# Metric !!!! System **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729 "2003-08-26T13:07:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wonder\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@Wonder\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonder_Woman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/1 "2003-08-26T13:07:43Z")
Does anyone know how much 130kilos means in pounds ? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/2 "2003-08-26T13:09:19Z")
130 kilos \* 2.2 pounds/kilo = 260 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Donut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@Donut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donut)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/3 "2003-08-26T13:30:30Z")
130 \* 2.2 = 286 ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/4 "2003-08-26T13:30:37Z")
For your future reference: [onlineconversion.com](http://www.onlineconversion.com/) ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/5 "2003-08-26T13:31:28Z")
130\*2.2=286 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/6 "2003-08-26T13:32:34Z")
Intriguing mathematics there. 130 Kilograms equals 286.601 Pounds [http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/conversions.html](http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/conversions.html) is a good tool to use for all your conversions. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/7 "2003-08-26T13:38:18Z")
Why the exclamation marks, by the way? Most of the world uses the metric system, it’s not such a terrible thing. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/8 "2003-08-26T13:52:02Z")
It should be pointed out that Kilograms are a unit of **mass** and Pounds are properly a unit of **force**. The 2.2 conversion is only appropriate in a 1g enviroment. (A kilogram on the moon still has the same mass, but the weight {force} is going to be less.) Just to make the lives of dynamics students difficult, Pounds are sometimes used as a unit of mass. Somes called “pounds mass” or I think “poundels”. Forget all the factor of 10 stuff, the real strength of the metric system is that you can figure out when the wors problem is referring to mass, and when it is referring to force (IMHO). Brian (The “proper” unit if mass is the slug, but isn’t used much) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/9 "2003-08-26T13:59:04Z")
Also, you can use google for unit conversions. just enter “130 kilograms in pounds” and hist search [http://dustgun.homeip.net/weird\_stuff/google\_convert.txt](http://dustgun.homeip.net/weird_stuff/google_convert.txt) you can even do “speed of light in furlongs per fortnight” 🆒 Brian ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/10 "2003-08-26T15:39:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by N9IWP \* > \*\*Just to make the lives of dynamics students difficult, Pounds are sometimes used as a unit of mass. Somes called “pounds mass” or I think “poundels”. > > … > > (The “proper” unit if mass is the slug, but isn’t used much) \*\* I don’t know about “dynamics students”, but we Engineers use “lbm” and “lbf” (pound mass and pound force, respectively) every day. The only slugs I’ve seen in the last 5 years were on my parsnips. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/11 "2003-08-26T15:51:37Z")
> [@](#): > > It should be pointed out that Kilograms are a unit of mass and Pounds are properly a unit of force. Can’t we just be boring and pretend that 99.9999% of people use them for weighing things? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/12 "2003-08-26T15:57:13Z")
Ewwww! You grow parsnips? Never thought I would feel sorry for slugs. Tris ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/13 "2003-08-26T16:26:29Z")
Since the OP’s question was answered by the first poster to come along, is it now permissable to hijack this thread for a head-to-head between engineers and dynamics students (who they) on the relative merits of “vegetables-that-you-were-forced-to-eat-as-a-kid?” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/14 "2003-08-26T16:56:02Z")
Arg! My finger slipped on the calculator. Of course 130 kilos=286 pounds. Sheesh! ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/15 "2003-08-26T17:02:03Z")
I am an Engineer (or at least my degree is in Engineering), but an electrical one–in general we didn’t care what resistors massed or wieghed. But we were required to take Statics, Dynamics, and Thermodynamics.\* I distinctly remeber being happy when dynamics problems were metric because the non-metric ones were not always clear about pounds being lbf or lbm, you had to figure out by context (I think sometimes it was labeled). I honestly don’t remeber if slugs were used in problems or not, but the term was definitely mentioned. Brian \*I think you could take “mechanics of materials” instead of thermo, and there may have been other options. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/16 "2003-08-26T17:37:42Z")
Fair enough, but do you like parsnips? (:)) ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/17 "2003-08-26T18:23:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by trabi \* > \*\*Why the exclamation marks, by the way? Most of the world uses the metric system, it’s not such a terrible thing. 😉 \*\* They probably just escaped from the ‘English Weight in Stones’ thread. ---
**Author:** ![Boobka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Boobka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boobka)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/18 "2003-08-26T18:44:47Z")
[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=130+kilos+to+pounds](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=130+kilos+to+pounds) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/19 "2003-08-26T19:10:30Z")
> [@](#): > > It should be pointed out that Kilograms are a unit of mass and Pounds are properly a unit of force. The 2.2 conversion is only appropriate in a 1g enviroment. (A kilogram on the moon still has the same mass, but the weight {force} is going to be less.) > > Just to make the lives of dynamics students difficult, Pounds are sometimes used as a unit of mass. Somes called “pounds mass” or I think “poundels”. Forget all the factor of 10 stuff, the real strength of the metric system is that you can figure out when the wors problem is referring to mass, and when it is referring to force (IMHO). > > Brian > > (The “proper” unit if mass is the slug, but isn’t used much) I always thought “pounds mass” was what would happen should I end up in prison. But I think it’s more properly “pounds m’ass”, and the perpetrators would be referred to as “poundels”. A great rock group would be “Wors Problem and The Poundels”, come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729/20 "2003-08-26T19:33:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by N9IWP \* > \*_I am an Engineer (or at least my degree is in Engineering), but an electrical one–in general we didn’t care what resistors massed or wieghed. But we were required to take Statics, Dynamics, and Thermodynamics._ \*\* Ah, makes sense now. Thanks! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Triskadecamus \* > \*\*Ewwww! You grow parsnips? > > Never thought I would feel sorry for slugs.\*\* I love them fried in the oven (like Fierra’s Mum did for me in Devonshire), but not boiled. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metric-system/197729.md?page=2)