Infographic: Metric or Imperial? (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to use metric or imperial? ›

Imperial units are more useful in day-to-day life. The metric system may be more useful in scientific areas but those who make scientific measurements on a daily basis already know the metric system as a second nature. Contrary to popular opinion, America is very far from being the only nation to use imperial units.

The U.S. is one of the few countries globally which still uses the Imperial system of measurement, where things are measured in feet, inches, pounds, ounces, etc.

So yes: it is true that unit conversions are far easier in metric than they are in imperial. But the commonly provided examples of difficult imperial conversions are, in practice, almost never used, and the commonly used conversions in imperial are relatively simple (though, admittedly, not as simple as metric).

Today, NASA adopts the metric system for all new projects. This policy, in place since 2007, ensures that most of NASA's current and future endeavors use the metric system. However, the legacy of the imperial system persists, particularly in the US segment of the International Space Station (ISS).

Whenever the discussion of switching unit systems arose in Congress, the passage of a bill favoring the metric system was thwarted by big businesses and American citizens who didn't want to go through the time-consuming and expensive hassle of changing the country's entire infrastructure.

Post-1994 federal law also mandates most packaged consumer goods be labeled in both customary and metric units. The U.S. has fully adopted the SI unit for time, the second. The U.S. has a national policy to adopt the metric system. All U.S. agencies are required to adopt the metric system.

Metric is simply a better system of units than imperial

The metric system is a consistent and coherent system of units. In other words, it fits together very well and calculations are easy because it is decimal. This is a big advantage for use in the home, education, industry and science.

In the military, metric units are primarily used to ensure interoperability with allied forces, but also for ease of use. Ground forces measure distances in “klicks,” a slang word for kilometers. Most military firearms are measured in metric units (with a few legacy exceptions such as . 50-caliber guns).

Scientists all over the world use the metric system. There's a very good reason for this—it's so everyone is doing the measuring the same way, all over the world. Most other countries already use the metric system for measuring everything.

There was a specific time in history when America did consider taking up the metric system. But pirates intercepted the standards, and America has refused to change its measuring system ever since. Way back when America was still a new country, there was no regulated measuring system throughout the states.

Why is imperial superior to metric? ›

Now take weight: Again, the Imperial units were designed with everyday objects in mind – “four ounces of butter” is easier to handle than “114 grams”: the grams are too accurate! So although ingredients such as flour, sugar and butter are now sold by the kilo, many of us still use ounces to weigh them.

Kilo-, centi-, and milli- are the most frequently used prefixes of the metric system. You need to be able to go from one to another without a calculator. You can remember the order of the prefixes by using the following sentence: Good Morning King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk.

The imperial system

Thousands of Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and other customary local units were used to derive the British system. The Weights and Measures Act was adopted in Britain in 1824, and the official British Imperial System began. This system lasted unit 1864 when the metric system was adopted in Britain.

Canada follows the International Metric System. Temperatures, rainfall measures, distance, weights, velocity are expressed in metric units. Distance is measured in kilometres.

The imperial system units are more associated with our real lives than the metric system units. In our daily life, we use teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, etc while cooking or shopping or in other activities, but we don't know what a liter looks like. Imperial system units are easier to represent in fractions.

Because of its decimal nature, calculations using the metric system are easier and faster when compared to the alternative system of measurement. It has also allowed for greater accuracy. Adopting the system has also aided consistency of measurements across local sectors and trade across our borders.