METRIC SYSTEM 



3760 



METRIC SYSTEM 



The abbreviations given in the above tables are 

 those officially adopted by the International Con- 

 gress of Weights and Measures. 



Equivalent Measures. The following tables 

 give the equivalents of the principal units of 

 the metric system and those of the English, 

 Canadian and United States system : 



deposited at the United States Bureau of Stand- 

 ards in Washington. In 1893 the United States 

 adopted the meter and the kilogram as the 

 fundamental standards from which the yard 

 and pound are derived. In the United States 



3600 

 the yard is now legally defined as -^= of a 



Metric System 



Meter = 1.093 yard 

 = 3.281 feet 

 = 39.370 inches 



Kilometer^ 0.621 mile 



Square Meter = 1.196 square yards 



= 10.764 square feet 

 Square centimeter^ 0.155 square inch 

 Square kilometer = 0.386 square mile 

 Hektare = 2.471 acres 



Cubic Meter 



Cubic centimeter : 

 Stere 



: 1.308 cubic yard 

 : 3 5.3 14 cubic feet 

 : 0.6103 cubic inch 

 : 0.275 cord 



Length 



Surface 



Volume 



Capacity 



Liter = 1.056 U. S. liquid quart or 



[0.878 English liquid quart] 

 = 0.908 dry quart 

 = 0. 264 U. S. gallon or 



[0.220 English gallon] 

 Hektoliter= 2.837 U. S. bushels or 

 [2.75 English bushels] 



English Measurements 



Yard = 0.9144 meter 

 Foot =0.3048 meter 

 Inch =0.0254 meter 

 Mile =1.609 kilometer 



Square yard = 0.836 square meter 

 Square foot =0.092 square meter 

 Square inch =6.45 square centimeters 

 Square mile =2.590 square kilometers 

 Acre =0.405 hektare 



Cubic yard= 0.764 cubic meter 

 Cubic foot = 0.028 cubic meter 

 Cubic inch =16.387 cubic centimeters 

 Cord = 3.624 steres 



U. S. liquid quart = 0.946 liter 



Dry quart 

 U.S. gallon 

 [English gallon 

 U. S. bushels 



=1.1 11 liter 

 =3. 785 liters 

 = 4.543 liters] 

 =0.352 hektoliters 



Weight 



Gram = 



Kilogram = 

 Metric ton = 2204. 62 

 Carat = 3.08 



15.432 grains 

 0.032 troy ounce 

 0.352 avoirdupois ounce 

 2.2046 pounds avoirdupois 

 pounds avoirdupois 

 grains avoirdupois 



[English bushels = 0.363 hektoliters] 



Grain = 0.0648 gram 



Troy ounce =31.103 grams 



Avoirdupois ounce =28.35 grams 

 Pound = 0.4536 kilogram 



Short ton = 0.907 metric ton 



These tables contain the chief units of both systems. All other measurements can be easily calculated 

 with the aid of these tables. 



The metric system having become an inter- 

 national system, it has been decided by dele- 

 gates representing most of the civilized coun- 

 tries to establish an International Bureau of 

 Weights and Measures. This bureau is now 

 located at the entrance to the park of Saint 

 Cloud, near Paris, on neutral territory ceded 

 by France for that purpose. Here are kept the 

 international standards, or prototypes of the 

 metric system, namely, the meter and the kilo- 

 gram, which are made of a special alloy of 

 platinum and iridium. Two exact duplicates of 

 these standard measures have been sent to 

 every government that took part in the estab- 

 lishment of the international bureau. The 

 standard duplicates sent to the United States 

 were received by President Harrison at the 

 White House on January 2, 1890, and are now 



meter, and the pound, as 



of a kilogram. 



2.204622 



Several attempts have been made to intro- 

 duce the general use of the metric system in 

 the United States. As far back as 1790 Thomas 

 Jefferson, then Secretary of State, presented to 

 Congress a report recommending the intro- 

 duction of a decimal system of weights and 

 measures. Again in 1821 John Quincy Adams, 

 in a classical report to Congress on weights and 

 measures, strongly recommended the adoption 

 of the metric system. Several later but unsuc- 

 cessful attempts have been made. O.B. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 



Gram 

 Kilogram 



Kilometer 



Liter 

 Meter 

 Weights and Measures 



