Metric Moment

How to explain the metric system using only a piece of string, a nickel and a bottle of water.

[@martijnvv8031]

The US is going metric inch by inch....

[@uneehq]

should you say centi by meter?

[@Aragorn.Strider]

no milimeter by milimeter

[@BaldurSJ]

More like nanometre by nanometre

[@Ginkoman2]

more like Attometer by attometer

[@Andreaandersssss1010]

more like yoctometer by yoctometer

[@pmp1337]

Americans love metrics, they just don't know it. The 5.0 Mustang, the 2litre sodas, 9mm ammunition,...

[@justawhitenigga]

5 grams of cannabis!

[@vHindenburg]

@@justawhitenigga 20 Megatons of nuke.

[@smoker_joe]

@@vHindenburg $2k

[@vHindenburg]

@@smoker_joe You mean 2.000,00$ , unit belongs ALWAYS behind the number. the other option would be 2*10^3$ but that is shitty to read.

[@vHindenburg]

A car for 1,35$ is pretty cheap I would say is it a used one from Matchbox? Yes I know you reverse the use of comma and dot too but putting the currency sign in front is contradictory to international and academical convention. When I read it I my voice in my head says Dollar one thirtyfive cents... instead of onethausandthreehundredfivty Dollar.

[@Avatar2312]

"I just have to remember 5 tomatoes, because there are 5280 feet in a mile, genius eh?" I have to remember 1000, because the metric system wasn't invented by a drunken lobster

[@thechemguy1]

😂

[@ghost307]

There are 6024 feet in a nautical mile though.

[@starry_lis]

That rhyme doesn't work outside North America though

[@Avatar2312]

@@starry_lis There is not much use for it outside North America though ;)

[@V0W4N]

@@ghost307 why the fuck though

[@Schnapsbrennor]

I was wondering why he's explaining kids stuff to teens... Then I realized "Oh... America"

[@BitTheByte]

I mean, you'd behave the same way if I tried to teach you the conversions of inch, to foot, to yard, to mile. Its like how when you learn a new language, often times, if it has new letters, you first learn the alphabet. My 20 year old self had to learn the cyrillic alphabet, and I bet you Russian children everywhere think its silly that I struggle with it.

[@MournBringer0]

@@BitTheByte Да нет, всё так и есть. Сначала новый язык непонятен и возникают сложности с усвоением. Мы то с рождения учим метрическую систему и для нас весьма туманно даже само представление о футах, ярдах и т.д.

[@Schnapsbrennor]

@@BitTheByte With the difference, that we mostly know these conversions and have used them a few times by that age. So no, neither me nor my mates would have behaved like that...

[@anyexpat]

Yup certainly knew all this by aged 10 and imperial system too

[@fatdad64able]

@@Schnapsbrennor "Klugscheißer" is what you are. It's one of the worst of our many downsides ( besides wearing Jack Wolfskin to any occasion, even weddings and funerals and having created "Toast Hawaii")

[@Drakonus_]

I love how Americans treat the metric system as if it's witchcraft.

[@aiocafea]

i understand them all of my life i was taught that measurements of different things have a logical link between them, and when you have a field when the SI links prove inefficient, you change some: • in navigation, you use nautical miles (1852m) to describe 1/60 degree of the earth's radius and knots for nm/h (strange but acceptable, also defined by an integer off the SI metre) • you use centimetre-gram-second in chemistry and add things like moles, and relate them to the other measurements - for people in the US, it must be that all kinds of measurements are seen as worlds apart, as the average Joe isn't used to relating the 50mile distance to the 7feet length to the 10 gallon tub to the 8oz cup -- even measurements of the same thing are different if taken at different scales . the average Joe, after he's told many times that 'metres are just better', 'centigrade is based on water' fails to grasp the beauty of SI until he is put face to face with the conversion, which now seems magical

[@biggest23]

You can add roundabouts to that list of modern witchcraft.

[@GH-oi2jf]

We don’t.

[@olqb9532]

Imagine how you felt in 7th grade physics when you needed to convert to Fahrenheit and whatnot. It immediately feels intuitive and painful to use. Now Imagine you have it the other way around and learn there is this much better and easier system that everyone is using anyway.

[@rchandraonline]

well, i don't know about "witchcraft".... it's just that we're an awfully stubborn bunch sometimes about certain things. This is roughly the way my 8th grade math teacher taught me metric. His rules of thumb were slightly different (such as a cm is about the width of your pinky finger, and he actually took 12 meter sticks to construct a kiloliter/cubic meter).

[@torbjornkallstrom2316]

Watching an American explain the metric system like it's a magic trick...

[@enemdisk6628]

Right? Had the same thought, haha 😂

[@Lee-jt4hz]

If you grew up with metric as did I, i'm sure we can agree that imperial is a whole mess. This is just the other side of the story, imperial users trying to understand metric. It's hard to understand a new system, regardless of how intuitive it is

[@enemdisk6628]

@@Lee-jt4hz yeah...but dividing and multiplying by 10 seems pretty straight forward compared to that mess

[@Lee-jt4hz]

@@enemdisk6628 fr

[@coffeemakerbottomcracked]

@@Lee-jt4hz Metric system is so easy. You can learn it in like under 5 mins.

[@stevenlee_1]

The fact that I'm still intrigued by his explanation even though I'm a Canadian and have been used to the Metric System for many years now shows how great of a teacher he is

[@thechemguy1]

Wonderful compliment. Thank you Steven!

[@siliconhawk9293]

i just liked the reaction they had when the realise how good simple and easy it i

[@Jean-Denis_R_R_Loret]

The only thing: the decimeter is never used aside of math class, never used in everyday's life, nor physics, nor engineering, nor mecanics, architecture planning, building, nor anything. We always go mm, cm, and then m.

[@Maredite]

@@Jean-Denis_R_R_Loret i have seen it used in some transporting companies that didn't track ther cargo volume in liters but dm², but aside from that very very little minority you are right

[@fabianradakovitz9064]

@@Jean-Denis_R_R_Loret civil engineers use it for designing roads

[@1337fraggzb00N]

Teacher: explains metric system Student:"I like your funny words, magic man!"

[@Verbalaesthet]

Hahahahahahahhahahaha omg best comment

[@Petrolhead99999]

It's almost like the metric system was designed to be useful.....

[@edim108]

And easy to convert from one unit to the other. One meter square (1000 Liters) of water is 1 metric ton (1000 kg). If you have an aquarium and measure its dimensions in metric, you can easily calculate how much water it will hold and how much it will weigh when full. Let's say it's 1m by 0.5m by 0.5m. That's 0.25 square meters, or 25 dcm square so 25 Liters of water so 25 kg of water. And bc now every metric measurement is based on pure physics, they'll be exactly the same for all eternity. Like 1 meter is exactly the length of path light takes in vacuum in a straight line in 1/299 792 458 of a second. Not the prettiest number, but one that won't change for all eternity.

[@Bloodysugar]

@@edim108 Trouble is, the origin of the meter is the distance, on surface of the Earth from a pole to an other, based on a measure that appears to make the meter off by -0.7mm. Also, as magnetic poles are moving, it isn't a constant. Looking for a better way to calculate what a meter is, the speed of light as been adopted, but not changing the size of a meter, witch explains why the result is not a pretty number. Trouble is, no one is able to accurately measure the speed of light, it appears we are in the ball park of the mathematical prediction but, maybe because we don't have accurate enough tools to do it, we haven't measured the exact prediction yet. No one is even sure that it is a constant, so far speed of light being a constant is a convention, possibly true but that's not proven, so, unlike °Celsius or Gram, the meter is still a convention based on an assumption, even if it is a very likely one.

[@lukeattheocean]

Even if it is, we could still determine the error margin though. Meanwhile, if we're talking about feet..

[@Bloodysugar]

@@lukeattheocean Oh yes, not being based on a physical constant doesn't make the meter unpractical, nor more complex than imperial distances. At least it is based on a 10 base making it easier to use and less prone to generate conversion errors within one system. Being -0.7mm off the constant it was designed to come from, and this constant (and the following) being debatable, isn't a big deal. Maybe one day we will be able to measure the speed of light, and also have the certainty that it is a constant, although probabilities are higher that humanity will disappear with the 6th mass extinction way before being able to have these answers. So...

