Metric Explained!

Here is your chance to brush up on metric before you come to Regina. Metric is actually really cool, and a lot easier than you might think. It's certainly easier to learn and more modern than the Imperial System (what Americans use). I've made you some colorful graphics to look at that hopefully make metric seem more cheery and less frightening to learn!

First of all, metric is based on increments of 10. The great thing about this is, you never have to worry about ridiculous measurements like 13/64ths; it's always whole numbers. So there are 10 millimetres in a centimeter, 10 centimetres in a decimetre, 10 decimetres in a metre, and so on. It works exactly the same for grams, and litres. The measurements in red in the chart below are rarely used; those in green are more common.



The MILLIMETRE is the smallest common measurement. It is about the thickness of a dime. Now isn't it easier to picture one millimetre than its Imperial equivalent, 13/32nds of an inch?



The CENTIMETRE is ten millimetres.



You can visualize a centimetre as being about the width of the opening on a wall light switch. People roughly calculate 2.5 cm to an inch.



The METRE is ten decimetres, or 100 centimetres. It's just a little over a yard.



A KILOMETRE is 1000 metres. People usually consider 100 km to be about 60 miles.



Which brings us to speed. If 100 km/h is about 60 mph, you can calculate driving times at 1 hr per 100 km. This is easy too, because if you imagine 100 km at 12:00 on a clock face, 50 is at 6:00, meaning 50 km will take you 30 minutes to travel, 25 will take you 15, and so on. Unless of course you drive like Uncle Raul, whose base speed is closer to 140 km/h.

You quickly get used to translating: 30 mph is roughly 50 km/h, 40 is 60, 50 is 80, 75 is 120. But just like any foreign language, you know you've got it when you start thinking entirely in kilometres per hour.



When you're driving, you occasionally need to fill up with gas, or frequently, if you drive a base speed of 140 km/h. A litre is almost the same as a quart, so you can roughly estimate gas prices by multiplying the price by four to get the per gallon price then multiply by .898 for the currency exchage to see what you're actually paying in US dollars. Actually, that's kinda complicated. Just try not to spend over 2 dollars a litre.



And finally, everyone is always asking how cold it gets in Regina. The city has a tremendous range, actually. The summers can be hot, averaging about +27 in mid summer and -20 in mid-winter. The highest temperature on recent record is +40 in June 1988 (phew), and the lowest was -43 in March of 1972 (brrr). For a really informative page on Regina's weather history, click here.

Here's a thermometer so you can compare Celsius with Fahrenheit. Being Metric, Celsius again makes lots of sense. Water boils at +100, and it freezes at 0. A balmy winter day is 0 and anything down to -10 is completely bearable, and things begin to melt at about +5.



So there you have it, an introduction to Metric. Now you won't have to feel entirely unprepared when you visit us Deep in Regina.

Next lesson: Canadian Vernacular, From Eh to Zed. Don't fake it by talking about curling, saying "eh" after every sentence and calling everyone a "Hoser;" here's your chance to learn to speak Canadian like a pro!