# Whats the deal in USA with 1 litre soda pop, is USA on metric? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825 "2002-08-21T01:23:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/81 "2017-07-29T03:48:13Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I know this part is from the ancient zombie section, but it’s so cute I just had to quote it! > > Apparently humans are born with an “instinctive” understanding of how far a mile is, built in to our DNA. Say “mile” to a newborn baby, and it will stare at you in instinctive comprehension (if you say it in just the right way it will giggle). Whereas those confusing Europeans and everybody else has to scratch their heads and memorize math stuff to figure out things like how many meters there are in a kilometer. 😃 I am not saying that is even remotely true, but oh the irony…unless you are saying the UK isn’t in Europe [![](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/BHTJPB/warning-road-traffic-sign-badgers-for-3-miles-usk-wales-uk-BHTJPB.jpg) ](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/BHTJPB/warning-road-traffic-sign-badgers-for-3-miles-usk-wales-uk-BHTJPB.jpg) 🙂 ---
**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:** [July 29, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/82 "2017-07-29T03:48:58Z")
Of course humans haven’t always used base 10 place value. Who said that we did? What I said was that we’ve always had to round to a finite number of decimal places. > [@](#): > > But lets be clear, in base 10, division and loss of precision is a 40% chance, with 1 irrational (7) and three repeating (3,6,9). Compare this to Dozenal that has a 25% chance (7,9,11). but that is a whole other ball of wax. What in the world are you talking about here? The result of every calculation is always rounded, because the numbers you plugged into the calculation in the first place is also rounded. And since when is 1/7 irrational? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/83 "2017-07-29T04:09:06Z")
Am I _required_ as a grocer to label items such as 1l bottles of beverages and 250g blocks of butter in non-metric units in the USA? What about in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/84 "2017-07-29T04:11:10Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Am I _required_ as a grocer to label items such as 1l bottles of beverages and 250g blocks of butter in non-metric units in the USA? What about in the UK? The bottles are labeled by the manufacturer, not the grocer. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/85 "2017-07-29T04:15:24Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > I am not saying that is even remotely true, but oh the irony…unless you are saying the UK isn’t in Europe > > [http://c8.alamy.com/comp/BHTJPB/warning-road-traffic-sign-badgers-for-3-miles-usk-wales-uk-BHTJPB.jpg](http://c8.alamy.com/comp/BHTJPB/warning-road-traffic-sign-badgers-for-3-miles-usk-wales-uk-BHTJPB.jpg) > > 🙂 No irony. Many countries continue to use mixed systems, with imperial measures commonplace for some purposes – for instance, where I live Fahrenheit oven temperatures for cooking are routine alongside Celsius for weather and everything else, and both coexist in weight and volume measures for food pricing and recipes, although the metric quantities are the official legal ones. The point is that it’s very unusual to not have codified metric as a national standard even if there are exceptions: Since 2006, three countries formally do not use the metric system as their main standard of measurement: the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia. In the United Kingdom metric is the official system for most regulated trading by weight or measure purposes, but some imperial units remain the primary official unit of measurement. For example, miles, yards, and feet remain the official units for road signage – and use of imperial units is widespread. The Imperial pint also remains a permitted unit for milk in returnable bottles and for draught beer and cider in British pubs. > **[Metrication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication)** > > Metrication or metrification is the act or process of converting to the metric system of measurement. All over the world, countries have transitioned from local and traditional units of measurement to the metric system. This process began in France during the 1790s, and has persistently advanced over two centuries, accumulating into 95% of the world officially only using the modern metric system. Nonetheless, this also highlights that certain countries and sectors are either still transitio Th... ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/86 "2017-07-29T04:21:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course humans haven’t always used base 10 place value. Who said that we did? What I said was that we’ve always had to round to a finite number of decimal places. > > What in the world are you talking about here? The result of every calculation is always rounded, because the numbers you plugged into the calculation in the first place is also rounded. And since when is 1/7 irrational? 10/7 So what you are arguing is that integers are _rounded_? Once again I will ask for a cite on that one. But also note how your response ignored the fact I was talking about **cumulative** error. That **cumulative** error by forcing decimalization is very real. 1/3 == 1/3 1/3 !== 0.3 exactly So lets say I want to divide up the IPK into three parts Do I need a scale that accurately reads out to 0.333333333 or I find three pieces that all weigh the same amount as the other two yet together weigh the same as the IPK? Once again, this is not an argument that the customary units are better in all cases, it is an argument that the metric system is far from perfect, and may be unsuitable for some use cases. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/87 "2017-07-29T04:26:11Z")
