If the US wishes to maintain consistency with the EU, then they should opt for percentage alcohol by volume.
BTW, Californian wine is highly regarded in the UK. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James Frysinger Sent: 26 January 2008 18:39 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:40226] Re: We need your comments on the Alcoholic Beverages Proposal One might consider grams per deciliter. Numerically that is the same as "percentage"--but neither by volume nor by mass, of course. It is, however, the compound unit in which blood alcohol content (BAC) is measured. Diabetics are used to measuring their serum sugar levels in milligrams per deciliter ("milligram percent" it is called...shudder!), though most do not know this. If the content of the bottle or can were also given in deciliters even a middle-schooler (sober of course) could calculate the total alcohol content in grams in the container. If strict "percentage by volume" is desired, then of course one would use milliliters per deciliter. I believe that wines and spirits are measured in those terms. Jim Bill Hooper wrote: > > On 2008 Jan 26 , at 11:04 AM, Paul Trusten wrote: > >> Also, since percentages by weight or volume are defined >> in metric units (g/100 mL or mL/100 mL), > > Percentages must be found from a ratio of two similar quantities. You > can find the number of grams per milllilitre if you want to, but it's > not a percentage and can't be expressed as a percentage. It could be > called a concentration, perhaps. > > One can express percentage by mass as "grams per gram" or percentage by > volume as "millilitres per millilitre"*, but not in the form of grams > per millilitre. > > > Regards, > Bill Hooper > Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA > > *I think of this calculation as, first, finding the ratio of the two > things (in this case volume of alcohol divided by volume of beverage) > and then, separately, expressing the first result as a percent by > dividing by 100. Certainly it is OK to combine the steps into one as > Paul does in referring to "mL/100mL". > > ========================== > SImplification Begins With SI. > ========================== > > -- James R. Frysinger 632 Stony Point Mountain Road Doyle, TN 38559-3030 (H) 931.657.3107 (C) 931.212.0267
