The United States should use the
Metric system
The metric system is so much
simpler to use
The metric system is an improvement over the
English system in three major ways:
• One unit of measurement for each physical
quantity
• Used by most other countries
• Decimal system makes for easy conversion
One unit of measurement for each physical quantity
Length, area, volume, mass, force, pressure, energy, power and temperature
metric system
1.Length: meter
2.Area: square meter
3.Volume: cubic meter (liter)
4.Mass: gram (metric ton)
5.Force: newton
6.Pressure: pascal
7.Energy: joule
8.Power: watt
9.Temperature: kelvin (degrees
Celsius)
combined with none or one
of the following prefixes:
• micro, milli, centi, deci, deca,
hecto, kilo, mega
VS
English Imperial system
1. Length: inch, foot, yard, mile, fathom, rod, furlong, league, mil, pole, perch, hand, link, chain
2. Area: square inch, square foot, square yard, acre, square mile, township, square fathom, square
rod, square furlong, square league, square mil, square pole, square perch, square hand, square link,
square chain
3. Volume: gallon, liquid quart, dry quart, liquid pint, dry pint, fluid ounce, teaspoon, tablespoon, minim,
fluid dram, gill, peck, bushel, cubic inch, cubic foot, cubic yard, cubic fathom, cubic rod, cubic
furlong, cubic mile, cubic league, cubic mil, cubic pole, cubic perch, cubic hand, cubic link, cubic
chain
4. Mass: pound, apoth. pound, ounce, apoth. ounce, dram, apoth. dram, grain, spoth. scruple,
pennyweight, short hundredweight, long hundredweight, short ton, long ton
5. Force: pound, ton
6. Pressure: pounds per square inch, pounds per square foot, pounds per square yard, pounds per
acre, pounds per square mile, pounds per township, pounds per square fathom, pounds per square
rod, pounds per square furlong, pounds per square league, pounds per square mil, pounds per
square pole, pounds per square perch, pounds per square hand, pounds per square link, pounds
per square chain, tons per square inch, tons per square foot, tons per square yard, tons per acre,
tons per square mile, tons per township, tons per square fathom, tons per square rod, tons per
square furlong, tons per square league, tons per square mil, tons per square pole, tons per square
perch, tons per square hand, tons per square link, tons per square chain
7. Energy: calorie, inch-pound, foot-pound, yard-pound, mile-pound, fathom-pound, rod-pound,
furlong-pound, league-pound, mil-pound, pole-pound, perch-pound, hand-pound, link-pound, chainpound, inch-ton, foot-ton, yard-ton, mile-ton, fathom-ton, rod-ton, furlong-ton, league-ton, mil-ton,
pole-ton, perch-ton, hand-ton, link-ton, chain-ton
8. Power: horsepower, inch-pound per second, foot-pound per second, yard-pound per second, milepound per second, fathom-pound per second, rod-pound per second, furlong-pound per second,
league-pound per second, mil-pound per second, pole-pound per second, perch-pound per second,
hand-pound per second, link-pound per second, chain-pound per second, inch-ton per second, footton per second, yard-ton per second, mile-ton per second, fathom-ton per second, rod-ton per
second, furlong-ton per second, league-ton per second, mil-ton per second, pole-ton per second,
perch-ton per second, hand-ton per second, link-ton per second, chain-ton per second
9. Temperature: degrees Fahrenheit
The only three countries officially not using the metric
system are
Liberia, Myanmar and
United States of America
Prefixes form the basis for larger or
smaller units.
The units are named using these prefixes:
• Kilo = 1000
• Deci = 1/10
• Centi = 1/100
• Milli = 1/1,000
• Micro = 1/1,000,000
• Nano = 1/1,000,000,000