> [@Alphagene](#): > > Other metric units used commonly by us Yanks include \*\* hertz, calories, watts, volts, amps and ohms\*\*. The last three have no Imperial equivalents, AFAIK. Which is to say, they are imperial units which have metric equivilants. > [@Alphagene](#): > > You’ll also hear a lot of metric when dealing with biomedical stuff, like a 10cc injection of epinephrine. This is basically because the Imperial system is completely useless when it comes to describing the length, weight and volume of really tiny things. The diameter of a DNA double helix is .00000007 inches? Pfft. It’s 2 nm. The imperial unit is Angstrom. The original description of DNA was 20 AU. But if you were working in some other field, the unit would be micro inch: DNA diametr is 0.1 uin. [ > [@Alphagene](#): > > That being said, I don’t believe forcing the system on Americans will win it any fans. The fact that it is an inherently superior (IMHO) and more intuitive system combined with the necessity of using it just so we can interact with the rest of the world for commercial purposes will whittle away the last vesitiges of the Imperial system. The French rationalised their measurenment systems to a French system, which Napoleon popularized. The English rationalized their measurement systems to an Imperial system, which their trade empire puplarized. Other countries have chosen to allign themselves with one or the other over the years. In the second half of the 20th centrurey, England turned their back to their traditional trading partners and choose closer union with the French and Germans. It would be naive to believe that any kind of international standard had anything to do with what is “intuitive”: one of the main purposes of standards is to lock out competing suppliers. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/88 "2017-07-29T04:48:21Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No irony. Many countries continue to use mixed systems, with imperial measures commonplace for some purposes – for instance, where I live Fahrenheit oven temperatures for cooking are routine alongside Celsius for weather and everything else, and both coexist in weight and volume measures for food pricing and recipes, although the metric quantities are the official legal ones. The point is that it’s very unusual to not have codified metric as a national standard even if there are exceptions: > Since 2006, three countries formally do not use the metric system as their main standard of measurement: the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia. In the United Kingdom metric is the official system for most regulated trading by weight or measure purposes, but some imperial units remain the primary official unit of measurement. For example, miles, yards, and feet remain the official units for road signage – and use of imperial units is widespread. The Imperial pint also remains a permitted unit for milk in returnable bottles and for draught beer and cider in British pubs. > [Metrication - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication) “main standard” is open to interpretation there. As I noted above all US customary units are directly defined off of the SI units and have been so for a long time. The above claim seems to be sophistry if like in the UK: > [@](#): > > Distance signs are specified with miles or yards as the only allowable units. Vehicle height, width, and length limit signs are required to use feet and inches, with equivalent dimensions in metres, typically to one decimal place, allowed as optional secondary information. It seems to be an arbitrary cutoff in a scale of Metrication. > [@](#): > > The yard is defined1 as follows: > 1 yard = 0.914 4 meter, and > 1 inch = 25.4 millimeters exactly. > [@](#): > > The avoirdupois pound is defined in terms of the kilogram by the relation: > 1 avoirdupois pound = 0.453 592 37 kilogram. What is the cutoff? Federal Register, Vol. 56, No. 23, page 160, January 2, 1991 > [@](#): > > SUMMARY: 15 CFR part 19 subpart B sets > out Federal Government policy on the > voluntary use of the metric system of > measurement by agencies, industry and > the public. In conformance with the > Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness > Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-418, section > 5164), we are revising that subpart to > remove the voluntary aspect of metric > transition for Federal agencies. The > amended subpart B provides policy > direction to assist Federal agencies in > their transition to use of the metric > system of measurement. > EFFECTIVE DATE: February 1, 1991 > **[fr056001.pdf](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/fedreg/fr056/fr056001/fr056001.pdf)** > > 13.46 MB I have searched for clarification on what the “official” bar is in this claim, but it seems to be escaping my searches. So if you can provide a cite on what that bar is it would be appreciated. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/89 "2017-07-29T12:43:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **rat avatar** : > > So what you are arguing is that integers are rounded? Once again I will ask for a cite on that one. Where in the world are you finding integers? When can you ever possibly know that you have an integer number of units of anything? The _only_ place that’ll ever happen is that you know that the mass of one particular lump of platinum-iridium alloy in Paris is exactly integer 1 kilograms. And if I ever, for some reason, have need to refer to exactly one third of that mass, I’ll say “one third of a kilogram”. There, 100% metric and no rounding whatsoever. In the real world if I’m measuring flour or something, and the recipe calls for 1 kg but I’m dividing the recipe by 3, then I’ll use 333 grams of flour, which will be perfectly fine, because I