US measurement equivalents in the metric system: Gallon, quart, pound, feet, inches, miles, etc.
The imperial system remains the primary system of measurement in everyday life in the United States despite just two other country’s using it.
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that still primarily uses the imperial system of measurement, which includes units such as miles, feet, and pounds. Its opponent, the metric system, uses metres, kilograms, and litres.
The main reason for this discrepancy is historical. The imperial system was developed in Great Britain and was used by the American colonies prior to the country’s independence. However, the French Revolution and its ideas created the metric system and by the 20th century much of the world had adopted it.
However, the US did not conform to the new style and stayed with imperial.
There are three countries in the world that do not use metric units as their primary system of measurement: Myanmar, Liberia and the United States. pic.twitter.com/h6rAmPdPDo
— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia) October 11, 2018
When bills were brought to Congress to change this, big business lobbyists defended the old ways due to the country’s large manufacturing base; a change in measurement would necessitate the replacement of all previous bought machinery.
Here are some of the US measurement equivalents in the metric system:
- 1 gallon (liquid) = 3.78541 litre
- 1 quart (liquid) = 0.946353 litre
- 1 pound = 0.453592 kilograms
- 1 ounce = 0.0283495 kilograms
- 1 foot = 0.3048 metres
- 1 inch = 0.0254 metres (0.254 centremetres)
- 1 mile = 1.60934 kilometres
Will the US ever use the metric system?
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There have been efforts over the years to transition the United States to the metric system, and the government has encouraged the use of metric units in certain industries such as science and medicine. Executive Order 12700, signed in 1991 by President H. W. Bush, directed government deparments under the executive branch to “take all appropriate measures within their authority” to use the metric system “as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce”.
While there has been little push in the 21st century to introduce the metric system into everyday life, the necessity of global trade means manufacturers must produce anything related to the global market in metric measurments.