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From: atbowler@thinkage.on.ca (Alan Bowler)
Subject: Re: degrees Celsius
Message-ID: <E4oF9p.3pG@thinkage.on.ca>
Sender: news@thinkage.on.ca
Organization: Thinkage Ltd.
References: <5c5gh1$3pr$1@salvelinus.brooktrout.com> <32e8a243.1679054@news.mindspring.com> <5c9e7i$aph@fountain.mindlink.net>
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 17:01:01 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.std.internat:6961 sci.lang:69260

In article <5c9e7i$aph@fountain.mindlink.net> genew@mindlink.bc.ca (Gene Wirchenko) writes:
>dgary@mindspring.com (D Gary Grady) wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>>Almost all conversion factors are trivially easy to remember in the
>>metric system, whereas in the traditional American system one has to
>>memorize whole boatloads of odd ones. And on top of that one has to
>>deal with a number of confusing weirdnesses: a nautical mile isn't the
>>same as a statute mile, a U.S. gallon isn't the same as a classic
>>Canadian one, gold and lead are weighed using different-sized ounces,
>>maritime shippers use long tons that way more than truckers' short
>>tons,  and so on...
>
>     A long ton is a metric ton (1000Kg).

No it isn't.  A ton (sometimes referred to as a "long ton"), is
20 hundredweights, and a hundredweight is "obviously" :-)
112 pounds making the ton 2240 pounds.  A tonne (metric ton) is
about 20 pounds short of that.
