it wasn't just a case of English traincrews and signalmen having to learn French to conversational level - they had to learn the technical language, too. You won't find such phrases as 'wrong-side failure', 'facing point lock' and 'rheostatic braking' in an average French language course, you know. So how did those people cope? The same way that the early railway builders coped with all the problems they faced.

They just got on and sorted them!

 

My 2008 model year Toyota only shows mph. It's probably possible to configure it to show kph but not from a user level (unless there is a really magic sequence of presses to enter on the odometer reset I've never found) . I think to convert it, it needs to be attached to a diagnostic computer unit. It certainly wouldn't be suitable to use in an environment signed in a mixture of both measurements.

 

@estwdjhn - but if you're making a speedo with a mechanical movement, adding kph readings to an mph scale (or the reverse) is a simple enough job.

As regards your car, assuming the speedo has a miniature LED or LCD screen showing an image, it may be difficult (or impossible) for you to change it from one readout to another, but surely a simple job at the manufacturing stage? After all, Toyota sells cars into metric countries.

 

The person doing the counting probably got distracted while they were counting and forgot how many they'd got up to.