Is America Actually Metric? 

*are you allowed to say that* *well its the truth* the mark of a true scientist.

He forgot the most American measurement unit: football fields

at the security checks "so, Mister, what you got in that suitcase?" "just a kilo" "a kilo of... what... Mister?" "told you..... just a kilo"

1:19 as a US engineer, I can attest to that.

I love how he says ''feet'' and ''gallon'' with disgust

"It's stupid.." "Are you allowed to say that??" "Well, it's the truth!" many people need to understand this..

As a non-american, the only reason i have to use converters is because you guys!

There two kinds of countries: The ones that uses metric system and the other that secretly use metric system to reach moon

What a great host he was! He was really great explaining and joking about things. Dude needs his own RU-vid channel haha.

So even Americans think the imperial system is stupid.

I love this guy. He's amazing. "It's stupid". lol. I'm Canadian. I lived in Texas for 6 months when I was 14, and attended my first half of grade 9 in Texas. Having spent my entire life in Canada up to this point, the metric system was second nature to me. When I started my grade 9 science class in Texas, I realized a couple of days in, that this class was actually about teaching the metric system. My mind was blown. If you're curious, I had an A+ in that class, and actually helped teach metric to my fellow classmates. It was a surreal experience. As an adult with my own children, I find it shockingly difficult to explain the imperial system to my children. It doesn't make sense. 12 inches in a foot. 3 feet in a yard. 1760 yards in a mile. 5280 feet in a mile. 16 ounces in a pound. 14 pounds in a stone. 2000 pounds in a ton. 16 ounces in a pint. 2 pints in a quart. 4 quarts in a gallon. 4 ounces in a cup. 2 tablespoons in an ounce. 3 teaspoons in one tablespoon. I'm baffled by the lack of consistency in the measures; it's all over the place. 10mm in 1cm, 100cm in 1m, 1000m in 1km. 1000g in 1kg, 1000kg in 1 tonne. 1000ml in 1l, 1l is 10cm cubed, aka 1000cc. All even numbers, all powers of ten. So much simpler to work with. At this point, I'm just shocked that the us was part of the meter treaty, yet is fully imperial still. Finding out all US imperial measures are actually converted from metric standards is shocking.

Watching this after redefinition of kg...

The Texas kilogram is, of course, bigger.

1:22 "Are you allowed to say that?" No, the imperial order will hunt him down

World: "Metric System" America: "That's crazy !"

1:18 That nonchalant "yes, it's stupid" just cracked me up :'D

I can just imagine trying to get this on a plane, you tell the TSA it's an important scientific standard of weight, and they cannot open the container.. TSA agent takes it from you, opens it.. drops it on the floor.. Throws it all back in your bag and tells you to have a nice day

It all began with the forging of the Great Kilograms. Three were given to the French; immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven, to the Germans, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And two, Kilograms were gifted to the United States, who above all else desire power.

Since 2019 the definition has changed: The kilogram, symbol kg, is the SI unit of mass. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the Planck constant h to be 6.62607015×10−34 when expressed in the unit J⋅s, which is equal to kg⋅m2⋅s−1, where the metre and the second are defined in terms of c and ΔνCs.

Thank you for dropping musical backgrounds. It's much easier to comprehend and absorb the content this way!

Spoiler alert: the Kilogram will be defined via the Planck constant

The USA used the metric system all along *Mind Blown*

The metric system is delightfully simple to operate, and the Americans sensibly decimalised their currency from the outset, even if not weights and measures. Those of us of a certain age can recall with horror, struggling through long division of money in pounds, shillings and pence at school, with teachers of widely varying doses of patience. Then came dollars and cents, and the whole thing suddenly became relatively easy! But dentists and jewellers still use "grains" as a measure of weight, which is but another variant of the old system. Col, NZ

So many medication errors occur in patient care because of conversions between kilogram and pounds. To convert, you have to multiply or divide by 2.2. 1kg=2.2lbs. Since many medications are weight-based, if someone accidentally puts in a patient chart the opposite number, then a patient can get 2 times the medication they should. Either that or they only get half the medication they were prescribed. This can be extremely dangerous. We should just use the metric system. How would we go about switching?

