Metrication

[kalvado]

I basically unfollowed a Canadian Facebook friend years ago after she brusquely replied "Use metric" when I quoted measurements in Fahrenheit.

I would probably respond to such a request by quoting measurements in kilocelsius or joules or something else discernably metric but altogether unhelpful.

Room temperature is 26 milielectonvolts.
I actually use that pretty often.
It's off-standard, but definitely within the range of what is actually used in research.

[US 89]

I basically unfollowed a Canadian Facebook friend years ago after she brusquely replied "Use metric" when I quoted measurements in Fahrenheit.

I would probably respond to such a request by quoting measurements in kilocelsius or joules or something else discernably metric but altogether unhelpful.

Room temperature is 26 milielectonvolts.
I actually use that pretty often.
It's off-standard, but definitely within the range of what is actually used in research.

So you just carry around the Boltzmann constant in your head?

[J N Winkler]

I basically unfollowed a Canadian Facebook friend years ago after she brusquely replied "Use metric" when I quoted measurements in Fahrenheit.

I would probably respond to such a request by quoting measurements in kilocelsius or joules or something else discernably metric but altogether unhelpful.

I toyed with several variations of a more pointed reply, but eventually felt a soft fade-away was best given the context and my history with this person.  I feel that was the right decision.  Just now I looked at her Facebook page, which had a post in which she called out a couple of SUVs hiding her mother's car in a supermarket parking lot, and essentially SUV-shamed a commenter who tried to explain why she and her husband had rented a seven-passenger vehicle when travelling in Europe.  While I don't particularly care for SUVs myself, I don't need the negative energy those sorts of posts generate in my life.

[CtrlAltDel]

Room temperature is 26 milielectonvolts.

Just out of idle curiosity, how does the dimensional analysis work out there?

[algorerhythms]

I basically unfollowed a Canadian Facebook friend years ago after she brusquely replied "Use metric" when I quoted measurements in Fahrenheit.

I would probably respond to such a request by quoting measurements in kilocelsius or joules or something else discernably metric but altogether unhelpful.

That's kiloKelvin, not kiloCelsius. And I measure things in microKelvin all the time.

[freebrickproductions]

I remember sometime within the past few years, one of the local news stations, WHNT 19, gave the local forecast in both °F and °C on April Fools Day.

As a side note, if there's one advantage Celsius has, it's a lot easier to spell than Fahrenheit!

[US 89]

This has to be the best unit-related April Fools:

https://twitter.com/NWS/status/1509910963633459204

[Big John]

I remember sometime within the past few years, one of the local news stations, WHNT 19, gave the local forecast in both °F and °C on April Fools Day.

As a side note, if there's one advantage Celsius has, it's a lot easier to spell than Fahrenheit!

In the 1980s, local TV stations regularly gave weather forecasts in both units.

[Rothman]

I remember sometime within the past few years, one of the local news stations, WHNT 19, gave the local forecast in both °F and °C on April Fools Day.

As a side note, if there's one advantage Celsius has, it's a lot easier to spell than Fahrenheit!

In the 1980s, local TV stations regularly gave weather forecasts in both units.

Depended on the locality.

[kalvado]

Room temperature is 26 milielectonvolts.

Just out of idle curiosity, how does the dimensional analysis work out there?

strictly speaking, that is k_BT/e =  0.026 eV
But if you have something like exp(-qV/k_BT), it actually works even better than straight temperature.

So you just carry around the Boltzmann constant in your head?

Nope, it's already folded into the value above as you can see

[1995hoo]

In all seriousness, do any stations located along the Canadian border use dual units in their forecasts as a favor to viewers in Canada? Those are the few instances I could see where a reasonable number of viewers (as opposed to the occasional oddball) would request the use of metric units.

[Poiponen13]

This has to be the best unit-related April Fools:

https://twitter.com/NWS/status/1509910963633459204

It would be nice if some countries and services used Kelvin. I often convert recorded Celsius values to Kelvin in my calculator, and I like when some sites and services have Kelvin as unit display option. There should be more such sites.

[kalvado]

This has to be the best unit-related April Fools:

It would be nice if some countries and services used Kelvin. I often convert recorded Celsius values to Kelvin in my calculator, and I like when some sites and services have Kelvin as unit display option. There should be more such sites.

Calculator for C->K conversion? What's next, printed directions to the restroom?  Manual for a tablespoon?

[Poiponen13]

This has to be the best unit-related April Fools:

It would be nice if some countries and services used Kelvin. I often convert recorded Celsius values to Kelvin in my calculator, and I like when some sites and services have Kelvin as unit display option. There should be more such sites.

Calculator for C->K conversion? What's next, printed directions to the restroom?  Manual for a tablespoon?

I first have a Celsius value, then add 273, and have Kelvin value. That's it.

[Brandon]

This has to be the best unit-related April Fools:

It would be nice if some countries and services used Kelvin. I often convert recorded Celsius values to Kelvin in my calculator, and I like when some sites and services have Kelvin as unit display option. There should be more such sites.