[@lukeattheocean]

@@Bloodysugar cheers!

[@Nrde]

I have no idea why YT has started to recommend me videos about metric system superiority. I already knew that since first grade.

[@thechemguy1]

I was wondering why I have been getting so many comments recently on my video after having few the last 3 years.

[@Nrde]

@@thechemguy1 Some European summer intern has tweaked the recommendation formula to steer The US into metric system one viewer at a time :) Anyway thanks for the video.

[@assarstromblad3280]

I was recomended another video (animated) that talked about this and as I am from Sweden and like people who proves metric is the better system, I guess I will watch. And I can also conclude that I don't seem to be alone...

[@huntriel984]

Lol I get the recommendations to... . I'm from Europe >.< Metric system is the only system I know how to use.

[@iver1343]

I have no idea either I'm very Russian I don't know anything besides metric and honestly I don't fucking want to

[@zenkalt]

As someone who's been using the metric system all their life, this seems like basic knowledge. But I did learn something new from this video. I now know the temperature of a medium rare steak!

[@owenwilson3750]

Useless information anyway, steak should only be served rare or blue imo but I digress. I am also a metric man and I just learnt about the "Decimeter" technically correct but I have never head anyone ever use it.

[@isaacjohns3651]

@@owenwilson3750 that's what I was thinking, it's because why say oh can you cut this to 1 decimeter when you can say can you cut this to 100 centimeter

[@owenwilson3750]

@@isaacjohns3651 you misunderstand my friend he was saying deci meter meaning 10cm. 100cm is a meter but no one uses 1 decimeter we say 10cm or 100mm

[@a.lionne5257]

I use decimeter quite often. Mostly in school but still it’s one of the most common measures. Useful in physics and chemistry.

[@arroe8386]

​@@owenwilson3750I mean I definitely use decimeter, but even if you wouldn't and don't know the meaning of deci either, it would be self explanatory that it is one tenth of a meter because you know what a deciliter is. Kind of my favourite part of it, that you know every scale if you know one scale and only have to move the dot when changing from one unit to another.

[@lachlans1736]

Grew up using the metric system and still learned from this video. You’re a great teacher!

[@thechemguy1]

I’m flattered. Thanks. 👍

[@francesco5254]

Alternative title: trying to explain really basic stuff to weird tribes I found over the Atlantic

[@gc0009]

underrated comment

[@beadsman13]

It is way easier with feet and stone than this scientific nonsense that made humanity to fly in the space. :)

[@dajo1373]

Weird tribes, more likely the degenerates we send over generations ago and who refuse to take something because it's probably witchcraft.

[@yabuki2502]

@@beadsman13 you mean yuri gagarin?

[@chobai9996]

I'm from Hong Kong, just saying as to stop the immediate rebuttal of accusing me of being an American, but...you're not a special lad just because you can measure things. Imagine being cocky about knowing things that you grew up with...there are things in all cultures that seem natural and easy, but mayhaps isn't so when you're from somewhere else. In the end, you are the ignorant tribesman that is intolerant and like to put down other tribes/people

[@Bedsize]

The metric system is logic, simple and brilliant. A direct opposite to the imperial system.

[@FernandoMendoza-dw8nz]

Idk I'm a fan of base 12 myself.

[@insomnia20422]

@@FernandoMendoza-dw8nz im a fan of base any prime honestly, just for the memes...

[@bobbyb9258]

The imperial system is made for cooking and gardening, not for the calculations of the modern era.

[@m4riel]

@@insomnia20422 Imagine counting base 17

[@daanlinders7997]

@@bobbyb9258 still metric system is easier with cooking, because a 100 degree Celsius is boiling water and 0 degree is ice, 2 important things to know when cooking.

[@antiquegeek]

As an older Canadian I can still measure in furlongs per fortnight, rods, chains, links, and all the usuals; inches, feet, pounds, pints etc but I prefer metric without a doubt. My American friends will often try to end a measurement debate with the phrase "It was the system that got us to the moon!" to which I respond "you didnt get there because of the imperial system you got there despite it". A good engineer could have done it with hogsheads, stone and cubits and the result would have been the same but...why??!

[@getburked3739]

However, it's not the system that got them to the moon. NASA has always used metric measurement and the engineers who created the rocket were germans.

[@antiquegeek]

@@getburked3739 Yes I am aware of that but they aren't and it is too good a comeback to waste.😆

[@masterjerelk820]

even more of a roast about it, imperial made one launch fail because an ingeneer made the conversion without telling the others, making it all fail.

[@Rabijeel]

NASA used metrics back then.

[@TheRick517]

You should have said: "NASA uses metric since the early sixties!"

[@Rincy42]

I'm from Europe and grew up using metric, I'm a physicist and I teach at a mechanical engineering facaulty. Your students are lucky to have you as their teacher. I wish more of our students had people like you as their science and math teachers.

[@zeg2651]

You know: He forgot to explain that it takes the energy of 1 calorie to heat up 1mL of water by 1°C And that an increase in 1K is equal to an increase in 1°C

[@Kycilak]

Except calorie is not a SI unit. Joule is.

[@S.Ghosh_221]

To raise temperature of 1gm of water by 1℃ at standard atmospheric pressure ,the (heat) energy required is 1 calorie.

[@zeg2651]

@@Kycilak okay, point

[@zeg2651]

@@S.Ghosh_221 I think the pressure doesn't matter with masses but with volumes it does. So yeah I should have mentioned that. And he should have too as he told her that 1L of water weighs 1kg👍

[@Wolfeur]

@@Kycilak _Technically_ , neither is Joule. There are only 7 SI units, and all others are derived from them.

[@ActionHeinz]

Her face tells me, she absolutely got nothing about what he just explained to her 😂

[@ivobleijenberg3171]

Ofcourse. He is bringing verbal information like a machinegun. That's not how teaching works. That's knowledge flexing. Unless it's a summery of things he ready teached that's not going to stick.

[@ActionHeinz]

@@ivobleijenberg3171 I'm pretty sure that's just to explain the relationships within the metric system quickly to show why it's superior over the imperial system. Learning it is either not part of the plan or it will follow in detail later on. I guess nobody expected her to fully understand everything within a few seconds and it it's clear it wasn't the teacher intention either.

[@ivobleijenberg3171]

@@ActionHeinz as a teacher, I disagree. But you might be right about the intentions.

[@ActionHeinz]

@@ivobleijenberg3171 You are entitled to disagree with whatever or whoever you want. But since we both don’t know the story behind the video it’s pointless to argue about it.

[@tenzintsenpey5274]

too much information is quite confusing.

[@GameNationRDF]

As the son of a physics teacher, good and passionate teachin like this always puts a smile on my face. Bless your heart

[@akisalmenaho8473]

I visited LA in 2015, and I was surprised that they actually use the metric system. When I bought a water bottle from the local market, I noticed that the volume of the bottle was measured in both fluid ounces and milliliters. I also bought a small bag of M&M's, which i put into my camera bag after I ate them all. Six months later, I found this bag from my camera bag. I was shocked when I checked the nutritional values for that bag. They were measured in grams. Yes, GRAMS. I am surprised that the US hasn't adopted metrics any further than that.

[@thechemguy1]

When I visit my doctor they record my mass in kg and my height in meters. If I have lab tests done the results come back in metric. If I drink and drive and get caught my BAC comes back in g/dL

[@thomaskamp9365]

@@thechemguy1 As a scientist once said: When ET comes to earth it is very simple to explain ET the metric system. We divide or multiply everything by the number of fingers we have. We calculate temperatures based on the freezing and boiling points of water, because we humans are made up of 95% water. But then when we want to explain the American system to ET, it just gets embarrassing... LOL

[@redbaron07]

When I was in LA I bought a 10g bag of white powder from a street dealer who had a 9mm Glock tucked into his waistband. Yay for metric!

[@barfy4751]

​@@thomaskamp9365 wouldn't that be 2 thumbs and 8 fingers

[@Rikard_Nilsson]

Well I'm European and already knew this, but your little lecture there seems quite well thought out and intuitive. Well done.