Remember that one where there was like a super-round sphere?

''Yes, it's stupid...I agree'' ''Are you allowed to say that?'' ''It's true...''

My car runs in football fields per burger and that's how I like it! God bless America! Go USA!

THANKS! This video will always be my answer to any conversation about metric system in America.

The USA does use the metric system where it matters! Have you ever seen cocaine sold in Lbs? Or any other drug for that matter! 😂 Edit: I'm referring to the commercial sale and production of illegal and legal drugs. Street level can be what ever way you like!

5:44 When its 2AM and you're trying to be quiet while taking food from the kitchen.

There is an error at the density table @4:31, Iridium density is 22.56 g/cm3, not 22.65 g/cm3 as described. Osmium is the top material on density.

A New one is $100K Rick from Pawn Stars: I have to frame it, it will sit here in the shop for a very long time, How about $20

Everybody knows this quote(maybe not) : In metric, one milliliter of water occupies one cubic centimeter, weighs one gram, and requires one calorie of energy to heat up by one degree centigrade-which is 1 percent of the difference between its freezing point and its boiling point. An amount of hydrogen weighing the same amount has exactly one mole of atoms in it. Whereas in the American system, the answer to ‘How much energy does it take to boil a room-temperature gallon of water ?’ is ‘Go **** yourself,’ because you can’t directly relate any of those quantities.

Patrick Abbot: Yeah Stupid. Are you allowed to say that? Patrick Abbot: It's true. ~Thug Life

I remember back in the late 70s, or maybe early 80s, we were all taught metric in school, alongside imperial. All our rulers had inches and cm/mm on them. We had to use both. We also used grams alongside ounces. The teachers seemed to think the US would eventually convert over. But later, most schools stopped doing that, and laziness prevailed. Now, anything metric is more an anomaly. As a woodworker who likes European and American tools, I'm always using both.

Great Video, Jimmy!

The first video I saw on your channel was the one about that 1kg sphere that was nearly perfectly round called "World´s Roundest object". And now this video comes up and it creates a loop in all the experiences I have had with your channel! You created so much new interests in me and I think this is the perfect opportunity to say: Thank You! Thank you for all the work you have done for me, the millions of viewers and sciences position on youtube etc. As I am from germany, it is sad to see that there are so few science channels and the once excisting are barely watched. Therefore you, as an american channel, have got a much wider audience and impact! greetings, Tim

The silence at 1:00. Epic.

Great story! Thank you for sharing!!

I feel like the relative changes between masses of the kilograms (and the sudden stop in changes) could probably be explained by improvements made in measuring tools and manufacturing tools since the originals were made. It's not that they were gaining or losing mass, but that the prototypes made in the 1880's weren't made as precisely as we can now measure, and that increase in precision is simply revealing their imperfections.

That goddamn cliffhanger. I'm guessing by the amount of atoms of a specific element?

1:50 What?! We use these shoe covers at work and have to manually stretch them around our shoes like animals. I'm going to put the Bootie Butler in the suggestion box.

The only reason why imperial continues to persist in the United States alone is because many industries don’t want to spend money converting and the government (most likely on behalf of those industries) has made metric “voluntary” So in schools it is really up to the class curriculum if metric is taught instead, and I suspect many parents have influence on wanting their kids to stick to the antiquated system. 1 big problem: The United States can’t keep using two competing measurement systems for too long, especially with tech industries being more global and hiring international workers on special visas who naturally understand metric far better than most Americans.

this was super interesting!

those official weights are gonna be a lot heavier now, since the camera adds ten pounds

Ha! I knew I wasn't really gaining weight. It was the standards fluctuating around me. Damn you, Universe!

Derek: so how much is it worth? Europeans: it's priceless Americans: about $100,000 apiece

0:13 "DO NOT ENTER, MEASUREMENT IN PROGRESS" Love that sign!

Huh, didn't know Louis C.K. knew so much about the Kilogram.

Reasons to use Fahrenheit and Imperial system: None

the video is great.....solved all my misconceptions for the new KG

American schools use Celsius or Kelvin when measuring temperature American nutrition labels use grams and Calories (same thing as Kcal)

Yeah my scale at home is definitely not accurate then...

1kg = 1 litre of water = a box of 10cm x 10cm x 10cm of water. 1,000litres of water fills a volume of 1m x 1m x 1m and weighs 1 ton

I worked hard earning my hard science degree so am a total full believer in the metric system over the standard system. It's amazing how many people argue for the standard system being easier to use therefore better than the metric system. Of course this perspective comes out of ignorance and fear of the unknown. I on the other hand find great pleasure in working with the metric system because its based on logic and reason. One kilometer = 1000 meters, 1ml water (at standard conditions) = 1 gram, 1000 grams =1 kilogram.... a truly amazing system. Thank you France!

Watching this in 2018. *The whole thing is actually happening.*

Does the $100,000 Kilogram come with free shipping?

The redefinition in 2018, if you're too curious to wait. Wikipedia: In October 2010, the CIPM voted to submit a resolution for consideration at the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), to "take note of an intention" that the kilogram be defined in terms of the Planck constant, h (which has dimensions of energy times time) together with other fundamental units.[59][60] This resolution was accepted by the 24th conference of the CGPM[61] in October 2011 and further discussed at the 25th conference in 2014.[62][63] Although the Committee recognised that significant progress had been made, they concluded that the data did not appear sufficiently robust to adopt the revised definition, and that work should continue to enable the adoption at the 26th meeting, scheduled for 2018.[62] Such a definition would theoretically permit any apparatus that was capable of delineating the kilogram in terms of the Planck constant to be used as long as it possessed sufficient precision, accuracy and stability. The watt balance (discussed below) may be able to do this.

I hope all these amazing artifacts are protected against earthquakes and other potential disasters!

The US should do what the UK done, introduce all packaging and products to dual weights. While keep highlighting the metric weights. Until the populace becomes comfortable with both, easily switching without computation. Then slowly phase out Imperial. I am fluent in both weight systems. A pint is still a pint in the UK.

I would so watch a movie about someone trying to steal one of these.

"All the units we communally use [...] are actually defined in terms of metric units" Take that muricas!! :D Nice video like usually too.

"Are you allowed to say that!?" ".... it's true...." i like this guy :D

The World: We're gunna give you 4;20 America: Hold my joint

Wait a minute, you are telling me that the *Quarter Pounder* has actually been a *Royale with cheese* in disguise all along and *not* the other way around ??? Also, I now want a *Bootie Butler* for no reason.

The metric system is one of the best legacy of the french revolution to humanity

I love how he says that to this day the kg is defined by the big K , but they just changed that yesterday :D.

US: NO WE WILL NOT USE METRIC LIKE THE COMMIES US NOW: Okay we'll use it where it matters, but still use football fields per obesity squared for everything else.

You mean: "the American 2.20462262 Pounds"

Americans, the only people to promise to do something and forgetting that they did it.

Your presentations are innovative. How you would have explained metrology pyramid? Can you make a video on the above topic?

So before the kilogram was redefined, a change in mass of the physical Standard Kilogram meant that everything ever weighed suddenly had a different nominal mass. Kind of like everytime the US dollar gets inflated by the FED, all prices worldwide (in all other currencies as well) go up. We really need to redefine money in terms of some physical constant like with the kilogram (it used to be mass of gold).

K4 and K20 "coincidence"

I really would like to thank Veritasium for reminding me that THE kilogram standards were made of platinum/iridium. This came out as one of the questions in the chemical engineering board exams! MWAH MWAH MWAH.

love it, dude reping the steelers lanyard.

I wish we were metric in everything.

I manage building construction for a living and wish we would use metrics. It would be an easier system.

7:39 "They went different weighs" Thank you for observing a less than pointless arbitrary unintentional pun. My job here is done.

I've been reminding people of this for years. Now I can just send them a link.

A lot of people needs to see this. 👌

"Connected iridium to radioactivity and flew off the handle" That's (any) checkpoint security for you. Not just the TSA. If playing secret service with ear pieces and uniforms, and being presumptuous twats doesn't pay enough, it sure strokes the ego. If they were smarter, they'd have a different job.

100 centimeters= 1 meter and 1000 meters=1 kilometer. 1000 grams=1 kilogram and 1000 kilograms=1 metric ton. There... ya'll know the metric system now. Everything is just more zeros, it's that easy.

I was working on a sterile filling machine from Bosch in Cralscheim (their pharmaceutical packaging, manufacturing plant), which is in Ireland. I got asked to go help with the replacement of parts of a similar machine made in the US which was to be converted to fill the same syringes they fill here Ireland. Everything was in fractions of inches. I didn't say anything, it's not the first time I've used Imperial on high tolerance parts. However, this was the first time I hadn't been requested to send any parts designed, back in Imperial, and a couple of small parts were drawn up in both Imperial and metric already. As the team I was working with were all Irish or German, we agreed to work in metric. A few weeks later, parts are written up, the requested ones made, and the remaining drawings emailed over to the US. Within a few hours, we got a call asking if what we had sent was a joke. Why wed sent everything in metric, to America. Some harsh words were sent on the phone, and some unessicery claims made. A few days later and after some more aggressive calls, and a very quick meeting to investigate for clarification from our side back home in Ireland, we were told we would need to pay up for the costs involved for sending it all in metric. To which we replied, we're sorry such a large problem had occurred, the parts had been fitted, tested, and were well within the requested tolerances. We then decided to reference the treaty of the metre and that metric was part of the ISO, and hoped the yanks wouldn't start paying for solicitor work, which would be useless, and a waist of their money. The very next day, we were told they'd stopped complaining. My experience with US companies in Ireland has typically been very positive outside of how they treat their employees. They make it very clear what they do and don't want in what system. Metric is the standard, they know that's what we use. This time just seemed to be a really bad example....

5:43 Remember-- viable embryos. They're no use to us if they don't survive! The best bit is there is a short noise that sounds like a raptor call when he unscrews it.

Metric system ftw

You should do a video on how every si unit is defined

4:53 The weight doesn't get reduced, but the buoyancy counteracts the weight.

What a great narrator!

Planck's constant The researchers placed a known mass on one end of the scale and then counterbalanced it by sending an electric current through a movable coil of wire suspended in a magnetic field. They then used that electromagnetic force to measure Planck's constant down to an accuracy of 34 parts per billion.

What's priceless is that amidst airlocks, vacuum chambers and proprietary transport cases, the bell jar's marked with dymo tape.

1:59 the guy in blue is how I look waiting for my pizza rolls in the microwave

Now this feels to be a video from a distant past because KG is now defined by watt balance tech, but it had only been 3 years ago

The Terminator's hand and CPU had less security than this.

6:14 I knew there was more to the deflate gate scandal. Brady was just trying to find those launch codes...

I live in America and I actually grew up with the metric system, the only imperial measurement I can really estimate well is miles per hour, I really think its only a matter of time before we start using metric for everything

1:28 The sign: "Keep area clear of obstruction". And right below it is a bucket.

I work in Weights and Measures in Illinois glad to see videos out there giving folks an idea of what we do.

This reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons, "Who keeps the metric system down? We do, we do..." :-)

6:30 sounds strange that they have to fly on a commercial plane instead of a government owned aircraft since there are quite a lot of military planes going to and from Europe

The UK transported the Hope diamond by sending it in the mail, while a courier carried a fake replica. Inconspicous is often the safest attribute.