Questions tagged [measuring-units]
Questions about units of measure
138
questions
0
votes
0
answers
9
views
Subject-verb agreement with implied subject [duplicate]
tl;dr Which is the appropriate verb in the following sentence?
Apparently, 2,000 steps [is/are] hazardous to my sleep.
I use a sleep app that calculates a (dubious) sleep quality value and tracks ...
- 149
0
votes
2
answers
73
views
What is the word to describe a variable whose value does not relate to any absolute unit of measure?
What the title says. I know there's a word but can't remember it.
To explain in more detail, I'm trying to state that while the variable is quantitative, the quantity is not referring to an ...
- 15
0
votes
1
answer
75
views
"Foot" or "feet" when referring to rope?
My friend, when referring to his landlord, said:
"what she could do with is 9 foot of rope"
I say it should be feet of rope, not foot. He says both can be correct: 'when referring to height ...
- 1
0
votes
2
answers
50
views
What's the 'name' for the variation of period units that end in 'ly'?
If I call week, month, year, day = singular unit
weeks, months, years, days = plural unit
What do/can I call = weekly, monthly, yearly (though maybe 'annually'), daily - ?
PS: I'm aware of this ...
- 109
1
vote
1
answer
402
views
Abbreviation for Ton
I went to wikipedia looking for the symbol/abbreviation for ton. t would be ambiguous since there is both a short ton and a long ton, which mean two different weights.
I cannot find a standard ...
- 143
1
vote
2
answers
84
views
Is there an equivalent of “nychthemeron” that specifically starts at midnight?
That is, is there a word for the 24-hour period starting at midnight?
I know that technically a day means either 24 hours
or the period of time between sunrise and sunset, and
that day and ...
- 19
1
vote
1
answer
53
views
Mentioning a physical unit after a series of values
I have problem deciding which one of the following sentences is correct considering the usage of second(s):
Computation times of the proposed algorithms are in the orders of 10^-3 and 10^-4 seconds, ...
- 13
5
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How do you distinguish between the two possible distances meant by "five blocks"?
In American towns and cities, blocks are not usually perfectly
square. If I am correct, the south–north side of a block is
several times longer than its west–east side is.
So five blocks can ...
- 10.1k
0
votes
3
answers
324
views
"Each/every 5 ml contains..." - which is correct?
Many drug leaflets for liquid dosage forms state how much of the active ingredient is found in 5 ml of the solution.
Would it be correct to state it as "Each 5 ml of the solution contains..."...
- 231
0
votes
1
answer
173
views
Does the currency sign (¤) go before, or after the amount?
Should the currency sign (¤) come before, or after the amount of money?
Should it be "¤ 1.00", or "1.00 ¤"?
Should there be a space between ¤ and the amount?
- 383
-2
votes
1
answer
76
views
Is it 0.5 ampere or 0.5 amperes? [closed]
If it's written as "0.5 ampere", shouldn't we write "0.5 hour" and not "0.5 hours"?
-1
votes
2
answers
58
views
Numerical agreement for 5000 buckets of water
5000 buckets of water is removed from a cubical water tank.
or
5000 buckets of water are removed from a cubical water tank.
I think the first one is correct because 'water' is an uncountable noun. Am ...
0
votes
1
answer
79
views
How to say non-USD currencies
How would someone say the following when spoken (i.e. a financial report):
USD currently trading at SGD $1.36
I think both (A), (B), (C) below are valid and common (using the bold word before the ...
- 31
1
vote
0
answers
311
views
Use of singular or plural form for decimal money units
According to these following articles:
The Chicago Manual of Style Online:Numbers: Q. When referring to decimals from zero to one, are they singular or plural?
Stack Exchage (English Language & ...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
122
views
What is a yard of (pudding, ale, etc.)?
I was just reading William and Ceil Baring-Gould's sadly under-Annotated Mother Goose, in which rhyme #274 is:
Hyer iddle diddle dell,
A yard of pudding's not an ell;
Not forgotten, tweedle-dye,
A ...
- 2,343
0
votes
0
answers
57
views
Can gallons be used for measuring size? And if so - how many inches is it?
I have found the following passage in a book.
"Stack 12 (based on the participation of 22 children) gallon-size, resealable plastic bags together. Staple them across the bottom to make the binding of ...
- 730
1
vote
1
answer
112
views
Thickness of a pencil, width of a dime, or as thick as a human hair
If a person wants to describe the dimensions of something to someone, they'll often relate the measurement of a thing to the size of an everyday household object.