[@thechemguy1]

Rikard Nilsson , thanks so much for the wonderful compliment. I fight the battle for metric over here every day!

[@walterverbeeck6929]

Very good explained... Thumbs up for the teacher.

[@TremereTT]

+Rikard Nilsson It's not about being European. Ever country uses "systeme international" . Even countries like Myanmar or Liberia who haven't officially joint the systeme international use metric on their markets, since they opened up to the world. Because imported goods are metric and export also have to be mainly metric. Up till today there is only the USA left waving the banner of peasantry.

[@Rikard_Nilsson]

I know. I wasn't inferring that only Europe use metric, I merely defined an explanation for why I already knew it.

[@AndersGetherSoerensen]

The Danish coin system is built up in the same way. 1 øre x 10 = 10 øre 10 øre x 10 = 1 crown 1 crown x 10 = 10 crowns 10 crowns x 10 = 100 kr 100 crowns x 100 = 10000 crowns

[@thechemguy1]

Okay, I'm going to comment on my own post. I was thrilled in the late 70's when high school track and field went metric. All schools took and reduced their 440 yd oval track to 400 m so that kids could run the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m and 1600 m. A few years back I entered a 5 km foot race, a common event. When I realized that the course was marked out in miles and only miles I questioned the event organizers before the starting gun went off. I believe that to this day runners measure their minutes/mile and not minutes/km on a metric course. Just plain Stupid!!

[@MaxxMcGeePrivate]

Really weird! It seems to be impossible to change that system. Every time (not often luckily) I have to use inches to get measurements of screens or speakers it grinds my gears. Can't imagine using feet... I mean, feet!? Just think about it. XD

[@cleonii]

your explanation in the video was clear and well paced. you are a great teacher. thank you. :)

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

that's hilarious.

[@ogkendrick6392]

*stubborn eagle screeches…..😂😂😂

[@pappajudas9267]

You forgot one critical temperature -40 Celsius is equal to -40 Fahrenheit. This is only useful as a Canadian explaining to an American contractor what they can expect when they arrive here in the winter during a deep freeze.

[@deandavid9737]

This teacher is awesome, I can't imagine having to use the imperial system.

[@thechemguy1]

A wonderful compliment. Thank you!

[@deandavid9737]

@@thechemguy1 your awesome buddy..👌

[@xmikex801]

You can tell this professor loves his job. What a great example to break down the metric system in such a simple format.

[@aleisterlavey9716]

The usa using the imperial system is what i call Stockholm syndrome...

[@herrakaarme]

They actually use the US customary system. It's not exactly the same as the obsolete British imperial system. Although nowadays some folks in the US say they use freedom units. They might be joking, or maybe not.

[@connorhamilton5707]

More like holding onto an old tradition. Speaking as someone who understands that metric is generally superior given the technology of this age, but still only really knows the U.S. system. Metric is designed for precision and scientific use, and got significantly better with more powerful and readily available calculators. The U.S. system is more about easily available measurements and division. The final segment of your pinky finger is about 1 inch. 1 foot is 12 inches. Why 12? Because it is divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. Reasons like these are why it is kept around. On a similar note, this is why time failed to be metricated. 60 minutes and 24 hours are numbers that are just so easy for people to divide for them to be discarded.

[@herrakaarme]

@@connorhamilton5707 Reasons like that are why the traditional measurements served well for centuries, before modern science, medicine, and engineering. The reason why the USA didn't move to the metric system is political. The federal government and the state governments didn't force it. Elsewhere it was up to the government to see it's done, no matter what. It's not like the people, especially older adults, would have been thrilled about it anywhere, I imagine. Every single country did have existing old systems in use, which had to be forced out of use. It simply can't happen without heavy government enforcement. I used to have a small book, maybe from 20's or 30's, which had, among other useful stuff, a long list of the old units and how they are converted to the metric system. Back then it was still very useful for the older folks.

[@connorhamilton5707]

@@herrakaarme As I said, it's more like a tradition than Stockholm syndrome. Even in the U.S. the metric system gets used for the super important things such as scientific research and large engineering projects. Our system is technically also measured based on the metric standards, rather than being a completely separate standard like it used to be. It is just the general public that doesn't use it, and that is because there isn't much need to actually use either system for those people. If I remember correctly, the last time I needed to measure something was over a year ago.

[@connorhamilton5707]

@Patrick I don't understand why you are asking this?

[@ydela1961]

The weirdest situation where the metric system helped me was this: I had to send some document by the old snail mail system. I knew the stamp value I had to put on it was dependent on the weight of the document. Because the snail mail is so old way of sending document, we had no scale in the office. I knew the A4 paper format was based on the square meter: A0 = 1 square meter, A1 = 1/2 sqm; A2=1/4 sqm; A3=1/8 sqm; A4=1/16 sqm... I looked at the paper weight printed on the box saying 80 G/sm. So one A4 sheet of 80 G/sm = 80/16 = 5 gram I just had to count how many sheets in my document, multiply by 5g, and voilà. So thank you the Ax sheet format, and thank you metric system for this weird situation.

[@OneBadCitizen]

Awesome story and not weirdest situation at all. This is why this system was invented for!

[@srfurley]

And because the sides are in the ratio of 1: square root 2 all of those sheets are the same shape, unlike US Letter, Legal sizes. Very useful if you want to print handbills, posters etc. in different sizes.

[@darkredvan]

To get it totally correct you‘d have to add the envelope and stamp. (in Germany the normal standard weight for the cheapest (0,80€) is 20 grams. Usually that is: (standard) envelope, stamp plus 3 sheets of A4 paper. (80 grams / squaremeter)

[@DKofDAH]

Ok hold up. I used metric and Ax all my live but didn’t know that they were based on a sqm. Makes so much more sense 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@ydela1961]

@@darkredvan I did some rough approximation: Envelop = 2 sheets, stamp, saliva, and ink are negligeable. Metal objects being forbidden, no staples here. So as long as I was 10g below the next weight level, I was ok.

[@artyshmunzuk5435]

We in Russia use the metric system all our lives, but even I was so captivated by this amazing teacher!

[@thechemguy1]

Thank you so very much!!

[@taiqidong9841]

Belgian here, same feeling. Now, decimeters are a very rare species over here, but still, captivating way of explaining it. Hope y'all join the rest of the universe some day to measure its expanse this way. Bonus question: how many km is a parsec ?! ;-)

[@oliverstyk5525]

You can see how entire metric system is perfectly connected

[@Mrherbalful]

As an Australian carpenter who has worked with Americans that have moved here, they've all said that they were surprised how simple the metric system is and how it removes a lot of calculation errors as well as not needing a calculator but by quickly doing the maths in your head.

[@laustinspeiss]

No wonder he moved to Australia, he’s one of the American minorities that can think.

[@const2499]

@@laustinspeiss xD

[@skaruts]

It pains me when I watch woodworking videos by Americans and they start talking about measurements. You hear confusing mouthfuls like _"a quarter of an inch and a sixteenth of an inch thick"..._ or stuff along those lines. It blows my mind.

[@llddau]

It’s nuts that anybody could be surprised at that. It’s the only way to be, because it is simplistic perfection and makes sense!

[@Patrik6920]

@@skaruts ya..always baffles me... it must take so much joy out of it doing all the complex an completely unessesary calculations (with imperial)...

[@JuankQuinteroMejia]

"Do you have any questions?" "I don't have any questions, thank you Mr. Godfrey" "Did you understand anything?" "I didn't understand anything, sorry Mr. Godfrey"

[@bonbonpony]

Average American: "Wow, how is Earth's equator precisely 40 000 kilometres? :O This must be made by God/Aliens!" ;)

[@precursors]

@@bonbonpony Lies! We all know God is American (cos he blesses us) so it must be 4000 football fields!

