[USMA:36560] RE: units au naturale (was Curling World Championships)

[Philip S Hall]

In the UK we often hear the argument that imperial is more natural because units like the foot are scaled to body parts.   Well, I have two key references for this in metric. The distance from my left shoulder to the wrist of my outstretched right arm is about a metre (handy for measuring off lengths of cable) and the width of my hand just beyond the palm is about a 100 mm   I find the latter particularly useful for estimating the volume of containers. For example if I hold a jar, bottle or can in my hand I can estimate its volume.   As I type this I have a beer can next to me (slurp). I estimate it to be 70 mm in diameter i.e. 0.7 dm Its height is about 160 mm or 1.6 dm A rectangular shape with those dimensions has a volume of about 0.8 litre A cylindrical shape has a volume about 3 quarters the volume of the enclosing rectangular box shape which in this case works out at ¾ * 0.8 = 0.6 litre. Allowing for the bevel at top and base and a dome shaped bottom accounts for it’s actual volume of 0.5 litre or 500 ml   Try that one in WOMBAT!   Cheers (as I sip me beer)   Phil Hall   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Norman & Nancy Werling Sent: 13 April 2006 23:54 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:36556] Curling World Championships   My wife and I finally realized our dream by being part of a group that went to Provence from March 29th to April 7th.  Our first attempt was to have started on September 13th, 2001 but that was interrupted by something or other.  We are ashamed to admit that although about half of those on that group did go in mid-October 2001, we chickened out and luckily were able to get all but a couple of hundred dollars back.   On our last night in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France before leaving for home, I was watching a broadcast in English by American sportscasters from a site in Massachusetts.   They had been regularly referring to stones being moved in meters or centimeters when at one point one of them commented (I'm paraphrasing), "You know, I'll bet that none of those guys out there even know how easy it would be to say that his target needs to be moved about a foot or so."  The other replied, "Well, you know, they might wonder if it would be their brother's foot or their little sister's foot."   The first made some asinine reply that a foot is a foot and the subject was dropped.  WOMBAT will not die!   ttyl, Norm Werling