Big Numbers today

[Notch7]

Howdens catalogue, doors, 78" x 30", yeah they might have the metric equivalent in small print

Having spent years making door frames to suit std doors I know that door is 762mm x 1981mm

2'9 door is 838
2'3 door is 686

from memory a disable access door is 926


Ive also spent years interpreting carpenters bringing in cutting lists written on an offcut of plasterboard -often with a mixture of imperial and metric.
One guy is only 40 something and he works in imperial god knows why -I have a feeling he uses both sides of his tape!

 

[Brigadier]

Yes. Much tallererer.

Perhaps then, tallerer in response to people generally being tallerer nowadays?
Or international alignment?

Thicker? Fire resistance? Heat retention (energy performance)? Noise resistance? Or just closest round metric number to the traditional?

 

[noseall]

Perhaps then, tallerer in response to people generally being tallerer nowadays?
Or international alignment?

Thicker? Fire resistance? Heat retention (energy performance)? Noise resistance? Or just closest round metric number to the traditional?

I'm not sure why the metric standard differed so much from the imperial, in all honesty. All sensible assumptions mentioned though.

 

[ajohn]

LOL I have a lathe and a milling machine at home. King Henry's thumb was the source of the Inch. It's a curious fact that reasonably sized micrometers can reliably measure to 1/10,000" it takes a well made one and needs a bit of practice. Others measure to 0.001" and factions of that can be guesstimated pretty accurately. Then came metric 25mm mics. Not to be out done a vernier was added but measured to some fractional number rather than a decimal point. Then came digital so measured to 0.001mm compared with 0.00254mm for a 1/10,000" mic. That is achievable, 0.001mm isn't. The lead screw on an imperial machine can be set to 0.001" so work can be done to 0.001" +/- 0.0001" pretty easily. It's odd that Henry's thumb relates so well. Metric manual machine do not work out so well. Part of that is down to an assumption that these machines can't be used that accurately and also due in some respects to metric threads being specified by pitch rather than TPI.

Both of my machines are old and imperial. Largely as there isn't anything similar and as well made available in metric.

 

[ajohn]

I'm not sure why the metric standard differed so much from the imperial, in all honesty. All sensible assumptions mentioned though.

Metric has distinct advantages in the scientific area as various things are tied together better. No ft lbs etc or lbs ft in a horse power for instance or odd number of watts. The original basis of the meter was actually way off from what it should have been though.

I'm happy working in both metric and imperial but when it come to say strength of materials I found it impossible to visualise what say tensile strengths specified in say kg per square meter meant. Lbs or tonnes per square inch ok as more easily related to the size of actual parts. People started using per cm^2 but soon after were told no the only units that exist are mm and m. This is down to ISO. Go to the countries it all came from though and they do use cm and decimeters. Reason simple - saying something is about 600mm wide is essentially stupid so say about 6 decimeters or 60cm instead. It's harder to judge 60cm than 24" so we might say about 2ft. The metric system also has it's holes. A 1cm cube of pure water should weigh 1 gram. It's close but not correct. This is where ccs came from but can't used that any more and has to be ml as units can only go in 1 and 1000, 1,000,000 etc. The UK billion goes and gets replace with 1,000 million rather than 1million millions but the USA started that.

This sort of system fits in better with calculators as well. Go back before these and there was a lot of use of fractions as easier to work with in some areas than decimal.

 

[Brigadier]

Reminds me of the joke about the retired engineer and the bricklayer.

The engineer has the brickie around to build a garden patio and wall. The engineer is a bit of a braggard; he hangs around the work, blowing smoke up his own arris and generally boring the brickie, who keeps his head down and his work up.

"You know," the engineer says, "I used to make parts for some of the most advanced fighter planes ever designed. But I can't tell you about them, Official Secrets Act and all that!"
The brickie just keeps working away.
"you know, I used to make the machines that made some of the best racing car parts. Won all over the world, those cars did!"
Still nothing but hard graft from the brickie.
"You know, I used to work to one thousandth of an inch tolerance. ONE THOUSANDTH OF AN INCH! INCREDIBLE! Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?"

The brickie pauses, looks up from the wall, and says "I just work to cock-on, and leave it at that."

 

[noseall]

Metric has distinct advantages in the scientific area as various things are tied together better.

This sort of system fits in better with calculators as well. Go back before these and there was a lot of use of fractions as easier to work with in some areas than decimal.

I think you misunderstand.

Measurements aside - the points raised were more about the large differences between metric and imperial doors. Its not like they have rounded up imperial sizes to particularly whole metric numbers either, apart from metric doors being a whole 40mm thick (as opposed to 35mm).

 

[ajohn]

I think you misunderstand

I do. Just pointing out some differences in the 2 systems.

Back on big numbers. It seems some aircraft are flying about fully packed with passengers between countries. No checks or hindrances. One shown on TV came from Ireland to Heathrow. Another places within Europe. In countries that really have it under control people who land have to isolate for 14 day when they land. Korea found they needed to enforce that. A man from Ryanair mentioned that there was no point in distancing in an aircraft due to the air conditioning and air recirculation. Trains it seems are being disinfected daily. Maybe some one needs to come up with a viral test for aircraft especially the air conditioning.

 

[motorbiking]

Since today is hump day - thats a 19% drop w/o/w

 

[JohnD]

does that include deaths at home and in care homes?

 

[motorbiking]

Yep - I've redone it all

 

[JohnD]

if that shows total deaths are dropping, that's good.

Care home infection rates have been so high that I wonder if some of them have lost all that are going to die.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...patients-suspected-coronavirus-nhs-hospitals/

 

[motorbiking]

The trend has been heading that way for some time. It all got screwed up when the data set expanded as the drop was being masked by the increased scope. I personally find it easier to predict using comparable day of the week as this sorts out the reporting issues.

If the model works - we should have numbers around 550-600 tomorrow.

 

[ajohn]

They have provided a slide for hospital entries now but an estimate. I think the hard ones come out tomorrow but done on a by the week basis.

I'm inclined to see it as more levelling now rather than dropping.

 

[motorbiking]

it would be interesting to see the demographic of the intake. Are we:
- improving survival rates or
- running out of old/vulnerable people