Have you ever wonder why pounds are lb? (1 Viewer)

[Ahsoka]

Ie the abbreviation for the measurement pound is lb, even though pound has neither letter.

The word pound comes from Latin. Specifically the phrase “libra pondo”, which means “a unit by weight”. The word pound has evolved from pondo, which was the part specifying by weight. The abbreviation lb came from libra, which was the actual unit of weight.

Why did pondo become the unit when libra was actually the unit? This had to do with the fact that over time, pondo became viewed as the way to say the unit just by association in the phrase, and as such romance languages borrowed that word as a unit of weight. Then it traveled to English to influence the modern day word pound.

 

[Ahsoka]

Language tag:
@athenarose @intothevault @Nyaz @Dreamer_of_Songs @Nina @velvet @ChuuAntics @MyLovelyLove @alo @Chiara @eclipsoul @sick @Moguri

 

[Drug]

I did not know that, I never asked myself the question why and just accepted it as it was. This was informative ~ (I'll sleep less stupid)

 

[eclipsoul]

i have, but also i have wondered why they don't use kilograms like almost every place in the world

 

[Ahsoka]

i have, but also i have wondered why they don't use kilograms like almost every place in the world

Stubbornness Though that’s not to say that kilograms aren’t ever used in the US, in many industries that’s all they use. It’s more for the general public

 

[Moguri]

I have actually wondered about that goot to finally know!!

 

[Moguri]

Stubbornness Though that’s not to say that kilograms aren’t ever used in the US, in many industries that’s all they use. It’s more for the general public

really? what industries for example and why??

 

[catonkatonk]

And somehow, not even the most nonsensical thing about the imperial measurement system.

 

[catonkatonk]

really? what industries for example and why??

I would expect most scientists and engineers, even in the states, to use metric. The math is just significantly easier and you already have enough on your plate trying to calculate that stuff!

Some random party going rogue and using imperial can cause all kinds of problems, such as:

Mars Climate Orbiter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The primary cause of this discrepancy was that one piece of ground software supplied by Lockheed Martin produced results in a United States customary unit, contrary to its Software Interface Specification (SIS), while a second system, supplied by NASA, expected those results to be in SI units, in accordance with the SIS. Specifically, software that calculated the total impulse produced by thruster firings produced results in pound-force seconds. The trajectory calculation software then used these results – expected to be in newton-seconds (incorrect by a factor of 4.45)[2] – to update the predicted position of the spacecraft

edit:
The next paragraph, btw, is wild:

Still, NASA does not place the responsibility on Lockheed for the mission loss; instead, various officials at NASA have stated that NASA itself was at fault for failing to make the appropriate checks and tests that would have caught the discrepancy.

Lockheed Martin provided a part that did not conform to the specifications, and NASA didn't blame them because NASA should have checked. NASA should have checked. But Lockheed Martin should be expected to deliver to spec. I suspect the only reason they didn't get blamed and sued is because the whole contractor thing is rife with corruption and is basically just corporate welfare, siphoning public money to shareholders.

 

[Moguri]

I would expect most scientists and engineers, even in the states, to use metric. The math is just significantly easier and you already have enough on your plate trying to calculate that stuff!

Some random party going rogue and using imperial can cause all kinds of problems, such as:

Mars Climate Orbiter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

edit:
The next paragraph, btw, is wild:

Lockheed Martin provided a part that did not conform to the specifications, and NASA didn't blame them because NASA should have checked. NASA should have checked. But Lockheed Martin should be expected to deliver to spec. I suspect the only reason they didn't get blamed and sued is because the whole contractor thing is rife with corruption and is basically just corporate welfare, siphoning public money to shareholders.

oh my god.. especially seing the costs

 

[Ahsoka]

really? what industries for example and why??

Yeah STEM fields are the easiest to point out. That’s not to say there aren’t engineers or others that use imperial, but if you’re working in an international collaborative capacity you would presumably be working with metric as a default. That goes for non STEM fields that work outside of North America too, though there may be more leeway there.