student asking question

Why doesn't the United States use the metric system?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

The United States doesn't use the metric system mainly because of time and money. When the United States was founded, they adopted the British Imperial System (IS) of measurement. During the Industrial Revolution shortly after, expensive factories were built and equipped with machinery already using the Imperial System of measurement. After this, the Imperial System has stuck and become standard in the United States and has not been changed simply because it would take a lot of time and money to do so.

Popular Q&As

04/18

Complete the expression with a quiz!