this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2026
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We joke, but the metric conversion act of 1975 means that most Americans are more familiar with metric than we care to admit. It’s on most everything. Mostly, it’s the professional class — engineers who don’t want to learn to visually estimate in liters/second rather than gallons/second — who have resisted switching over, rather than Joe and Jane American.
Well the US units are defined by their metric conversion these days, so technically you are just using metric with some weird factor slapped on.
So while the rest of the world uses meters with factors of 10, 1000, 1/100 etc., the US uses meters with factors like 3.280839895013123, 0.000621371192237, 39.37007874015748 etc.
Factors of 10 are overrated. Mebibtyes are objectively a better measure than megabytes.
Yes, because you are sticking with the base that matters for the value. Stuff on computer is binary, so base 2, so factors of 2. Other stuff we use the most common base, 10.
A meter is defined as 1/299,792,458 the distance light travels in one second, so everybody is using weird factors.
It used to be 1/40,000,000 of earths circumference
Except that’s not what “using metric” means
I'm convinced that the majority of whinging about metric in the US is actually coming from old machine operators tucked away somewhere in the industrial sector who don't want to give up their old decimal inch Bridgeports and Shipleys, or have bosses who wouldn't buy them new machines anyway. Everything else stems from there, bubbling on up through the pipes as it does.
As an engineer, I'd rather use the metric system. Is it harder for me to visualize since I didn't grow up with it? Yes, but its so much easier to work with.
How hard is it to get your American colleagues to use metric as well?
Huh? In my electical engineering studies almost everything is in metric. Are you thinking of certain holdover generations?
Yep. Old hands in the field, not students in the academy.
I'm a civil engineer in the US, and can confirm that my industry uses US Customary units. I have some mechanical engineer friends, and most also use US Customary units, with certain exceptions. While in school, the intro classes I took used metric more often than not because it allowed for easier understanding of the source material. By the 3rd year, classes started employing more examples and problems in US Customary units. By year 4, it was almost exclusively US Customary units.
Forgive my lack of understanding here, but for electrical engineering, what are the alternatives to metric units? I know BTUs can be used instead of Joules, hp can be used instead of Watts, and AWG can be used instead of... Whatever the metric measurement is. BTUs and hp seem to be mainly used for specific industries and consumer products (let's be honest nobody likes them anyway). AWG is used because that's the standard that commonly available wires in the US are measured to.
Temperature and length are obvious. More specifically, I am thinking of volts, amps, and ohms (my understanding caps out at what I learned in my physics classes).
I don't believe there are any (unless you count length and mass measurements for physical component layouts). Perhaps it's a byproduct of the field having international standardization for units from the outset.
I think you're right about the international standardization. Also, I think another important factor is that the average American has a concept of how long a foot is, how hot 70°F is, how much a pound weighs, etc. These are easily to visualize because these measurements are used in everyday life outside of engineering applications. Most people don't have a concept of the units we use to measure the invisible magic force in our walls.
My son's homework is frequently in metric (a US school district). Many drinks (wine and sodas) and medicine doses are too. The US uses metric just as the UK still uses miles and pints.
Yeah. You hear a lot more UK commentators call it the 18 yard box than the 16 meter box.