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From: jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Converting English units to metric
Message-ID: <694@rtech.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Oct-85 03:56:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: rtech.694
Posted: Mon Oct 14 03:56:25 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 15-Oct-85 06:29:36 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: Relational Technology, Alameda CA
Lines: 95


	Several days ago I asked whether anyone was confused by English units,
and whether I should post a conversion table.  I have received several "yesses",
so here goes.
	Let me point out that, although England has gone over to the metric
system, the old system of measurement is still called "English" here in the
United States.  There is another system called "Imperial", which is similar to
the English system: all Imperial units are 1.2 times larger than their English
counterparts (e.g. an Imperial gallon is 1.2 normal gallons).
	The table below only includes those measurements which are commonly
used in cooking.  For example, I didn't bother including the mile, since I've
never seen a recipe that called for a mile's worth of anything.  Nor did I
include some oddball measurements such as drams, rods, hands, etc. (I've never
seen these used anywhere; they are sometimes shown in conversion tables to
convince people that the English system of measurement is incredibly baroque
and illogical, which is true enough even without these peculiarities).
	Everyone should know about the UNIX(tm) program "units", which knows
about the relative sizes of all sorts of units of measurement, and can give
the multiplying and dividing factors to convert from one unit to another.
	Someone asked me to include conversions for things like sticks of
butter, and other common package sizes.  I don't have the time or cultural
experience to do this.  Sorry.
	Finally, I apologize to my Canadian neighbors for forgetting that they
also use the metric system.

--------------------

Length

English Unit	Abbreviation	Number of		Metric
				Previous Units*		Equivalent (cm)

inch		in. or ''				2.54

foot		ft. or '	12			30.5

yard		yd.		3			91.4

*for example, a foot is 12 inches


--------------------

Volume

English Unit	Abbreviation	Number of		Metric
				Previous Units		Equivalent (ml)

teaspoon	tsp.					4.9

tablespoon	Tbsp.		3			15

fluid ounce	oz. or fl. oz.	2			30

cup		c.		8			237

pint		pt.		2			473

quart		qt.		2			946 (about a liter)

gallon		gal.		4			3785

fifth				0.2 (fifth of a gallon)	757 (about 3/4 liter)

--------------------

Mass (or weight)

English Unit	Abbreviation	Number of		Metric
				Previous Units		Equivalent (gr)

ounce		oz.					28

pound		lb.		16			453

--------------------

Temperature

To convert from degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius, use the following
formula:

		C = (F - 32) * 5 / 9

where F is degrees Fahrenheit and C is degrees Celsius.

--------------------

If I've left anything out, please let me know.
-- 
Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.)
"Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent..."

{amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff
{ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff