# Measurments that are the same in Imperial and Metric **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500 "2014-12-06T15:27:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/21 "2014-12-08T22:54:19Z")
In both metric and standard, the **second** and the **hour** are the same, and it takes 3,600 seconds to make one hour. When you figure “feet per second” and then convert to “meters per second”, the second is still the same. When you figure “kilometers per hour” and convert to “miles per hour”, the hour is the same. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/22 "2014-12-08T23:06:35Z")
Electrical power is always (I think) measured in watts, which is 1 joule per second. However, engines are usually measured in horsepower in America. I’m not sure what the rest of the world does. Energy is rarely expressed in terms of joules in America. Normally it’s calories (or Calories) or kilowatt-hours depending on the context. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/23 "2014-12-08T23:07:23Z")
Ah. Are there any compound units that work out close to each other? 1 Newton-Metre is about 0.75 Foot-Pound. Are there any that are closely similar? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/24 "2014-12-08T23:32:39Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > In both metric and standard, the **second** and the **hour** are the same, and it takes 3,600 seconds to make one hour. When you figure “feet per second” and then convert to “meters per second”, the second is still the same. When you figure “kilometers per hour” and convert to “miles per hour”, the hour is the same. Right. You will sometimes hear someone suggesting that we should use “metric time” meaning some new scale that is probably based on multiples of ten. They are assuming that the multiples of ten characteristic is inherent in any metric scale. It isn’t. We already use metric time - seconds and accepted multiples of it in everyday life. The second is a true metric unit with an extremely precise definition (the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom) and even Americans use the metric terms for its subunits like millisecond. Minutes, hours and days are not official metric units in the truest sense but they are the almost universally accepted terms used to represent multiples of a second. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/25 "2014-12-08T23:36:06Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Energy is rarely expressed in terms of joules in America. Normally it’s calories (or Calories) or kilowatt-hours depending on the context. Or BTU, or foot-pound. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/26 "2014-12-09T00:36:28Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Ah. Are there any compound units that work out close to each other? 1 Newton-Metre is about 0.75 Foot-Pound. Are there any that are closely similar? 1 centimeter / minute is 1.002 furlongs / fortnight. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/27 "2014-12-09T01:23:58Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > 1 centimeter / minute is 1.002 furlongs / fortnight. Damn, the old Brits were extremely close to being completely right all along! I am going to start using furlongs per fortnight in my everyday speech and I dare anyone to prove me wrong with a common instrument. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/28 "2014-12-09T03:18:54Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Damn, the old Brits were extremely close to being completely right all along! I am going to start using furlongs per fortnight in my everyday speech and I dare anyone to prove me wrong with a common instrument. 1 foot is also pretty close to one nano lightsecond, when it comes time to list my house I am thinking it’s area will be XXXXX square nano lightseconds. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/29 "2014-12-09T18:56:58Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The OP could be a Briton, in which case they probably do mean Imperial. At any rate, the only difference between Imperial and US Customary units is in volume measurements. I thought only the brits used that 14 lb= 1 stone, 8 stone = 1 hundredweight thing? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/30 "2014-12-10T00:35:57Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > I thought only the brits used that 14 lb= 1 stone, 8 stone = 1 hundredweight thing? Well, yeah, but I was trying not to embarass them by pointing out the flaw in their system (psst: a hundredweight should weigh 100 lbs, not 112). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/31 "2014-12-10T00:48:33Z")
And a mile should be a thousand yards, not 1,762. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/32 "2014-12-10T03:04:53Z")
1760, not 1762. And it should actually be 2000, since the “pace” was two steps (i.e., from left footprint to left footprint). ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/33 "2014-12-10T03:43:55Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Electrical power is always (I think) measured in watts, which is 1 joule per second. However, engines are usually measured in horsepower in America. I’m not sure what the rest of the world does. > . I still use horsepower just I like I still say I am 6’2" but in Australia we use kilowatts for car power. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/34 "2014-12-10T04:11:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 1760, not 1762. And it should actually be 2000, since the “pace” was two steps (i.e., from left footprint to left footprint). The mile originated with the Roman legions, where it was 1000 double paces during daily marches. Romans tended to be shorter than today’s people and soldiers marching long distances carrying a load tend to take short steps than otherwise. So the mile was originally something around 5000 ft . But there’s been more than one definition of the mile over the course of history. They finally standardized on one that was an even mulitple of the furlong. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/35 "2014-12-10T06:16:30Z")
1 John Conner = 0.65 Eddie Furlongs. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500/36 "2014-12-10T09:54:21Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Electrical power is always (I think) measured in watts, which is 1 joule per second. However, engines are usually measured in horsepower in America. I’m not sure what the rest of the world does. > > Energy is rarely expressed in terms of joules in America. Normally it’s calories (or Calories) or kilowatt-hours depending on the context. Engine information for cars in Europe (except for the UK and any country which is also an exception) uses watts for engine power. Food labels include both joules and kcal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measurments-that-are-the-same-in-imperial-and-metric/706500.md?page=1)