The metric system refers to a decimal measurement system that is agreed internationally. Logically the metric system is based on decimals which are easy to calculate and remember. The current system is very confusing with numbers and without a specific pattern. America is currently the only industrialized country that has not officially adopted the metric system. This makes it isolated, making it a barrier to trade because it leaves a country disadvantaged. For the current generation converting to the metric system is quite difficult but it will have long term benefits. The metric language was created with a lot of simplicity and ease in mind (Challen, 2010). This is because the only thing that anyone using it is required to do is to divide or multiply by the factors of ten. This makes it very efficient to use unlike the old system.
In the current globalized world we are competing for jobs in both science and mathematics while the rest of the world is using different measurement units. The English measurement system is hindering the USA from international trade because other countries do not want to use it, as they have already adopted the metric system. Lack of fluency in the metric system can obstruct communication and collaboration across borders. It can also lead to additional costs since America has to make more than one kind of products one for America and the other for other countries because they are on different units (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 1997).
The imperial system is confusing many consumers, manufacturers and the public in general (Challen, 2010). Children find it very difficult to understand the volume, the inches and the numerous fractions that are associated with it. In the metric system, the major features are a set of related base units and prefixes that are in powers of ten.
America should therefore move to the metric system because the English system of measurement is not just complex and confusing with many problematic questions but also has numerous disadvantages to the country, unlike the metrics system which is easy to understand.
References
Challen, P. C. (2010). The metric system. New York: Crabtree Pub.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.). (1997). The United States and the metric system: A capsule history. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology.
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