Quote

Originally posted by ares1:
Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is a displacement ton?

This is just a guess, but I think it may be a unit of volume, being the volume of one ton of water. That is, 1000 liters. (1kg of water == 1 liter, and 1000kg == 1 metric ton)

I'm assuming that these are metric tons, not Imperial. It is, after all, several hundred years in the future. Even we backwards Merkins will presumably have come around to metric measurments by then.

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(This message has been edited by WickedDyno (edited 09-23-2001).)

I did some more calculations, and it turns out that, assuming my definition of "displacement ton" is correct above, one displacement ton == 1 cubic meter of volume.

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"I am astounded ... at the wonderful power you have developed -- and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever."
-Arthur Sullivan, unknowingly anticipating the Backstreet Boys upon viewing of Edison's talking machine in 1888

Why all these American units, though? Tons, pounds...
It's all a bit archaic, and I should hope that system would have finally been replaced by the metric, by EV's time...

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"...as we talked excitedly about shovels and precipitation..."

(This message has been edited by Veillord (edited 09-24-2001).)

There are metric tons, aren't there? And maybe the standard (English) system will have become widely used by the time of EV.

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--ares
"Out of all the sperm, I was the fastest."
Check out my new EV website: (url="http://"http://home.cfl.rr.com/aresev/")The Legion(/url).

Quote

Originally posted by Veillord:
Why all these American units, though? Tons, pounds...

Because EV is made in America. To tell the truth, I'm an American, and don't care for our measurements myself. Although, when I do run into metric units, I usually do rough conversions in my head, because I have a better sense of the English system, since I learned it first and use it more. Metric is far superior, but I don't have as good a sense of what a meter is as I do what a foot is. Everyone follow that?

And, if you think about it, ship lengths are given in meters.

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- Macavenger | e-mail: (url="http://"mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com")mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com(/url)e-gamerguy1@home.com

(quote)Originally posted by Macavenger:
**Because EV is made in America. To tell the truth, I'm an American, and don't care for our measurements myself. Although, when I do run into metric units, I usually do rough conversions in my head, because I have a better sense of the English system, since I learned it first and use it more. Metric is far superior, but I don't have as good a sense of what a meter is as I do what a foot is. Everyone follow that?:frown:

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(quote)Originally posted by Luke:
**I hate our stupid American system. Who decided to put twelve inches in a foot? Geez. I wish we used metrics.;)

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- Macavenger | e-mail: (url="http://"mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com")mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com(/url)e-gamerguy1@home.com**

(quote)Originally posted by Macavenger:
**Exactly. All scientists, even in the US, use metric. It's clearly superior to everyone with a brain. Sadly, none of our leaders who could change this have brains.;)

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(quote)Originally posted by Luke:
**Yeah... Bush is still using rods!:)

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Joe Burnette
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among all shapes, colors, sizes, and nationalities." -- Keith Laumer
**

(quote)Originally posted by Joe Burnette:
**He's that advanced? I thought he was using cubits;)

This, of course, begs another question: Can he count?

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- Macavenger | e-mail: (url="http://"mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com")mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com(/url)e-gamerguy1@home.com**

(quote)Originally posted by Macavenger:
**Nah, you're both wrong! He lines up rocks and counts them!;)

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In fact, tonnage is the only accurate measure of a spaceship's moving power. Volume doesn't really matter much; it's how much it is possible to hold and maintain decent thrust and maneuverability that counts. Even NASA uses mass to measure the shuttle's cargo capacity (really). So to be perfectly accurate, one should get less acceleration and turning as one loads more cargo, up till the max to still fly well... Oh well, it is, after all, just a game.

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If at first you don't succeed, use more duct tape.

Not to distract from the Bush bashing, of course. Carry on.

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If at first you don't succeed, use more duct tape.