[@sayingnigromakesyoutubecry2647]

Lol

[@bonbonpony]

If I were God and I existed, I would make the Earth the shape of my head, because why the heck not? :J Let those Earthlings know thy mastah :J To the other commenter: yeah, sucks to be Hispanic, they have one of their colour words banned. Imagine trying to type in "pink" and learning that you've just insulted some random strangers and your comment will be eaten by the Googlebeast :q

[@chrstiania]

@@precursors how many washing machines would that be?

[@tahoe829]

Metric is so logical and simple . What the hell was i thinking for 52 years using Imperial ??? 😂I remember when the Feds and our education system tried to phase it in but failed by 1982.. Moronic indeed!! Thanks to a wonderful professor like this for showing how great the Metric system really is. 😊😊😊

[@pringle9279]

What a fantastic teacher! I grew up in England, and whilst we learn the metric system, we're not actually taught about the relationship between different measurements (ie 1kg coming from the weight of 1L of water at 4°C). It's something I wish my education system touched upon this at some point, I had to learn it for myself!

[@thechemguy1]

Interesting! Thanks for your compliment.

[@edwardhuggins84]

However I was my teacher got us to weigh different amounts of water and as we did I started to see this

[@laggeryt7558]

I don't remember learning measurement systems in school. We just knew it before it became necessary for physics.

[@Beregorn88]

"You take 5 of those and you have 5 kilometres" The looks in her eyes: "I am not convinced..."

[@MidnightSt]

you wouldn't be either, in her place. she's been brought up using the moron system, so she's expecting weird random multipliers by weird decimal numbers everywhere. the idea that converting between units within the same unit system should be simple is alien to her.

[@konrad1073]

I've been using metric system for my whole life im watching it and she looks as confused as me when someone is trying to explain Imperial system to me:D

[@ExtantThylacine]

Alternative title: The Metric System Mansplained.

[@erikpoephoofd]

@@ExtantThylacine shut up kyle

[@LarsOtermans]

@@ExtantThylacine shut up kyle

[@lauraiss1027]

Watching this in Europe on my 21 inch LCD

[@tstcikhthys]

You mean your 533 mm LCD.

[@jarls5890]

@@tstcikhthys I measure my screens in cubits - old testament style! A 21" screen is roughly 0.95 cubit!

[@eladrio2311]

That's true even in metric system countries the TV's come in imperial. Don't know why

[@tstcikhthys]

@@eladrio2311 Some countries give it in centimetres as well, but yes. It's the same thing with car tyres. I'd imagine it's just inertia, since especially all monitors are measured in millimetres at the factory.

[@Smartcom5]

I think Germany has “Zoll” (25.4mm/1") for that, which the inch equals to.

[@akiraic]

Proud of watching this. It's sad that we won't have more professors like this in the current generation.

[@thechemguy1]

A compliment to me. Thank you!!

[@georgefuters7411]

It's the most complicated instructional video I've seen, you'd almost think he was trying to put the poor students off what is an elegantly simple system. Why use decimetres that no-one ever uses? A litre is 10cm x 10cm x 10cm = 1,000cc = 1,000ml = 1ltr = 1kg (water at 10°C at sea level), 1,000ltr = 1m³ = 1metric ton(water as above) 0°C = ice below, water above 🤔 37°C = happy human🤗 40°C = sad human( call the doctor!)🥵 50°C = warm day in Death Valley 😱 100°C = time for a cuppa tea 🍵 By instructing kids to use the imperial metric system that is almost entirely limited to the USA, you're putting them at a severe disadvantage when they get a job in the real world and find everyone else is using the metric system. Even old fogies in the UK use metric in their everyday life except by height and weight which they cannot think of in anything other than the imperial units 🙈

[@ColinWatters]

I was in one of the first UK school year groups that was didnt have to know the imperial system for exams. Only had to use metric SI units. Very grateful!

[@1366solar]

Aah yes the metric system, used by the whole world except for some backwards dormer colonies :D

[@Yeggman]

The day I have to deal with the imperial system (mostly because of social and practical considerations), okay, but do not see the point of doing anything more complicated than necessary). Everyone will have to have their peripeteia moments on the journey of life.

[@visual_chris]

@@Yeggman literally one of the last 3 countries in the world still using the imperial system lmao

[@uwehansen2915]

@Patrick Only the US is some on to Count and they have all but in puplic Convert. Inch and co are set as *** of metric!

[@AverageAlien]

The US does use metric

[@csanadkardos9956]

@@AverageAlien No it doesn’t?

[@markuseberhardt888]

you can go even further: tie the bottle to the string and let it swing. The time it takes to swing from one side to the other is a second. If you want to lift the bottle 1 meter high you will need a energy of (about) 10 Joule. is you take 1 second to do that, you use the power of 10 watts. If you have a power of 1 watt at 1 Volt, you have a current of 1 Ampere.

[@robbypolter6689]

Grundwissen der achten Klasse in Mathe und Physik.

[@markuseberhardt888]

@@robbypolter6689 naja aber halt nicht in den USA. Außerdem kenne ich auch in Deutschland genug Achtklässler, ach was, sogar Leute mit Abi, die das nicht wissen.

[@thechemguy1]

That would have made a much longer video. But I didn't know about the period of the swing.

[@markuseberhardt888]

@@thechemguy1 i have to admit that it is not totally true, it is using the asumption pi^2 = 9.87 ~ 9.81 = g . the real period time is about T = 2.006s . But close enough.

[@robbypolter6689]

@@markuseberhardt888 Meine Schulzeit war von 1973 bis 1983. Ich hatte auch schon Lehrlinge und Abiturienten, die taten sich schwer, mit den Grundlagen der Mathematik, Physik und Chemie. Meine Frau kommt aus Weißrussland und sie war dort in einer Spezialklasse für Chemie und Mathe. Aber dank Ihnen, junger Mann, habe ich für das deutsche Schulsystem, noch etwas Hoffnung.

[@tdb7992]

It's so nice seeing an American appreciating the metric system. He explained it far better than most people I've encountered, and I grew up in Australia where we always use metric and not many people understand imperial measurements. What a great teacher. Those kids were privileged to be taught by this guy.

[@gre8]

The biggest hurdle to get a new user to wrap their heads around metric is having a rough mental idea of how much a meter or a kg is. Though it is not perfect, I usually tell people to imagine a Yard, since it is roughly a meter in length. I feel that at least helps to develop a feel for the quantities. The teacher did great by helping students visualize these different quantities instead of simply dumping mathematical relationships between each quantity.

[@sebfox2194]

The biggest hurdle in the Olympics is slightly bigger than 1m, at 106.7cm. It is a difficult hurdle for new hurdlers to get used to as well.

[@Keln02]

a bottle of water from a vending machine is often half a kg When it starts blowing your mind, is when you realise a cubic meter of water weighs a ton

[@markherbert4723]

This is insane. We grow up knowing this shit in primary school, not in high school physics class

[@Milesco]

Yeah, so did we. I remember learning the metric system in elementary school in the mid '70s. (San Francisco Bay Area)

[@javabeanz8549]

@@Milesco I learned more about the metric system while studying science on my own than I learned in the California public schools in the '70's...

[@kiroo886]

... didn't we got this in elementary school? (Im from south east asia, maybe different curriculum)

[@Avatar2312]

My daughter is 5 and she already knows of centimeters and meters and even what a liter is - well actually what 1.000 liters are. It is so basic that knowing it practically makes you a fundamentalist :)

[@jobhighschoolofcrosscity8430]

@@Avatar2312 why don't you teach her that 1l = 1 dm^3 since it's easier to remember than 1000l = 1m^3

[@tyroneloki5131]

i was waiting for something profound to happen....turns out he was just explaining the basic stuff we leaned in the 3rd grade.

[@jenkrash8122]

did you know that a meter is 1/m of the distance from the eq to the north pole? actully its not true as meter is diff by the distance of a light particle going thro vaccom in 1/C (c-speed of light - constant) "The metre is currently defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1 /299 792 458 of a second."

[@anogredoctor]

@@jenkrash8122 Except that came later since the metric system was first proposed in 1670 and was later adopted by France under Napoleon in 1790. The speed of light was defined in 1975 and the meter was redefined then. So the guy isn't wrong about the origin.

[@uwehansen2915]

it is America that high Stuff

[@chris-2496]

Who in the world ever uses a decimeter as a unit for anything?

[@dipubalamurugan3331]

@@chris-2496 max i would use it is in its relation with litre

[@mikoshino]

Quite inspiring for a soon to be teacher! Especially how u handled those teens, with laughs! They even seemed to just enjoy themselfes while u patiently explain the magic. Great. Goals right there

[@thechemguy1]

Being a teacher is a great occupation. Hope you enjoy it as much as me.

[@nephronpie8961]

Your students will surely grow up to appreciate the metric system. Love the explanation.

[@janeymers7154]

I feel like the metric system facilitates thinking in scientific dimensions like volume, mass, area, distance. Because its all connected you dont even have to think much about it. As soon as you get told in school that 1 litre = 10cm x 10cm x 10cm = 1kg you can give a pretty good guess for most day to day calculations.

[@vytisagafonovas3887]

but it only applies to water

[@antoinedenis9922]

@@vytisagafonovas3887 i think he talk about rough estimate of volume scale and mass. once you know the point 0 wich is water for volume or scale the elements doesn't matter. you could say yeah this skate board must be 60cm long maybe that's a estimate. and when you deal with mass as a question you compare it to a litre of water when in killogram to estimate the mass of the object you old even if it's steel for example. you guess or estimate something based of the fundamental that's what he is reffering to

[@eagle1de227]

And it doesn't stop there: for example, 1 cubic meter (of water) is 1 ton (1000 Kg)

[@ReaderViaNil]

@@vytisagafonovas3887 water is the substance used for setting the measure, but it works with everything. Since weight is bound by density, you can figure out that something that fills a liter but is heavier than water is therefore more dense. That also means that things that are mostly water, like most liquids for human consumption, are also pretty close to weight of water, only a bit heavier. Since liters measure volume, you can get any used container, fill it with water and have a very close aproximate of a known weight. You can also quickly calculate volumes by knowing spacial dimensions, which is very useful in construction and engineering. Basically, you need less effort to calculate physical things, which would otherwise require some decent mental maths to solve.

[@EmperorSmith]

Also, It takes 1000 calories to raise 1 liter of water one degree C.

[@NilsAlbertsson]

*_"Do you have any questions?"_* *_"Yes... Why are you explaining this to me? For the last time, this is the teacher's lounge, and I'm the drama teacher!"_*

[@korosuke1788]

The first time someone told me there were people who measured their height in feet, I thought it made total sense. A foot is relative to the height of a person, so I just assumed everyone was 6-foot tall. I was a kid, so I couldn't possibly imagine someone would use it in any other way since I already knew shoes came in different siezes. As an adult, I still have a hard time understading how they managed to make it to the moon using their feet as a measuring system.

[@matiasdiaz8913]

they didnt, they used german scientist who used metric

[@jadawin10]

NASA switched to metric in the early sixties...

[@laggeryt7558]

Simple. If you want to know how tall you are, you lie down and get someone to measure you using their feet. That's how you do it.

[@drazach_7819]

You're not wrong about everyone being 6 foot tall.

[@zalf1641]

One of the U.S. best kept secrets is the existance of Timothy Feeth. An unknown person to 99.99% of americans Feeth was personally responsible for getting the U.S. space program to the moon. With every measurement made he was used as the universal standard model because he was of the most average height of any NASA employee. He would take off his shoes and socks and walk every single square inch of the rockets with his feet touching each other in order to make sure the measurements all added up. It took him on average 2 months to measure all surfaces on the Apollo mission rockets. After retiring from NASA he was still frequently asked to measure stuff but because of deteriorating hips he was no longer able to do so, hence NASA created a new measurement system and in honour of him called them "feet". I know all of this because I made it all up.

[@malcolmlane-ley2044]

I'm watching this over 8 years after it was uploaded and the US is still in a state of limbo with little or no apparent movement to move to a much simpler system. I spent most of my career in the printing paper industry and the UK went metric in the early 70's, nearly 50 years on the US is still operating in imperial measurement.

[@madcatlover7554]

If the temperature reaches 50°c you’re in western Sydney Australia

[@mEDIUMGap]

And if there is minus 50 than you are in Yakutsk, Russia

[@puffin20]

As a Russian I find -20°c way more survivable than +50°c. And I live in Greece where in summer it gets up to +40°c so I just want to get out of my skin or just fill the tub with ice and stay there until the night when the temperature drops to 25°c.

[@Marth667]

@@puffin20 Of course you do, your Russian xD

[@zitronentee]

@@puffin20 I think -20°C is survivable if there's no strong wind.

[@theporcupine9993]

thought it was 600°C there ? or was that last year ?

[@Drudenfusz]

The USA is funny, claiming to be all about the republic, but there measurement system is still imperial.

[@DepakoteMeister]

No it isn't, and never has been.

[@norbertfleck812]

You should name the metric system "Republican" and the other one "Democratic". With the next President from GOP they will switch to metric immediately.

[@Drudenfusz]

@@norbertfleck812 Unlikely, Conservatives don't like change, if it will ever get changed then I would bet it will be the slightly more liberal/progress of two horrible choices you guys have (which is currently the democrats, but they are basically just the lesser of two evil).

[@chill395]

@@Drudenfusz metric is better than moron system

[@Falcrist]

The US uses US Customary units. This system was based on the British units prior to the standardization of the Imperial System.

[@JorgePetraglia2009]

This man superbly explains the metric system in a way that virtually anybody could understand. He demonstrated that everything that has to be measured with this system is related : volume to liquids, to length, to weight, to distances and temperature. Everything is calculated by the same principle which is ten, which in turn can be divided or multiplied using he number zero in any direction, which in turn doesn't need the use of a calculator ; let alone the fractions one needs with the old Imperial System. Here in Canada (and other countries that used to have the Imperial System) we have to deal with these two systems, simply because old people can't learn new tricks. The Americans should acknowledge that they use the Metric System when dealing with money : ten cents multiplied by 10 cents makes a dollar and a dollar multiplied by one hundred makes a hundred dollars, and so on. The nefarious people who supply America with the most dangerous drugs known to man, use the Metric System because it makes sense, they are business people after all. On the other hand, doctors and pharmacists are using that system because it makes a lot of sense. There are only three countries in the world using the Imperial System; two of them can not even fart without the authorization of the ol' USA. Being different doesn't mean one has to be stubborn, and the latter is exactly what is happening with these people using a system that is as obsolete as trying to cure illnesses by praying or walking on your knees to a sacred place. Greetings from Toronto.

[@thechemguy1]

Wow! What a response! Thank you so very much. We can blame Ronald Reagan for the USA not being metric now. In the 70’s we were committed to metric as Canada was but I guess the Gipper couldn’t multiply by 10 so he halted our progress.

[@mmdirtyworkz]

I like the confusion on the face of the person who uses feet, fingers and toe nail system. Logic strikes hard :D

[@denravonska]

What an amazing teacher. Teach by involving your pupils instead of reading a transcript.

[@thechemguy1]

A wonderful compliment, thank you very much!

[@rakshanaaaa]

😭 that isn't every teacher

[@bonbonpony]

Better still would be to let them experiment with props and discover the relations themselves ;) You experience it → you understand it.

[@c99kfm]

@@ingebygstad9667 Might be wise not to speak for all of Europe, at least some of your fellow Scandinavians regularly use decimetres, depending on context. Decilitres, on the other hand, is very common - just check your closest non-antiquated cookbook.

[@ingebygstad9667]

@@c99kfm oooof... I suck at math don't I? Thanks for updating and correcting me :) Maybe just deleting my post would be the most appropriate as it contains a shitload of errors.

[@OnFight1997]

World: We should use water to quantify most of our measures, something we use everyday. America: Honestly... Same!! Pounder Burger, Football Stadium Yards and Foot long Subway Sandwiches and for our final trick the average car holds 12 gallons.

[@ZeroSleap]

No?The water was the example used not the standard.Every one of these units is defined by now by some concept and no physical object.The only arbitrary unit in the metric he talked about is Celsius,because it uses the freezing point of water.The more scientific is the Kelvin scale for tempetature

[@OnFight1997]

@@ZeroSleap you do realize 1dm^3 of for example mercury won't weigh 1kg right? While 1dm^3 of water at 5 celsius is still roughly 1kg. Even if not 'the standard' in a day to day basis it's what you have to work with.