Examples:
It's the thickness of a ...
- 505
0
votes
0
answers
50
views
measure of quantity: a hundred of bricks
According to the entry of "hundred" in the OED
Only in measures of quantity, the structure is a hundred of
bricks.
What does measure of quantity mean here, especially as opposed to a hundred ...
- 2,187
0
votes
1
answer
147
views
Plural or singular when being asked "what's the unit of a number"
Example 1: "What's the common measuring unit of the speed of a car in the United States?"
Do we say "It's mile per hour" or "It's miles per hour"?
Example 2: "Please enter the degrees of the angle:" ...
2
votes
1
answer
111
views
Hyphenating measurements in case of a fraction
I am now quite comfortable with the rules of hyphenating measurements (For example, 5-foot-long rod, 7-inch-long handle, etc.) However, what is the rule for hyphenation if the number is a fraction. ...
0
votes
2
answers
425
views
Possessive for abbreviation of a regular plural noun
How do you write the possessive for an abbreviation of a regular plural noun, when the plural 's' is not present in the abbreviation?
I want to write "ten kilograms' weight" in a scientific context ...
- 101
-2
votes
2
answers
177
views
Is there a word for a sixtieth of a jiffy?
One definition of a jiffy is that it is a sixtieth of a second, in the same way that a second is a sixtieth of a minute and a minute a sixtieth of an hour. Is there a name for the unit of time that is ...
- 115
1
vote
3
answers
287
views
Term for a “unit-ed” (versus “unitless”) quantity
What is a term for the class of measured quantities that have a unit, as distinct from those that are unitless?
This term describes any quantity with a unit:
5.3 seconds
$0.00
−17.28 metres
4½ ...
- 354
0
votes
1
answer
317
views
Why the paper size is called a fools-cap? [closed]
Usually the sizes are to be measured in any of the units. But to our amazement the paper size is called as FOOL'S CAP. This is not defining any measurement exactly but it throw a vague idea about the ...
2
votes
1
answer
12k
views
What is the official abbreviation of "week"?
I have tried searching in a number of places but could not find a reliable article/documentation that lists the official abbreviation of "week".
There were however a couple of articles that said that ...
0
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Should I capitalize the abbreviation for a unit of measurement?
I'm creating a table in which everything in the columns are being treated like titles- "Suggested Serving Size," "Flavor of Yogurt," etc.
So how do I deal with this one- "Profit per 16 oz. Container"...
- 1
-2
votes
1
answer
889
views
What does to be in your nth year mean? [closed]
A kid is 4 years and 7 months old.
Is he in his 4th year or 5th year?
Counting from the onset of birth
0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5.....
Between 0 and 1, one is younger than 1 year and I would count 0th ...
- 97
0
votes
1
answer
82
views
When verbally expressing metric units do people use decimal places? [closed]
I am writing a script for an audio description, and am including an estimation of a statue that is 1.5 meters tall. For metric users, would this be expressed in speech as:
"one point five meters" or
...
0
votes
1
answer
74
views
Why is it "Heating Degree Day(s)" but all others are degrees like zero degrees as in a thermometer? [closed]
I have read other questions about zero degrees or zero degree but why is it heating degree days and not degrees? It makes sense to say one degree but zero degrees holds true in until you use absolute ...
- 17
1
vote
0
answers
31
views
Handling ranges where the unit prefixes the number [duplicate]
If the unit follows the number, then according to the accepted answer of the Including units of a measure in a range , you can skip the unit for the first value, such as "1–5 ℥".
However, that ...
- 17.8k
2
votes
3
answers
173
views
Connotation of acreage
Merriam Webster defines acreage as:
area in acres
oxforddictionaries.com defines it as:
An area of land, typically when used for agricultural purposes, but
not necessarily measured in acres.
...
- 1,967
1
vote
2
answers
97
views
When to use yards or miles for distances? What unit to use for areas (hectares, acres, sqyards, sqmiles...)?
I perfectly know how to convert these units, but I don't understand if there's a specific reason for choosing one instead of another.
What troubles me the most about them is the difference between ...
- 143
1
vote
2
answers
106
views
What do you call the part of a quantity that isn't the unit (e.g. the "5" in "5 inches")?
I am thinking "value" is close, but I also want to use the word "value" for the whole thing.
A value of 5 inches...
in which case the "value" should be broken into the "___" and the "unit".
An ...
- 139
1
vote
0
answers
11k
views
Two days "is" or "are"? [duplicate]
I have heard about the usage of "be" in specific situations like 2 days, 5 dollars,...
For example:
Two days ____ enough for us
Should I use "is" or "are"? I see both of them are appropriate.
- 21
6
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Why isn't the yard used as a base unit for measuring heights?
I don't know if this is the right forum for this question, but, do what I would, I could not find a better one.
During my visit to London I stumbled upon something I couldn't quite grasp:
Why, even ...
- 85
0
votes
1
answer
865
views
How to properly use the "second" ordinal number with the "second" time unit? [closed]
What I'm trying to say:
"Look carefully at the second second of the video."
This might be grammatically correct but it's weird to use. What are some better ways to say it?
Context:
The sentence is ...
- 125
9
votes
3
answers
35k
views
How to write lengths of time in a short way with numbers
I am writing statistics results and I want to put a list of lengths of time.
In decimal values it will be, for example, 1.90 hours but this is not very human friendly.
Then I think I can use 1 hour ...
- 201
0
votes
0
answers
29
views
Do I put a hyphen between the number and unit? [duplicate]
For example, in the sentence:
I enforced a 60 minute time limit.
Should it be:
I enforced a 60-minute time limit.
Which one is correct?
user211545
0
votes
1
answer
6k
views
What is the meaning of "one-half meter"?
I have found this phrase that as a non-native English speaker perplexes me:
...returning images with a resolution of up to one-half meter per pixel.
The possible meanings of "one-half" to me are:
...
- 111
1
vote
4
answers
516
views
Unit prefix of zeroth power
Unit prefix for 10-1 is deci, for 10-2 centi, for 10-3 milli, for 10-6 micro and so on. Powers greater or equal one also have names: 101 is deca, 102 is hecto, 103 is kilo etc..
We can say, for ...
- 111
1
vote
1
answer
4k
views
Is “office hours” correct if it refers to a single hour?
My coworker is suggesting a change to “office hour” in this case. Is that more right?
I know “hour” as a unit should be singular when (and only when) there’s exactly one, but as part of the name for ...
- 70
12
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Should you say "0.9 second" rather than "0.9 seconds"?
When looking through the National Physical Laboratory's SI unit conventions, I have found a strange clause in their list:
For unit values more than 1 or less than -1 the plural of the unit is ...
- 6,981
0
votes
0
answers
227
views
Is it correct to say "1 feet 1 inches"? [duplicate]
Is it correct to say "1 feet 1 inches"? This site shows examples of such expressions. They might have been erroneously automatically generated, though.
Notes: I'm not sure who would ever ...
- 4,838
4
votes
1
answer
14k
views
Short forms for pounds and ounces? [closed]
I have been using ' for pounds and " for ounces for quite a while now,but it was pointed out to me today that my pet cat weighs 6 feet 9 inches.(l wrote 6'9" to a vet). Are these acceptable ...
- 41
1
vote
2
answers
5k
views
Six feet/foot five: Does adding "inches" affect the grammatical form of "foot"?
Is it possible to say "six feet five" (inches are left out here)?
Or is "six foot five" the only correct variant? Does incluing "inches" affect the grammatical form of "foot"?
- 195
2
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Use of space before a unit
We use space between the numerical value and unit in SI system. Is the same principle applicable to other units e.g. Year, week etc. I mean is it 1year or 1 year? 25wks or 25 wks? etc.
I found ...
- 121
6
votes
6
answers
2k
views
What would be the metric equivalent of “inching” (or a workable alternative)? [duplicate]
inching.
moving slowly/small degree of progress.
As in “Elon is inching his way towards Mars”.
“Metering closer to his goal” sounds … totally off. So how do I avoid using arguably antiquated ...
- 183
0
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Correct spelling for the abbreviation "FPS" (frames per second) [duplicate]
Well-known game journalists TotalBiscuit and Jim Sterling use [the number of frames per second] fps instead of 30FPS or 30 FPS, without an intervening space between the units and the following units (...
- 339
3
votes
1
answer
483
views
when is it appropriate to use double prime for inches in measurements
What is the correct usage?
10 × 10″
10″ × 10″
That is, is the double prime supposed to be on the first number or is it assumed to be the same as the second number when conveying measurements in ...
- 31
7
votes
1
answer
315
views
How do metric-users casually describe intermediate distances?
I'm writing SciFi in a hypothetical future where we Americans have finally switched to metric (hey, it's my world, I can make believe).
But being myself acculturated in imperial-units America, I'm ...
- 1,933