5 ms·
Somewhat off-topic: why "2k kilometers" instead of 2 megameters? I do realize that in daily life people rarely use distances of that order of magnitude, but the
by dpq 4y ago
Somewhat off-topic: why "2k kilometers" instead of 2 megameters? I do realize that in daily life people rarely use distances of that order of magnitude, but the semantic connections between kilobits<>megabits, kilowatts<>megawatts appears to be entirely accessible to essentially all adults, so why use the awkward "thousands of kilometers" instead?
- mertd 4y agoWe would only need 4% of the range of mega to express any earthly distance. I guess that's why we don't bother.
- AdrianB1 4y agoJust because people are so used to kilometers and for many people the conversion is too difficult. You overestimate the intelligence and education of average adults and I am dead serious about this, I did studied this a bit.
- bastawhiz 4y agoI'm admittedly American, but I've literally never heard "megameters" used outside of a classroom. I know what 1000km is like without thinking, but I have no immediate intuition for a megameter is unless I think about it.
- aradox66 4y agoBe the change.