SI Units and multipliers

[Einion Yrth]

RobDickinson said:

6000kg

Not to pick on Rob, but it's something I've noticed that I find strange and sub-optimal; The above is 6Mg - why don't we use it?

[Einion Yrth]

Mr E said:

The engineer in me wants to point out that the SI unit is the Kg.

So I'm happier with 6000Kg than 6Mg.

Fun fact, the Kg is the only unit that still requires a physical reference. Work is ongoing to to find a less variable measure.

Fair point, but that in itself begs the question of why a unit, isn't.
Plus we also speak in terms of thousands of Kilometres rather than Megametres, so my point stands.

[Einion Yrth]

A tonne, if you're British at least, is a Megagram. Not meaningless at all, meaning is defined.

[Einion Yrth]

FredClogs said:

Ton is far too ambiguous term to be useful, unless you specifically say Metric Ton, but why not say 1000kg ? You won't find ton used in any trade, technical or industrial context other than as a description for "a lot" or "a big un"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton

"The UK Weights and Measures Act 1985 explicitly excluded from use for trade many units and terms, including the ton and the term "metric ton" for "tonne"."

Ton != Tonne, and all the quote tells me is that we shouldn't call a Tonne a "metric ton" - although the seppos do.