What's in a "foot"? (Surveying)

[Wagtail]

The rest of the world uses metric, but in the US there are two measurements of a 'foot'... until now:

US finally giving boot to official foot measurement

This should be fun! :laughing:


(unknown how many Smoots that is.)

 

[goeduck]

International foot vs US foot. international foot based on meter, but it is still a foot

 

[Wagtail]

International foot vs US foot. international foot based on meter, but it is still a foot

But according to the article, Washington State is International Foot and Oregon is US Foot. :confused2:

 

[RedNeckRacin]

PennDOT already tried to go metric. It was a horrible failure. I don't see the foot going anywhere anytime soon. (bigfoot or little foot)

 

[Ford850]

This isn't about going metric. Both 'foot' measurements are based on a fraction of a meter. The only difference is the international 'foot' rounds off the measurement to 4 decimal places rather than 7 decimal places for the 'US foot'. The difference between the two formats equals 1/8" difference when measuring a mile. If we've all (except surveyors) been using the international 'foot' measurement on all rulers and tape measures since 1959, I think it's about time for the engineers to catch up with the rest of us.

 

[CobyRupert]

This isn't about going metric. Both 'foot' measurements are based on a fraction of a meter. The only difference is the international 'foot' rounds off the measurement to 4 decimal places rather than 7 decimal places for the 'US foot'. The difference between the two formats equals 1/8" difference when measuring a mile. If we've all (except surveyors) been using the international 'foot' measurement on all rulers and tape measures since 1959, I think it's about time for the engineers to catch up with the rest of us.

Most if not all engineers recognize the superiority of the metric system.

Sounds like they aren't "catching up" but rather stooping back down to a different level. :2cents: :stirthepot:

 

[fried1765]

Most if not all engineers recognize the superiority of the metric system.

Sounds like they aren't "catching up" but rather stooping back down to a different level. :2cents: :stirthepot:

It is absolutely a shame that the US has never switched to the metric system.

 

[KennyG]

Most if not all engineers recognize the superiority of the metric system.

Sounds like they aren't "catching up" but rather stooping back down to a different level. :2cents: :stirthepot:

I'm one of the engineers who doesn't recognize the superiority of the metric system. There is a minor convenience in conversions when you do them in your head, but once we got into the computer and calculator age, the measurement system became academic. I think most engineers are equally comfortable in either system and in mixed systems.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Canada is supposed to have switched to the metric system way back in 1976 or so when metric was formally adopted. We still buy plywood in 4x8 sheets. Lumber is still 2x4,2x6 and so on. We don't refer to our mile roads as 1.609 km. They are still a mile road. A square section is still 640 acres. Nobody talks in hectares. Crop yields are still talked about in bushels/acre. Sugar beets is in tonnes (metric)/acre. There are several measurements that are totally switched Temperature and speed come to mind. We all discuss that in metric. Most of us older people are fairly bilingual but the younger ones only understand metric as that's what they are taught in school.

 

[CobyRupert]

I'm one of the engineers who doesn't recognize the superiority of the metric system. There is a minor convenience in conversions when you do them in your head, but once we got into the computer and calculator age, the measurement system became academic. I think most engineers are equally comfortable in either system and in mixed systems.

Tell me what type of engineer so I can insult that too! :stirthepot:

Any system that uses a "pound" both as a unit of mass AND as a unit of force is inferior.
Also (just one example of many):
1 kg of water is 1 liter is 1000 cm^3.

(Random number) 3423 liters of water is 3423 kg and 3.423 cubic meters.
Quick, in < 3 seconds, what is the weight and volume of 3423 gallons of water?