> You're saying that foot is more useful than meter and so on but you don't explain why.
To divide a foot, you can divide by 12, 6, 3, 4, or 2 and get round numbers in inches. Round numbers can be easier to deal with than fractions or decimals.
To divide a foot, you can divide by 12, 6, 3, 4, or 2 and get round numbers in inches. Round numbers can be easier to deal with than fractions or decimals.
Here in AU we use metric widely. There are some older generation types that drop to imperial measurements for some things, particularly when talking about human height.
A foot is about 30cm (or 300mm) - so if you're talking about working in 1/12, 1/6, 1/3, 1/4, or 1/2 of something around that size, it's not something that blocks us for very long: the calculating of fractions of 30 (or 300) units.
Typically I work with metres (and subsets of) - 1000mm - which your 1/4 and 1/2 are, obviously, easy to apply and still get this enviable 'round number' that you speak of. 1/3 of a metre is 333mm (or close enough to) and it's rare that my pencil is sharp enough (or my care high enough) to denote a third of a millimetre. Similarly 1/6th (I don't recall ever needing to divide a length of anything into 1/6ths - perhaps I'm atypical).
I think the most compelling evidence against any claim that 'it's easier to work in base 12' (or similar) is that our machines, our houses, our infrastructure ... don't all fail to fit together, or fall apart, because their components were measured in metric.
When I say 'our' I mean the 95% of the world's population that isn't the USA.
How often do you try to describe something a sixth of the length of your foot? I'm trying to think of an example where it matters either way, but the only thing I can come up with is that there is only one measurement in metric distance: the meter. A centimeter is a hundredth of that, a milli- is a thousandth. In the American system I have to know the relation between inches, feet, miles and probably more (isn't yard also part of it? I don't even know).
Also, don't forget that wonderful measure of area, the acre. I have no idea how big a hectare is, only that it's less than an acre. And there are 640 acres to a square mile, which is convenient if you grew up in farm country where there is a road pretty much every mile.
I won't bore you with gallons, chains, rods, furlongs, or hundredweights (American or Imperial).
It happens all the time. There's a very popular piece of wood known as a 'two by four' which is 2 inches by 4 inches.
> a "2x4" board historically started out as a green, rough board actually 2 by 4 inches (51 mm × 102 mm). After drying and planing, it would be smaller, by a nonstandard amount. Today, a "2x4" board starts out as something smaller than 2 inches by 4 inches and not specified by standards, and after drying and planing is reliably 1½ by 3½ inches (38 mm × 89 mm).
(If you can't figure out what fraction of a metre this is, let me know, and I'll try to help you out.)
Meanwhile one litre equals one litre (regional spelling variations notwithstanding).