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NameUnavail t1_j6cggpi wrote

Reply to comment by phiwong in ELI5: how did we standardize on watts/amps/volts when everything else is segmented across the world (km/miles, nm/ft-lb etc)? by t0r3n0

>Note that the watt is a standard unit of power in the SI system. However we still use things like horsepower (1 HP = 746 W) and BTU/hr as non-SI unit measures of power. One used even today for engine power output and the other for cooling and/or heating

The US just has a furious hatred for standardisation, don't they ?

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Logizyme t1_j6desn1 wrote

Wait until you find out what the "B" in BTU stands for!

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DisorderOfLeitbur t1_j6g2plq wrote

It gets worse. The American British Thermal Unit isn't the same as the Canadian British Thermal Unit.

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Deadmist t1_j6coits wrote

That's not just a US thing.
Ask anyone in Europe how much power their car has and they will give you the horsepower number. Unless they are driving electric, maybe.

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remarkablemayonaise t1_j6cla7f wrote

They have their own standards, just as many countries have their standards which aren't SI. Continental Europe is more likely to use cl not ml (UK) for capacity even if they're both metric and derived from SI.

While hectares may be used for modern land deeds there are dozens if not 100s of standards around the world for land area.

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travelinmatt76 t1_j6deorl wrote

Nope, we're just like any other country

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NameUnavail t1_j6djj9e wrote

Except for the fact that the US is literally one of two countries that haven't adopted metric.

But yeah, just like any other country

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travelinmatt76 t1_j6ewxko wrote

We do use metric, we learn metric in school and metric is exclusively used in science fields and engineering. There are countries besides the U.S. that use both metric and imperial. The U.S. uses U.S. Customary instead of imperial, and we use metric.

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