[@csaracho2009]

Actually, it’s a meter the base... kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJzYiqiIo5uJotU

[@ZeroSleap]

I'll disambiguate and say that im mostly refering to the officially used system of SI that derives from the metric. All the units of SI have now been defined through non physical things. I.e "The metre is currently defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1299 792 458 of a second". Also SI defines the units for temperature as Kelvin(with 0 being absolute zero at -273Celsius).

[@zarqornd6881]

@@ZeroSleap I think you can give Celsius a pass as it still uses the same differences between degrees

[@nocturnalwolf7559]

since we are talking about the metric system, might as well talk about the "football". american football should be called handegg. Calling it american football should already tell us it is not the original name.

[@sockpuppetbitme]

The best best BEST thing about metric is that you can do percentages with them all, by just moving the decimal point. No need to carry an abacus around any more.

[@fatdad64able]

"That's why we have pocket calculators..." Reply of an American coworker when I tried to explain metric.

[@daguido742]

some people are just afraid of using a braincell or two lol

[@doubleT84]

Tell him we have pocket calculators because of binary, not metric. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@rigo6156]

I love how foreigners failed in many of my engineering classes cause they couldn't convert, they even had a calculator.

[@programaths]

@@rigo6156 Well, in secondary school physics, most mistakes comes from the conversion between Km per hour and m per second. Student are confused as heck! Even drill doesn't cut it, because they forget, try to think about it and confuse themselves. The conversions start to be always correct once the student understood ratios, which happens very rarely. Ratio are really the most approachable thing in mathematics that fly above the head of most people. As an example, if we pick 4 non null naturals (so, positive whole numbers greater than zero) as such that a/b=c/d then we can say that a/b=(a+c)/(b+d). Example: 3/4=6/8=(3+6)/(4+8)=9/12 What happens with the conversion of Km/h to m/s is that students see that they have to multiply by 1000 and divide by 3600. Then they are confusing themselves because they have to do it on a numerator and a denominator. The process in student mind is more or less as follow: "Ah, I have to divide the distance by 3600, because I have that much less time. But it's to be expressed as Km, so I have to multiply by 1000. Hum, that gives the numerator...but how to compute the denominator? A yeah, I probably need to do the same." So, calculator doesn't help at all.

[@lolwutizit]

@@programaths How do you say "I have to multiply by 1000 and divide by 3600" and fail to input these actions in that order into a calculator?

[@akyhne]

So easy to understand, even an American should be able to understand it. American: Hold my beer.

[@lacplesis484]

Hold my pint of beer

[@doggnap]

@@lacplesis484 Hold my half litre

[@cutienerdgirl]

She's a teenager. Teenagers are dumb.

[@isidzukuri]

Actually i like pint of beer. It slightly more then standard 0.5 liter can. =D But only as concept of "culture", not as everyday usage. Metric is the system. "Imperial gibberish" just a joke nowadays. Make no sense at all.

[@julianh.1820]

Hold my budlight pisswater

[@HenrikSkov-DK]

Damn he explains that good.... If you as an American don't know how the metric system works after listening too this, then you have not listened good enough. It's really simple !!

[@thechemguy1]

A wonderful compliment. Thank you very much.

[@zac2780]

We learn this in primary school it's funny to see people so old learning the right way finally

[@albertoossola1481]

Also super useful when you cook. Need to add 150ml of water? Zero out the weight scale and add water until it reaches 150 grams, no need to use extra measuring cups.

[@suit1337]

it is even good enough for stuff like milk with a similar density problem is if you have liquids with a very different density, for example cooking oils, they have a density of around 0,9 to 0,95 kg/l - so you could be off by 10 % if you measure by weight but if you note your own recipes, you should use mass, because it is easier if you have a scale

[@Milesco]

To be honest, I find using measuring cups much easier.

[@suit1337]

@@Milesco if you measure something sticky like honey it is just a pain

[@treubuchet]

@@Milesco Much easier? This suggests that you have tried to cook/bake using metric. May I ask, why you found metric less easy to use? Cups work on the basis of ratio. If the ratio is maintained, your cake or whatever you are baking, should match the recipe. However, it is a far less precise unit of measurement if you were to scale this up. If you were to bake 1000 cakes, this difference could cost a good deal of money that has been wasted. Scale this up further to an industrial size, and your competitor using metric, will have a greater profit margin, assuming all else is equal.

[@treubuchet]

'size'. I'm sorry, that should read 'quantity'.

[@reinekefuchs267]

It is obvious that the logical and rigorous simplicity of the metric system put a smile on the students face. And as a european I must say this was very well explained. Great teacher, even I enjoyed it!

[@thechemguy1]

Thanks!!!

[@MegaSim3]

The amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 cm³ of water by 1°C is 1 calorie :) Might also be interesting! Love this explaination, it should be way more widespread!

[@ArkonPT]

Yeah I thought he was going to explain that when he started talking about temperature

[@gammarayneutrino8413]

Yes, but a calorie is not an SI unit. The SI unit for energy is a joule (J)

[@33Sharingan]

This is how you explain things properly. Good job, sir!

[@thechemguy1]

Thank you so much!!!

[@ReaderViaNil]

i wish he would have included the fact that between 30 and 40 celsius is the temperature of warm blooded animals, with humans being around 37, high fever being at 39, 40 being where tissue damage begins. Also, knowing some small kitchen science facts, like water forms little gas beads at around 75 C, can be very usefull in everyday life.

[@thechemguy1]

Next time. Interesting fact.

[@kaitan4160]

@@thechemguy1 Somehow this reminded me of the time i had my first Phyiscs lessons in School. Many many Moons ago in the GDR. When my Teacher simply stated "you learned Meters in Math? Millimeter, Decimeter, Kilometer and all that? Great! Now take that prefix and use the same methods for Hertz, Volt, Ampere, Liter, and everything else." We were confused at the start till he wrote on the Board. Kilo=1000 Deci= 1/10th and so on. And suddenly the realisation kicked in that we dont need our Textbooks or charts. We just need to remember the prefix as we already knew them from our Maths Teacher. With the only exception ofc that there is no Kiloliter or Megaliter ..... But Megahertz, Kilohertz, Milliampere, Kilovolt, etc all following the same logic. Whatever stands in before the "base Unit" already tells us how much of that unit is around.

[@rezurq]

@@kaitan4160 Great thing about metric prefixes is that you can use them for anything. So kilolitre is ok as well. Maybe not commonly used but its not wrong either.

[@thorstenelvers7618]

@@kaitan4160 technically KL and ML exist, but nobody uses them. thats the point where you convert back to cubic metres for volume. or, just big numbers.

[@Ushabtii]

For big scale fluid we prefere using cubic meter or hectolitre(100litre) (french). Easyer to imagine what it represent.

[@ComdrStew]

My uncle said, the metric system is more confusing. I took out two socket sets and showed him the difference. This socket set has 1/4, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 9/16, 5/8, and 3/4. The metric set was 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. I asked him, which of the two was easier to understand?

[@warriorson7979]

You probably meant a set of drill bits. I have never in my life seen a 2mm socket.😟

[@ComdrStew]

@@warriorson7979 My dad's metric socket set has a 2mm socket. It goes onto a screw driver like handle and yes it is the first one I saw also. I have actually never saw a 3mm either. He bought it at the flea market.

[@cetyl2626]

@@ComdrStew Could one say the socket was flea sized?

[@ComdrStew]

@@cetyl2626 It is very very small, lol. Looks like it is made for electronics repair.

[@calculator1841]

"I asked him, which of the two was easier to understand?" So you admit metric is for the intellectually challenged.

[@alexgarza9642]

As an American who designs/makes cabinets and office furniture, the Metric system makes way more sense.

[@andreasrasmussen6362]

as a nigerian line cook, who invents and researches the pinnacle of food and taste, i think the metric system is better.

