Posted by Ian Abbott on 05/11/2016 22:25:13:
I still refuse to believe that one-thousand-four-hundred-and-thirty-five-point-one millimetres is easier than four foot eight and a half. And a one-thousand-two-hundred-and-ninteen-point-two by two-thousand-four-hundred-and-thirty-eight-point-four millimetre sheet of plywood is easier than a four by eight. Especially if you need to cut it into four equal widths of shelving.
And how mad is a fifteen-thousand-two-hundred-and-forty-millimetre long room, rather than a nice even fifty feet. I see this on architectural drawings. Can anyone really visualize fifteen-thousand-two-hundred-and-forty-millimetres. Fifty feet is easy. Sixteen and a half yards / fifteen and a quarter metres even.
And don't get me started on Americans and 'millimeters' et al.
Ian
You would not, you would use millimetres & metres,( which are the correct units to use in the building industry,) hence for the last one you would say 15.24 metres
As for your sheet of ply you will notice that it is not 3/4" thick etc it is 18mm etc
I would further suggest that you try working out the area of 4 ft 12 15/32" multiplied by 2 ft 6 3/16"
Then perhaps you might welcome the introduction of the metric unit.
Fortunately my training started just as metrication in the building industry was introduced because it drove my father mad trying to teach me duo decimals