Metric Time or Decimal Time
Converting from the ‘Minkukel’
or normal time system to a Decimal time system
Stes de
Necker
Clocks are everywhere, and almost everybody
wears a watch. On each computer screen there is a clock ticking the seconds,
minutes and hours away. Hundreds of times each day we want to know what time it
is.
Our
time keeping is however not so up-to-date.
Whenever
we measure something (length, area, volume, weight) most of us use a
decimalized (base 10) system: the metric system. Except when we measure time.
So why
don’t we use the metric system to measure time?
The
only reason for not using a metric time system is that switching would give us
a big headache and it would take years to get adjusted to it. The same reason
why some minkukel’s still use ounces, miles and gallons.
The metric system is used (in most civilized
countries) for measuring all kinds of things, including length, area, volume,
weight or mass, and even currency. We are used to measuring all these in a base
10 system. A kilometer is thousand meter, a centimeter is 1/100 of a meter, a
liter equals 1000 milliliters, 1000 grams is a kilogram, etc.
But time is measured in a different way.
Twenty four hours in a day, sixty minutes in an hour, sixty seconds in a minute,
and yes, when we measure in fractions of a second we suddenly do it the metric
way and we talk about milliseconds. Isn’t it time that we also use the metric
system for measuring time?
People
who think in ounces, inches, gallons and miles don’t have to
read on!
For
time keeping we use a “minkukel”
approach with twenty four hours per day, sixty minutes per hour, and sixty
seconds per minute. This is a sexagesimal (base 60) numeral system.
Let’s explore how it would be to use Metric
Time. Days would be the same, because the length of a day depends on the
rotation of the earth. But we will have to change the length of hours, minutes,
and seconds.
How we do it now The metric system
24
hours per day 10
hours per day
60
minutes per hour 100
minutes per hour
1,440
minutes per day 1,000
minutes per day
60
seconds per minute 100
seconds per minute
3,600
seconds per hour 10,000
seconds per hour
86,400
seconds per day 100,000
seconds per day
What does this mean for the length of hours,
minutes and seconds? A second will get slightly shorter. Minutes will be a bit
longer. And hours will take much longer. Metric hours are 2.4 times the hours
as we know them now.
Convert "old" time to Metric time
1
metric second = 0.864
"old" second
1
metric minute = 1.44
"old" minute
1
metric hour = 2.4
"old"
hour
What
does it mean in practice?
There is no AM and PM anymore because we have
only 10 hours in a day. Noon is at 5:00. If you are used to work from 9:00 AM
to 5:00 PM, the metric clock means that you have to start at 3:75 (i.e. quarter
to four) and by 7:08 you can call it a day.
Breaking
world records
The world record ice skating on 5,000 meter
is now 6 minutes and 3.32 seconds (Sven Kramer, November 2007). In the metric
system this record would be 4 minutes and 20.51 seconds. This looks faster but
it is exactly the same. But breaking the record should be easier because metric
seconds (and thus hundredths of a second) are a bit shorter.
Abandon
hours, minutes and seconds
A proper metric system for time would
probably drop the use of hours, minutes, and seconds. The standard unit
would be the day, and the metric hours would be called decidays, the minutes
would be millidays, and a metric second would be 10 microdays.
Or
keep the seconds
If we keep seconds as the basis for metric
time, then a minute will be called decasecond, an hour will be 10 kiloseconds,
and a day is 100 kiloseconds.
But
let’s see how it would be if you were wearing a metric watch. The length of a
day depends on the rotation of the earth, so a day is still a day. But within
the day we will have to change the length of hours, minutes and seconds to a
base 10 system.
Time Metric Time
24 hours per day 10
hours per day
60 minutes per hour 100
minutes per hour
1,440 minutes per day 1,000
minutes per day
60 seconds per minute 100
seconds per minute
3,600 seconds per hour 10,000
seconds per hour
86,400 seconds per day 100,000
seconds per day
How
does metric time relate to “normal” time. Metric seconds are a bit shorter
because we have slightly more of them in a day. Minutes will be longer, and
metric hours are much longer than what we are used to. Here is a table
converting time to metric time.
Time versus Metric time
1 metric second = 0.864 “normal” second
1 metric minute = 1.44 “normal” minute
1 metric hour = 2.4 “normal” hour
Below is a
link to the time converter Website where you can convert from normal to decimal
time and vice versa.
http://www.springfrog.com/converter/decimal-time.htm
JUST IMAGINE, IF WE NEED MORE HOURS IN A DAY WE JUST MULTIPLY EVERYTHING BY 10 AND WE CAN HAVE 100 HOURS IN A DAY!
JUST IMAGINE, IF WE NEED MORE HOURS IN A DAY WE JUST MULTIPLY EVERYTHING BY 10 AND WE CAN HAVE 100 HOURS IN A DAY!
Enjoy converting to decimal time!
Much better metric hour time measure.
ReplyDeleteOriginal def. of the meter. 10,000 meters
Pole to equator at prime meridian. Earth circumference = 40,000 km.
400 grad circle (100 grads per quad) is said
To be metric circle.
Wouldn't it be great to have a 40.000 metric
Hour day? If you overlay all of these measures with zero based at the prime meridian. The metric hour will have 36 min.
and 2160 seconds. No change in the metric
Second ... The basis of the cgs and mks systems of metric measure. We can't change
This measure of the second!
Bobragot@aol.com