[@wallacesousuke1433]

Imperial system is beyond my compreension as a Brazilian, why, when I try to convert my height (179cm) to ft, it shows up two different results (5'9 and 5'11)?

[@andreasrasmussen6362]

@@wallacesousuke1433 its easy, divide your height in cm with 1 inch.(2,54cm) then you divide that number with the amount of inches in a foot(12) 179/2,54= 70,47 inches 70,47/12 = 5,87 feet

[@wallacesousuke1433]

@@andreasrasmussen6362 then where does the 5'11 come from?

[@DonFervo]

out of the thumbnail and the title I expected some neat dad-joke. But in the end, I wasn't disappointed. Greetings from Germany

[@thechemguy1]

Danka!

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

She doesn't seem very appreciative of this lecture XD

[@fingerofkawaii]

I mean, she was put on the spot as a point of attention for at least 4 other people + a camera. You wouldn't be appreciative of eating a snack if you had multiple people and a camera watching you as you ate.

[@RED01SEA]

She cute tho

[@JavoCover]

@@RED01SEA The thumbnail girl bring me here, I stayed for the explanation.

[@trla6505]

@@fingerofkawaii to be fair that many of us did, when the profesor tells u to help

[@lsfornells]

She smiles complacently when the teacher explains one decimetre. I guess she thinks it’s too short

[@jamon283]

As a Mexican who grew up with the metric system I always found it hard, basically because I’m bad at math, then I saw a video explaining the imperial system and now I’m really appreciating te metric system, and now I understand why converting to imperial is so freaking weird and illogical, as a kid I never understood why when converting to ponds was so hard and illogical in comparison to converting to any other thing, and that’s because imperial is illogical.

[@realulli]

As a German, I agree with you. The amount of useless conversion stuff USians have to remember... ridiculous! Maybe we should start calling them Imperialists... ;-)

[@Milesco]

Not to be overly picky, but it's the _U.S. Customary system,_ not Imperial. The Imperial system was established by Great Britain in 1824, by which time the United States had been a separate independent nation for almost half a century. So we just continued using the same old units that we had always been using. Most of the units are the same, *but not all.* For example, an Imperial gallon is 1.2 U.S. gallons, and an Imperial ton is 2240 pounds, while a U.S. ton is 2000 pounds even.

[@annando]

I grew up in a (nearly) total metric world. I guess the last reminiscence is that older people say "pound" when in fact they are talking about half a kilogram. Also we often say horsepower when talking about cars. But everything significant is metric. But since I'm watching many videos from the US (and since at one point I own an American car) I'm used to some of the imperial units as well. Although with Fahrenheit I only can remember that 100°F is around 37°C, the rest I really cannot remember. Concerning units: Several years ago I met with a guy from the states who visited Germany. He had a look at a gas station and said: "Wow, that's expensive for a gallon!". He really was destroyed when we told him that the price was for a litre ...

[@whitetiger5284]

@@Milesco "its a different system but its identical except for these slight changes" just sounds like the modern american thing of taking something they like and repackaging it to make it murrican.

[@Milesco]

@@whitetiger5284 : Except that's not the case at all. As I previously stated, the British Imperial system was established in 1824. By that time, the United States was a separate, independent nation, and had been for nearly half a century. 🇺🇸 So we just continued using the same old units that we had been using since colonial times. Nothing new, nothing repackaged. It was Great Britain that made some changes to the units, not us.

[@KanjiasDev]

I think this is a great explanation! Easy to understand! Saved it for when I have to explain things like this to people that have difficulties understanding those things!

[@WalterVermeir]

The algorithm somehow showed me this. Mid 2021 calling! - What a great teacher!

[@kev4ev]

How to make Americans metric: rename the metric system to the rebel system and they will prefer it over the imperial system.

[@peterc.1419]

Better yet, the FREEDOM SYSTEM.

[@Marc83Aus]

Sure. But on the other hand its french so....

[@AokijiTheIceWarrior]

@@Marc83Aus I mean, aren't the French the reason the US exists in the first place? Heck, their most famous monument, the Statue of Liberty, is a gift from the French

[@Marc83Aus]

@@AokijiTheIceWarrior There was a lot of revolution in those days. France pretty much went full authoritarian communism in the days before Napoleon took over, and then he continued with even more policies that would have made Stalin proud.

[@insanemokey1025]

@@Marc83Aus I mean yeah, but after Napoleon America already existed so doesn't make a connection.

[@TheGlennweldon]

I've been using metric for my home improvement projects for a while now. It is so much easier to use and more precise than imperial. However, the situation tends to get a bit tense at the Home Depot when I try to order 300 square meters of flooring.

[@Avatar2312]

Use 330 square yards and you have about 2 sqm spare :)

[@nhytg376tgyuu765gjmg]

Its very easy to convert between sqm and sq foot, -just take it times 10 for sqm to sq foot or take away one digit for sq foot to sqm. So 300 sqm is roughly 3000 sq foot.

[@IowaKim]

I think the word "precise" should be replaced with "easier". Precision implies exactness & accuracy, and Imperial has exact standards too.

[@CaliMeatWagon]

Precision isn't based on what system you are using. Precision is based on your measurement tools.

[@CaliMeatWagon]

@@IowaKim Glad I'm not the only one correcting people on this.

[@Verbalaesthet]

Great teacher. Of course I knew all this as someone from a metric system country but it was still fascinating to watch the explanation.

[@aakashdeepsingh871]

wow, only if back in school i had a physics teacher like him, always had interest in understanding the concepts but the whole rat race of Boards and clearing certain competetive exams in Indian schooling sucked me dry, maybe today would have been a physics researcher or something. always admire the physics people. happy for yt recommends sending it my way.

[@thechemguy1]

A huge compliment! I am sure I would have enjoyed having you in class.

The girl was like: "What is he talking about?"

[@robpiy91]

it seems to be just way too much about kilos and centis and millis for anyone to go through at once I mean, I grew up with the metric system but still I wouldn't find this kind of lecture enjoyable at all. just way too much information to get in such a short period of time

[@bonbonpony]

Yeah, the system might be nice, but the names for those orders of magnitude are wacky as F :q Then there's this stuff of figuring out what's the inverse of megahertz in seconds ;J

[@waharadome]

@@bonbonpony mega would be 10^6, doing the Hz=1/second conversion would give you 10^-6 (micro, μ), so 1MHz = 1 μs period. Knowing that can help you get away with calculating 3MHz for example, if you triple the frequency you divide the period by 3 bc it's an inverse, so 1μs /3 = 0.3333μs = 333.3ns

[@bonbonpony]

@@waharadome I know. I was just mentioning it as another quirk of the system that one should understand if one wants to use it. Definitely less quirky than the imperial system though.

[@unwokeneuropean3590]

@@bonbonpony its basic latin: mili, deci, centi...... Have you never wonder why they call them "centurions" ? Could you guess how many were they ?

[@davidwise1302]

Seven minutes to clearly explain the metric system and how length, volume, and mass are interrelated without even once having to use the chalkboard to do messy arithmetic. Try THAT with the US customary system (sibling of the Imperial system)! That one will be painful and a lot of students will be lost along the way.

[@callummclachlan4771]

Ugh. Bushell, that (insert nasty word/statement) measurement which is different if you're American or British. Among other reasons.

[@davidwise1302]

@@callummclachlan4771 That difference between US and UK bushels is mainly due to the US having inherited it from when we were colonies and then the UK created the Imperial system around 1824 which also changed other volume measurements like pints and gallons. On top of that, in the US system volume measurements (eg, bushel, gallon) are divided into dry and wet which are different from each other within the same system. John Quincy Adams' 1821 study of whether to switch the US to the then-new metric system remarked: "No one can easily forget his youthful attempts to memorize long and generally almost meaningless tables and to master the mysteries of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of 'compound numbers' . . . Conservative educators have estimated that the use of the metric system . . . would save one to two years of the school life of every child." One or two years to learn the one system versus seven minutes to learn the other. Tough choice.

[@manojo123]

I need a video like this to understand what the imperial system is based of.

[@thechemguy1]

Sure, but it will be at least an hour long, not 7 minutes.

