2001 July 13
Pat Naughtin,
I just received by mail copies of the viewgraphs W. D. Bevirt
showed in his talk at the ASHRAE meeting in June.
They have only a few rules of thumb. Many have conversions
which I myself try to avoid.
He does not offer e-mail copies. I do not have a scanner so I can
not send copies by e-mail.
I list the subject of each viewgraph by its title.
RULES OF METRIC THUMB His name
METRIC AND SI measurements and conversions
HISTORY Summarians Egyptians units
HISTORY Romans units
HISTORY Metric from French revolution
HISTORY 1875 1876 US Metric failed 1896 1901
HISTORY 3 different mm
USING METRIC Fed constr $10 billion / y
USING METRIC Calc faster learn quickly No fractions
VISUALIZING METRIC 1mm = dine 1 m = 1 yard plus 3.3 in.
I never do this.
METRIC RULES style for SI
METRIC RULES more style
NUMBERS more rules zero before decimal point etc.
PREFIXES >1 list
PREFIXES < 1 list
HVAC CONVERSIONS (Approximate) inch cfm gpm
HVAC CONVERSIONS (Approximate) pressure friction loss heat
METRIC RULES Temperature F celsius Rankine kelvin
TEMPERATURES deg C 30 warm etc
CONVERSIONS soft(exact) hard(exact) list
ELECTRICITY US same as Metric
CEILING GRIDS 24 x 48 soft hard diff “600 mm is 3/8 in. smaller”
CONVERSIONS rounding
PROPERTY DIMENSIONS linear 2 decimals area 1 decimal
property no decimal
CALCULATIONS 3 ft.-3 3/8 in. ÷ 4 = ? Etc.
VOLUME mL = milliliter ML = megaliter
HEAT soft hard [approx]
POWER conversions motors boilers gravity torque etc.
AIR std conversions
OTHER MEASUREMENTS pipe sizes conversions
automobile good picture with specs SI only
automobile list engine volume weight kg tire pres fuel vol cooling vol
OTHER MEASUREMENTS like list we have
2000 lb. Of Chinese soup = Won Ton etc.
I would not use this list. Not enough showing ease of SI.
To many conversions. I never list a difference in inches.
Robert Bushnell
