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BLOG: Confused by measurement Units — Is it just me?
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During this past winter break, record winter storms with subzero temperatures hit most of the northern parts of the United States. Still thinking about those subzero temperatures, I got confused about how to use easy math to convert these negative temperatures from fahrenheit (F°) to celsius (C°)!
Is it just me thinking about this trivial issue?
Is my confusion stemming from the fact that I had moved from a geographic location where I grew up and lived half of my life — the Middle East — to another location — the United States — where I am now living the second half with different measurement units used in these two locations? This is in contrast to people who have only been exposed to one measurement system, making them less concerned about different measurement units.
Maybe.
Or maybe it is just me. Because I always ponder about small things that other people may not pay much attention to because I pay attention to the details more than the average person.
Maybe. For example, when I start the switch in the car, I always enjoy the fact that I know what exactly happens after turning the switch — how the car starts then moves: from the switch compartment, to the battery, to the coils, to the carburetor, to the engine. I learned all of that from my late father who was a mechanic, who saw that curiosity in me as a child and taught me a lot of things that most of my peers did not pay attention to.
Whatever the case may be, I get confused with the measurement conversion. This confusion is not only limited to technical aspects within my profession as a physician, but also to other aspects of daily life situations, at large.
I am talking about the conversion from F° to C° and vice versa! I mean, during this recent record-breaking winter storm, our temperatures in Michigan dropped few degrees below zero, and in some areas (in other states) to as low as 50° F below zero.
In the summer, it has become easy for me to convert temperatures from F° to C°, all you have to do is subtract 32 then multiply the product by 5 and then divide by 9. So 68° F easily converts to 20° C. Since summer temperatures are typically in the 60 to 80s F°, and certainly always above 32 Fo, all the resulting equivalent conversions to Co will be in the positive.
In the winter, I find it easy to convert the temperatures, because we know that 32° F is equivalent to 0° C and therefore, for any temperature above 32° F, all you need to do is to apply the aforementioned equation and you get the result in positive C degrees. When the temperatures become below 32° F, the mental struggle begins: Now the F° temperatures are positive but the resulting Co temperatures should be negative.
How does the math work here? I realize that the concept should remain the same: You still subtract 32, and multiply by 5/9. But then what to do with the positive-negative sign? You get the point!
I will return to the temperature dilemma, but let me delve into the measurements confusion as it relates to medicine. I will borrow from a post on my blog from last summer, titled “International medical graduate, ICU and July 1st”. In the blog, I discussed the measurement units’ dilemma. The post discusses the difficulties that international medical graduates encounter upon traveling to the United States for medical training.
One cannot appreciate how difficult it can be to comprehend and conceptualize a measured entity in units one is not familiar with. These measurements become a thinking concept that translates into learned perception of dimensions and weight. It becomes rather spontaneous to imagine the build of a 180 cm, 72 kg-person; giving these measurements in inches and pounds to someone not used to the latter units requires a prior conversion maneuver. That is a brain drainer!
While the narrative was fictional, the aforementioned post in some ways was a personal reflection of experiences I had upon arriving in the United States for residency in 1992. To me, it was somewhat funny, however, that although the weight of a patient is measured and recorded in pounds- it would then be converted into kgs for calculation of medication doses and IV fluids!
Coming back to non-medical context, and to finish the discussion about the F° - C° temperature conversion, let me share why that is annoying to me, now that I should be used to the F° having been living in the United States for almost quarter a century. Because I still commute back and forth to the Middle East, and I communicate with family and friends over social media. When I talk/text with folks back home and they ask about the temperature in Michigan, I have to say the temperature in Celsius not Fahrenheit.
What about feet and yards versus meters for distance or length, and similarly miles and kilometers? For over 20 years in the United States, I have not yet gotten used to these conceptual dimensions: I still have a hard time figuring out the square footage of a house or apartment or office space. Distance wise, when we travel to Canada, to visit friends, as soon as we cross the border from Michigan into Canada, one begins to see the road signs in kilometers; to me it feels like back home!
In this context, I think that the metric system makes more sense; in other words, when the foot was taken as a measurement of distance, whose foot was it?
So, is it just me who is confused about measurement units, or are there other people who struggle with this as well?
Comments are welcome!