[@manojo123]

@@thechemguy1 Thanks for the reply teacher! You inspired me with this video.

[@oliverpolden]

I travelled with Americans for a year and they constantly said temperatures in °F. Using °C all my life and knowing 0 is freezing and 100 is boiling, I couldn’t understand why you would use °F which isn’t based on everyday temperatures.

[@thechemguy1]

Agree!

[@jankohler562]

In their defence - when I was the age of those kids, I just looked at him the same way as they and I didn't understand the significance of this explanation. Now I am a scientist in electrical engineering with a PhD.

[@rigo6156]

Funny thing is even with all that you still don't understand.

[@bonbonpony]

@@rigo6156 That's because people don't understand by LISTENING - they understand by DOING and EXPERIENCING with their own senses.

[@treubuchet]

If it were not the recording, which would appear to have been the primary purpose of this, I am certain he would have then used questioning to measure (pun intended) learning had taken place.

[@jankohler562]

@@treubuchet So this could be seen as a condition of superposition, by the uncertainty of the testing situation. v(ツ)v

[@prolarka]

@@bonbonpony Depends on the matter, the personality and intelligence of the student.

[@davidgustavsson4000]

Celsius rhymes: 30's hot, 20's pleasing, 10 is not, 0's freezing.

[@Saintphoenix86]

Why in the hell do you need a rhyme for that, seriously 20 is room temp anything higher starts getting too hot for comfort anything lower starts getting too cold for comfort, rather simple

[@davidgustavsson4000]

@@Saintphoenix86 I don't need one. I just think it's cute that there is one.

[@Musou_Black]

@@Saintphoenix86 wasn't 22 the room temperature?

[@Saintphoenix86]

@@Musou_Black when i have climate control on 20/21 are perfect 22 starts getting too warm

[@timidb]

15 celsius is just perfect for me

[@Park501]

As an Australia that basically only knows the metric, did not know a lot of this, impressive video but for me, I always explain C as: 0C = freeing point of water and 100C = boiling point of water but as 0C does not = 100C, on the same cold to hot scale (you can touch ice fine, but not boiling water) for me I say 0C is roughly half as cold as 100C is hot, and you should think of temperature more on the 0C to 50C scale for weather on that 0-50C scale you basically have a prefect idea of how hot/cold it is, with the most comfortable whether being around 25C (the middle, give or take 5C for personal preference)

[@Abinash91]

If only the teachers in my school explained this beautifully and calmly !! They used to tell us to memorize it by the next day. If we forgot, we would get caned. Then, the next day, everyone was remembering it.

[@thechemguy1]

I don’t think I could get a job at your school🥲

[@Taudlitz]

to be fair metric is so simple and intuitive you should not need more than few minutes to understand it and then about and hour for all the prefixes and you are done.

[@___aZa___]

imagine having a Measurement system that is easy to understand and follows a very simple principle. but, no. ridiculous. who would want that?!

[@gerarduspoppel2831]

3 countries in the world!!

[@CaliMeatWagon]

You must struggle to tell time...

[@2toothsome]

living in america, i dont have to imagine

[@mucktown]

UK goes backwards too....so

[@RinkatsiTV]

@@gerarduspoppel2831 not just 3 countries. During my high school i need to suffer just to memorize those english system and not only that but to convert it again to metric

[@chibrezel8505]

I don't know why this was recommended to me in 2021, but I have to say: very well done! As a physics student from Germany I use the metric system A LOT, but no one has ever explained it so beautifully to us.

[@marcostenorio496]

Thank you Mr. Godfrey, very clear

[@aichujohnson8444]

That was entertaining. Thank you. However, it seems what is missing from students' mind is the feel for the metric system - the intuitive aspect of it. I switched my smartphone to Celsius in 2016. I would check the weather every day before going outside. After a year, I had a feel for what 16C or 25C feels like and I no longer needed to convert to F. At the same time, seeing these measures every day, I became "bi-metric". When someone says, "today will be 80 degrees" my mind automatically converts it to 27 without effort. When I speak to others, I relay that it is 23 outside by saying that it is 73. Being bi-metric is like being bilingual. Both scales are equally comfortable. I feel that this is what is missing in school - acquirement by intuition.

[@dans5967]

Great teacher. Makes me miss some of the good teachers I had myself.

[@thechemguy1]

Thanks!!

[@KroK013]

This is like watching someone explain how colors work by pointing out things of that color. "So, this blue thing that's high above us? The sky? That's blue. And this green stuff under our feet? The grass? That's green. And if we imagine mixing the blue and the green, we get blue-green. [THIS IS THE SAME AS GREEN-BLUE!] That's teal. Teal can be thought of as a mix of colors, blue and green."

[@wannabemybestfriend]

Oh man I hoped it ended with him saying let's try to do this on the imperial system now. And wait for this to just totally break down

[@graxxor]

This is insane. These are basically adults but he’s talking to them like we talk to our 6 year olds in Japan.

[@indraallian6371]

The best moment is in the end when he askes her "Do you have any questions?" and she answers "I dont have any questions" with the look of total relief on her face.

[@jorgejaime4325]

only thing she will remember after class: "mmm... kiloinches, kilomiles, centiounces ...."

[@f.herumusu8341]

Which would be not bad. The base is quite arbitrary, but the concept of using powers of ten is the big advantage.

[@annaplojharova1400]

@@f.herumusu8341 Not just an advantage, that is the main key part of it. The arbitrary meter/kilogram/... were chosen just so they somehow line up with some universal thing for all humans: The pole to equator distance is only one, the water is the same for all,... Not that "an inch is a thumb size... Wait, who's thumb?"

[@f.herumusu8341]

@@annaplojharova1400 Well it is a bit more complicated these days. The meter is defined in SI as a fraction of the distance the light travels in vacuum in one second. The speed of light is defined to be exactly 299792458 m/s. So the only thing to mesure is a second, which is 9.192.631.770 times the period length of the radiation emitted by a special atomic transistion.

[@tomf3150]

kiloAngström, picopc, femto-ua. And myriamiles (10000 miles)...

[@davidhobbs5679]

@@f.herumusu8341 actually 1 m is defined as the wave length of radiation emitted by a particular atomic isotope. None of the distances for base measurements in metric are arbitrary, they are based on physical definitions (see veratasium on the roundest object). Imperial is arbitrary , except for Fahrenheit which is based on bloods freezing and melting temperatures.

[@debsmcneil5513]

No idea why this was recommended to me since I already know of metric supremacy since I was born in a country that is sane.

[@constitution7167]

I've used the metric system my entire life but hearing this guy explain the entire system makes me think I've been taking it for granted my entire life. We don't deserve the metric system. It's too good for us.

[@baikia777]

"Room temperature is like now. 20 degrees". Where I'm from, room temperature is 30°C. I still can't forget how my pile of snacks had gone stale when i was a kid because it says to 'store at room temperature' on the label.

[@hullmees666]

mother of god. that is terrible :) it's too hot for me at 25.

[@thechemguy1]

Yikes!!

[@afoxwithahat7846]

It hardly goes below 25°C here un the winter, In my lovely tropical country

[@waynesivell1611]

We are at about 7 degrees now. My room is almost a fridge

[@AndersJackson]

@@afoxwithahat7846 poor you. I almost dies when it reaches 28. About 24 is good when not working.

[@TheMightyOdin]

It looks like the algorithm has found you Jay Godfrey.

[@thechemguy1]

It sure has! I am being inundated with comments.

[@JoSheeply]

@@thechemguy1 After 7 1/2 years. The student has finshed college already?! Btw. 1 Meter "is currently defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 of a second." Your definition is old, it was used between 1793 and 1799. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre?wprov=sfla1

[@daframo]

@@thechemguy1 You have been choosen

[@therealclart]

As a US citizen, the US needs to adopt the metric system. There is a reason why NASA, parts of the US military, and almost every major engineering player in the US uses it. It’s designed to be easier to use than Imperial. When getting into astronautical engineering I wish I had already known it.

[@SeArCh4DrEaMz]

we need more teachers like him, doesnt matter if u live in europe or the us, we just all do

[@thechemguy1]

Thank you very much!!!