If you have size 12 shoes and each segment of your fingers is 1 inch

@helenS how would the measurement system change that? You could line up buttons, assign thier length to a number and print it on a measuring tape. The only thing that matters is that everyone building the spaceship uses the same tape lol

@GuyWithOpinions Yes that's true
.. oh and I would assume the guys who launched the Apollo were engineers (and not just loyalists of their president), so they almost certainly used metric units to calculate things like the momentum or the forces acting upon the rocket.

@helenS things that involve international participation would use metric because most of the world switched to metric. It doesnt reflect intelligence or ability. Its just a tool to copy the size of an object accurately and repeatedly. You can use any units as long as its consistent.

@helenS i guess imperial uses fractions and metric uses decimals so if you want to calculate something really small you would have an easier time with metric but you can still do it it imperial. In canada we use both.

@GuyWithOpinions Never heard anything like 6.231 x 10^{-11} inches
...although even that would be semi-metric, because 6.231 x 10^{-11} is not imperial.

@helenS it would be expressed something like 6' 2" 12/128

@GuyWithOpinions Wow
... and π to 10 decimals?

@helenS its expressed as an algebraic equation

@GuyWithOpinions Where is this from, please? That's beautiful!
<== 3 tulips for you

@helenS i just googled pi in imperial units haha

@GuyWithOpinions Thinking about it, it appears to me that "imperial" is not just a different unit system, it's a different number system.

@helenS its a different measurment system. Still uses the same numbers.

Heres some random facts
fractions were in invented in ancient Egypt, decimals were invented in ancient arabia. The british invented the imperial system 1824. The metric system 1790 by a french guy and a British guy.

Numbers themselves go back thousands of years ago. China invented the abacus in 3000B.C.

@GuyWithOpinions Oh I mean "imperial" cuts numbers in half, right? And not in decimals.
0 -- 1, and in the middle is 1/2
1/2 -- 1, in the middle we have 3/4
3/4 -- 1, middle = 7/8
7/8 -- 1, middle = 15/16
15/16 -- 1, middle = 31/32
followed by 63/64, 127/128, 255/256
etc...
See? It's binary, in a sense

@helenS hmm.. im not sure. Iv never had to use fraction that advanced before. But 0.1 is 1/10.

@GuyWithOpinions I think 1/10 doesn't exist in that system. The nearest number would perhaps be 13/128?

@helenS why would 1/10 not exist? I would think 13/128 doesnt exist because 13 is odd.

0.1 is called the tenths place. 0.01 is hundredth etc.

@GuyWithOpinions 7/16 and 9/16 do exist (I have a 9/16" wrench), and the numerator is odd. The denominator is always equal to a number 2^n, where n=1,2,3,4,(...)

@helenS i guess thats true too. Maybe theyre both just as accurate but decimals are easier for a person to calculate? Maybe its just different

@GuyWithOpinions Cutting a line in half is easy because all you need is a ruler and a compass. Cutting a line in ten segments of equal length is perhaps not even possible with a ruler and a compass. So – from a workshop point of view, imperial is more practical.

@helenS wouldnt you just take the total length and divide by 10?

@GuyWithOpinions How so? What tools would you use? I mean it's a practical question. Imagine you have a wood stick, and you want to divide it in 10 segments of equal length, having only a ruler and a compass.

@helenS if i was in the woods and had to break a stick into 10 equal segments id just continue breaking the stick in half until i have 10 pieces. Or break one segment the size i need and line it up with the rest of the stick and break it the same length until i get to the end.

@GuyWithOpinions That will not work. By breaking it in half you'll have 2, 4, 8, 16, (...) pieces, but not ten.

@helenS if i had a finite amount of sticks and they had to be perfect though, i see how it might be a challenge but theres probably some other practical was to get it.

@GuyWithOpinions A screw might help, where ten turns are equal to the length of the thread.