Calculator for C->K conversion? What's next, printed directions to the restroom?  Manual for a tablespoon?

I first have a Celsius value, then add 273, and have Kelvin value. That's it.

You see, there's this new-fangled invention called a pencil and paper.  Write your temperature in Celsius on it, place "273" below it, add the two together.  It works even when the power is out.

[kalvado]

This has to be the best unit-related April Fools:

It would be nice if some countries and services used Kelvin. I often convert recorded Celsius values to Kelvin in my calculator, and I like when some sites and services have Kelvin as unit display option. There should be more such sites.

Calculator for C->K conversion? What's next, printed directions to the restroom?  Manual for a tablespoon?

I first have a Celsius value, then add 273, and have Kelvin value. That's it.

Yep, and if you need a calculator for that - you may also benefit from this  wall sign in the restroom

[Big John]

This has to be the best unit-related April Fools:

It would be nice if some countries and services used Kelvin. I often convert recorded Celsius values to Kelvin in my calculator, and I like when some sites and services have Kelvin as unit display option. There should be more such sites.

Calculator for C->K conversion? What's next, printed directions to the restroom?  Manual for a tablespoon?

I first have a Celsius value, then add 273, and have Kelvin value. That's it.

You see, there's this new-fangled invention called a pencil and paper.  Write your temperature in Celsius on it, place "273" below it, add the two together.  It works even when the power is out.

I can do that in my head.  Drives the math teachers crazy.

[mgk920]

Well, at least you can't have a negative thought in your head when doing temperatures in kelvins.

Mike

[MikeTheActuary]

I remember sometime within the past few years, one of the local news stations, WHNT 19, gave the local forecast in both °F and °C on April Fools Day.

I spent Christmas with my wife's family in southeastern Alabama last year.    I brought winter temperatures with me -- there was no place for me at my inn...er hotel Christmas Eve because a major pipe had burst the night before and they couldn't get it repaired.

Just prior to heading south, I had been in Montréal, where I had set my cell phone's weather app to display temperatures and weather forecasts in Celsius, and I hadn't yet bothered to change it back.

So, when I showed the weather forecast to my mother-in-law, and she saw a forecast low temperature of -5....

[1995hoo]

I remember sometime within the past few years, one of the local news stations, WHNT 19, gave the local forecast in both °F and °C on April Fools Day.

I spent Christmas with my wife's family in southeastern Alabama last year.    I brought winter temperatures with me -- there was no place for me at my inn...er hotel Christmas Eve because a major pipe had burst the night before and they couldn't get it repaired.

Just prior to heading south, I had been in Montréal, where I had set my cell phone's weather app to display temperatures and weather forecasts in Celsius, and I hadn't yet bothered to change it back.

So, when I showed the weather forecast to my mother-in-law, and she saw a forecast low temperature of -5....

Sounds like how my father's mother once freaked out when she saw a picture of us waiting on line for the ferry from New Brunswick to PEI stopped under a speed limit sign that said "MAXIMUM 90."

[Poiponen13]

What are things where Canada still uses imperial? Those things should be converted to metric there, and US should also fully metricate.

[hotdogPi]

What are things where Canada still uses imperial? Those things should be converted to metric there, and US should also fully metricate.

I was in Quebec City in 2019, and only two things used the US measurement system: picture frame sizes (which were labeled in inches) and "355 mL" cans where the number was clearly chosen because it was 12 fl oz.

I can't speak for English-speaking Canada.

[kalvado]

What are things where Canada still uses imperial? Those things should be converted to metric there, and US should also fully metricate.

I was in Quebec City in 2019, and only two things used the US measurement system: picture frame sizes (which were labeled in inches) and "355 mL" cans where the number was clearly chosen because it was 12 fl oz.

I can't speak for English-speaking Canada.

https://www.loblaws.ca/print-flyer?navid=flyout-L2-Flyer
A sales flyer for a big grocery chain. Prices for things sold by weight are in $/lb, with $/kg in small print.  Seen that in Montreal as well.

[algorerhythms]

What are things where Canada still uses imperial? Those things should be converted to metric there, and US should also fully metricate.

I was in Quebec City in 2019, and only two things used the US measurement system: picture frame sizes (which were labeled in inches) and "355 mL" cans where the number was clearly chosen because it was 12 fl oz.

I can't speak for English-speaking Canada.

https://www.loblaws.ca/print-flyer?navid=flyout-L2-Flyer
A sales flyer for a big grocery chain. Prices for things sold by weight are in $/lb, with $/kg in small print.  Seen that in Montreal as well.

It varies. The stores near me will quote prices in $/kg when prices are low, and $/lb when they are high.

[TXtoNJ]

What are things where Canada still uses imperial? Those things should be converted to metric there, and US should also fully metricate.

Nothing is officially imperial, but people still use imperial units informally for personal information and things that relate to the home. Cooking temperatures are still in Fahrenheit universally, though you still measure water temperature in Celsius. Beyond that, it's almost entirely metric.