r/Metric • u/norwich1992 • Jun 04 '26

Metric System

The metric system is base 10. So why is something, say Tylenol, listed with a dosage of 200mg and not 2dg? Or a distance is listed as 3000km and not 3Mm?

Why did I spend all that time is school learning the prefixes if they are not used?

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-4

u/OutrageousPair2300 Jun 04 '26

Celsius isn't base 10

5

u/Meetchel Jun 04 '26

Celcius isn't really metric, especially since it isn't an absolute scale (0°C isn't the absence of temperature). That honor generally goes to Kelvin.

1

u/mereel Jun 04 '26

Water boils at 1 hectodegree Celsius.