never knew that original kilogram to one-gram precision anyway. And if I’m doing some more sophisticated chemistry experiment where I need more precision, then I’ll get out my analytical balance and measure out 333333333 micrograms. And if I need infinite precision, then I’m screwed no matter what system of units I’m using, because it’s impossible to measure anything to infinite precision in any system of units. The difference here isn’t that the American system lets you measure 1/3 of something precisely, because it doesn’t. The difference is that the American system lets you pretend that you can measure 1/3 of something even when you can’t, and pretending you can do something when you can’t is going to get you into a lot of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/90 "2017-07-29T13:26:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, **Flyer** , since you claim to understand the American system: Suppose you have a fish tank, that’s 18 inches wide, 48 inches long, and 24 inches tall. How many gallons will it hold? Can you figure it out even with a calculator? Because given the equivalent metric problem, I can do it in my head. > > I’ve got a recipe that calls for a tablespoon of something. But that recipe is for three servings, and I’m making it for 50. I don’t want to measure out sixteen tablespoons; that’s obviously a better job for a measuring cup. So, how many cups do I need? > > If I tell you the torque of an engine in foot-pounds and its RPM, can you tell me its horsepower? Because if you tell me the torque in newton-meters and the rotation speed in radians per second, I can easily tell you the wattage. The one time per decade that I actually needed and/or wanted to know any of that stuff, it would be quite easy to pull out my calculator. I find it telling that you have to resort to such obscure examples in order to try to invalidate traditional measurements. > [@Chronos](#): > > That’s easy, 1/3 kg, 1/8 kg, and 1/16 kg, and why am I looking on my measuring cup instead of on my scale? That’s your problem right there. The people who think that metric is such a good system have a fundamentally warped view of measurements in general. You had to come up with a whole new way of measuring ingredients in order to make the metric system work. (And no, I am not joking.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/91 "2017-07-29T13:45:58Z")
The cooking one is actually easy. One cup is sixteen tablespoons. Anyone who does a lot of cooking should know that. The rest? Forget it. I agree that metric is an easier approach to measurements for most things. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/92 "2017-07-29T14:51:30Z")
The idea of measuring ingredients by weight rather than volume is completely independent of the question of metric vs. American (it just so coincidentally happens that America is the only major holdout on volume for dry ingredients, too). I only mentioned a scale because you asked about kilograms of flour. If you had asked for liters of flour instead, then a measuring cup would be the appropriate tool to use, and the answer would have been the same: The amount needed would be 1/3 liter, 1/8 liter, or 1/16 liter. > [@](#): > > Quoth **pulykamell** : > > The cooking one is actually easy. One cup is sixteen tablespoons. Anyone who does a lot of cooking should know that. Should, maybe, but how many actually do? I’d wager that most don’t, especially among the subset of the population who claim to not understand metric. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/93 "2017-07-29T15:42:07Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Using a calculator, it’s 89.8 US gallons. I suppose I could have done it in my head, but dividing by 231 would be a bit of a bother … [snip] I converted inches into feet then divided by 7.2 and came up with 90 gallons in my head … but this is a type of problem I do on a regular basis … as in how many 35-gallon barrels makes up 3/4 yd[sup]3[/sup] … > [@Chronos](#): > > [snip] … Should, maybe, but how many actually do? I’d wager that most don’t, especially among the subset of the population who claim to not understand metric. Maybe you’d be surprised … you’ve used an extreme example, 1 tablespoon for a fifty fold batch … similarly we can present an equally difficult problem in metric, 225 ml for a batch 37-1/4 fold … I remember the effort here in the US to convert to metric … for many older folks the problem was the conversion factors … how many ml’s for 3-5/8 cups … how many metric shingles to cover a 16 by 12 foot roof … how many kilometers across 7 sections … How many feet per second to land a probe on Mars … Tradition is strong … to this very day, SI uses 60 seconds to a minute … the same as in the very first written records humans created … the only people who don’t use this standard is UNIX-weenies … I’m not saying this is right or wrong, just that it is … ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/94 "2017-07-29T16:05:21Z")
Decimal time never caught on even in France, so tradition clearly has a large influence on people’s inclinations. I have heard that decimal time _was_ used in China, and I would like more details, possibly from a historian. Units like minutes and hours are of course not SI units, but their use is considered acceptable. (In the EU, the intention was to make it illegal to label consumer products in British units alongside metric units, but they eventually relented. Not before a grocer was convicted of selling produce in Imperial measurements.) ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/95 "2017-07-29T17:32:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Where in the world are you finding integers? When can you ever possibly know that you have an integer number of units of anything? The _only_ place that’ll ever happen is that you know that the mass of one particular lump of platinum-iridium alloy in Paris is exactly integer 1 kilograms. And if I ever, for some reason, have need to refer to exactly one third of that mass, I’ll say “one third of a kilogram”. There, 100% metric and no rounding whatsoever. > > In the real world if I’m measuring flour or something, and the recipe calls for 1 kg but I’m dividing the recipe by 3, then I’ll use 333 grams of flour, which will be perfectly fine, because I never knew that original kilogram to one-gram precision anyway. And if I’m doing some more sophisticated chemistry experiment where I need more precision, then I’ll get out my analytical balance and measure out 333333333 micrograms. And if I need infinite precision, then I’m screwed no matter what system of units I’m using, because it’s impossible to measure anything to infinite precision in any system of units. > > The difference here isn’t that the American system lets you measure 1/3 of something precisely, because it doesn’t. The difference is that the American system lets you pretend that you can measure 1/3 of something even when you can’t, and pretending you can do something when you can’t is going to get you into a lot of trouble. One fish, two fish three fish. But I know because it is a convention, just like decimal. And there are some conventions like the field of geometry that absolutely do not fit the claims above. Are you really arguing that a^2 + b^2 = c^2 intrinsically has rounding errors? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/96 "2017-07-29T17:48:40Z")
My take on this was that if you measure a length using a ruler, the measurement always has a degree of precision, so you get 30 plus or minus 0.1 mm, for example. This is clearly the case with any unit length and any way of subdividing it, nothing to do with decimals. Or with ideal geometry where you say segment A is sqrt(5)-1 times as long as segment B. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/97 "2017-07-29T17:55:48Z")
Btw [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahan_summation_algorithm) is one proper algorithm for adding finite-precision decimal numbers. It can be done. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/98 "2017-07-29T18:22:53Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > “main standard” is open to interpretation there. > > As I noted above all US customary units are directly defined off of the SI units and have been so for a long time. > > The above claim seems to be sophistry if like in the UK: > > It seems to be an arbitrary cutoff in a scale of Metrication. The fact that US traditional units are officially defined in terms of metric units is completely irrelevant to common usage and therefore to this discussion. Argue for metric or against it, but you surely are not trying to argue that this bit of esoterica somehow makes the US a metric country? It has as little relevance in typical usage as the official definitions of the base metric units themselves. When I’m measuring a carpet for the family room I really have zero concern with whether a meter is defined in terms of the earth’s geometry, the distance between scratches on a platinum-iridium bar in Paris, or how far light travels in a vacuum in some tiny fraction of a second. I only care that everyone is using the same units and that my tape measure reasonably conforms to it! The meaning of “main standard” is not complicated. Outside of the three named countries – the US, Myanmar, and Liberia – everything is metric with specific enumerated exceptions. Weather reports and forecasts are in Celsius degrees, all or almost all food items and commodities are sold in grams, kilograms, milliliters or litres, etc, and that includes the UK. That there are exceptions doesn’t change the predominant system of measures. Admittedly, the use of miles and MPH and the like for road signage is a rather surprisingly big exception in the UK, but they use metric for just about everything else. Anyway, this was all a digression from my comment in #80, where I found it quite humorous that someone had declared that traditional units were superior because humans have an “instinctive” understanding of how far a mile is. Apparently we’re born with it. Whereas one assumes by implication that only French communists have any idea how far a kilometer is, and it’s doubtful that even they know! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/99 "2017-07-29T19:38:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > … > > I think metric is the way to go, with one major exception: temperature. The Centigrade scale (not Celsius, since he got it backwards) is inferior to Fahrenheit because (purely by chance), Fahrenheit’s scale is perfect for the main reason people want to know the temperature: the weather. 0-100 Fahrenheit is a pretty neat match to the normal extremes in temperature and gives you a great basis for comparison. Well that’s the rub, the imperial system is based on human life experiences. Metric is not. Imperial will always be a more natural unit of measurement than metric, though if born under metric rule one can adapt and live a perfectly normal life. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825/100 "2017-07-29T19:44:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **watchwolf49** : > > I remember the effort here in the US to convert to metric … for many older folks the problem was the conversion factors … how many ml’s for 3-5/8 cups … how many metric shingles to cover a 16 by 12 foot roof … how many kilometers across 7 sections … Well of course metric is difficult if you don’t use it. The whole point to going metric is that you’re _not_ converting ml to cups, or kilometers to sections. **kanicbird** , what human life experience is the mile based on? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-in-usa-with-1-litre-soda-pop-is-usa-on-metric/124825.md?page=6)