metric wierdy

[ed]

we normally buy milk from the local mini market. It comes in standard 2 ltr plastic bottles.
yesterday Sandrine brought in a 4 pint bottle from Tesco and the 2 different sizes sat next to each other in the fridge.

I noticed the difference in size and saw that the 4 pint Tesco bottle had 2.27 ltrs written alongside the 4 pint .
ok, 4 (marked on label)pints is larger than 2 ltrs...but google says 1 pint is 0.472 litres, which is the same as saying 2.11 pints is a litre.

So, how can Tesco write on their milk bottles "4 pints 2.27 ltrs"????

did I get up too early this morning...should I go and have a lie down!

[Richard Higgins]

When I try I find 1 pint equals 0.56826125 l, so 4 pints equals 2.273.

I think you had a US pint.

should I go and have a lie down! - Depends who with.

Cheers

Richard

[pre65]

Oh dear Ed, Google is not wrong if you want USA pints to litres!

And Tesco is right for GB pints.

[Nick]

1 imperial pint = 568.26125 millilitres
1 US liquid pint = 473.176473 millilitres

Its not the metric part that's being wierdy.

[ed]

Oh poo!
bloody usians
I do need to lie down

[vinylnvalves]

You need a copy of "dealing with change" a 1971 HMSO publication. Americans have a different length for miles too.

[pre65]

You need a copy of "dealing with change" a 1971 HMSO publication. Americans have a different length for miles too.

I thought the difference between a UK mile and a US mile was approx 3mm ?

In the UK the railways commonly still use miles and chains as a measure.

1 chain = 66ft and is the same length as a cricket pitch.

HS1 (and presumably HS2) is measured in metres.

EDIT.

The chain has been used for several centuries in England and in some other countries influenced by English practice. In the United Kingdom, there were 80 chains to the mile, but until the early nineteenth century the Scottish and Irish customary miles were longer than the statute mile; consequently a Scots chain was about 74 (imperial) feet, an Irish chain 84 feet. These longer chains became obsolete following the adoption of the imperial system of units in 1824.

[jack]

One of the hidden gems of Trafalgar Square is that in the 1870s the Board of Trade installed a whole load of brass inlays with the standard imperial measurements at the standard temperature of 62F. This was also done at the Guildhall and the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

If you go to TS, look on the North side close to the steps. The original standard marks for imperial standard feet, yards, chains, perches etc. are all still there (though they have been moved a bit from their original position when the square was pedestrianized).

See https://londonist.com/london/videos/vid ... gar-square and many other references.

1 link = 7.92 inches (don't ask!)
25 links = 1 rod/pole/perch
100 links = 1 chain (22 yards)
10 chains/1000 links = 1 furlong
8 furlongs = 1 mile

[steve s]

1 link = 7.92 inches (don't ask!)
25 links = 1 rod/pole/perch
100 links = 1 chain (22 yards)
10 chains/1000 links = 1 furlong
8 furlongs = 1 mile

Just googled that and found a link is also known as a gunters link, a 100 link, 66ft long measuring tool / chain.

All makes sense now..

[jack]

1 link = 7.92 inches (don't ask!)
25 links = 1 rod/pole/perch
100 links = 1 chain (22 yards)
10 chains/1000 links = 1 furlong
8 furlongs = 1 mile

Just googled that and found a link is also known as a gunters link, a 100 link, 66ft long measuring tool.

All makes sense now..

It actually comes from "Gunter's Chain" (a surveying tool), which had 100 links... Gunter's Chain is 22 yards long (obviously) and had a hundred links (an early attempt at decimalisation), so that's where that particular bit of madness comes from. It's quite cute in that an area 10 chains x 10 chains = 10 acres, so to get the number of acres simply divide the number of square chains by 10.

If you want real weirdness, look up the reasons for American/US measurements being ever-so-slightly different...

As an aside, the reason for the three sets of brass inlays in different locations is that the original Imperial standard measurements were MADE OF WOOD (!!!) and were lost in a fire in the early 1800s and the BoT didn't want that to happen again... hence the use of brass and multiple locations.

[simon]

Just had a flashback to first year Surveying - we had to do a chain survey of the local streets in Bradford. That was amusing with all our friends passing. Terms from chain surveying are still used today 100s of years on - the surveyor's assistant is a Chainman and poles are still called ranging rods.

Then there was plane table surveying, another joy. I spent a day surveying the area around the Shearbridge pub. We didn't bother with breaks but I did need to answer the call so thought I'd pop in to the pub. Unfortunately they knew me well enough in there and before I'd got half way to the bar (the toilets were to the side) I was already having a pint of Teyleys pulled. This was no hardship as Nick will attest. Except later in the day I had to go again because of that, and had to drink another as a result. Those were the days. .

[Nick]

Except later in the day I had to go again because of that, and had to drink another as a result.

I can see some circular results there. When was that BTW, wonder who was the licensee of the Shearbridge at the time.

[simon]

Yes very circular. It was probably a good job I didn't first go till early afternoon. Would be around 87. Can't remember their names but they'd done Communications degrees I recall.

[Nick]

87 might still be Jean and Colin, though maybe after them, If it was there would have been a racing sidecar outfit parked in the garage at the back of the pub.

[simon]

Don't recall ever seeing a racing sidecar, I'm sure I would have remembered that