Thursday, September 11, 2025
Some musings on the Metric system
I just watched this amusing video “Why Didn't America Go Metric? Now I Finally Get It” where Busted Knuckle Woodworks goes into the history of the matric system and why the US doesn't use it. Yes, it goes into the whole “pirates stole the metric system from the US” story, but it also mentions the late 1800s Pyramid Power movement that also put the kibosh on the metric system here in the US (and one I had not heard and sadly, such mystical thinking is still very much in the main stream). And it's interesting that the Imperial System is still in main stream use in the UK.
But one advantage I see for the Imperial System is that it's mostly based on factors of two and three, like two cups per pint, two pints per quart, three teaspoons per tablespoon, and three barlycorns per inch. The downside of that advantage is the sheer number of units available, like drams, furlongs, pennyweights and gills. I don't think it's that bad though.
For instance, the chocolate ice cream recipie I've been using contains the following ingrediants:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 pint heavy cream (or 2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sugar (using 1 cup makes the ice cream too soft in my experience)
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
In the metric system, you get some really weird values though:
- 237mL whole milk
- 474mL heavy cream
- 5mL vanilla extract
- 150 grams sugar (using 200 grams makes the ice cream too soft in my experience)
- 72 grams cocoa powder
I think the amount for cocoa powder is correct, as I found answers from 75‥95g of cocoa powder per cup, and as I like chocolate, I used ¾ the upper value.
I suppose one could get by with:
- 250mL whole milk
- 500mL heavy cream
- 5mL vanilla extract
- 150 grams sugar
- 70 grams cocoa powder
for more “round” amounts in metric. I do wonder if such rounding up (or even down) might affect the results though (probably not). Personally, I find the Imperial version easier to remember, but that might be bias on my part.
