Online Unit Converter

June 11, 2009 9:01 PM

UnitConversion.orgis quite the resource to easily convert between different units of measurement. It has over 2100 units in 78 categories, which range from those that are common, such as, length, weight, volume, currency, velocity, and pressure, to more specialized categories like magnetic flux density, electrostatic capacitance, and surface tension.
posted by netbros (27 comments total)

Yes but can it do this?
posted by mhjb at 9:17 PM on June 11, 2009 [4 favorites]

Nice idea, horrible interface. For example, try converting 10 Pascals to PSI. Was not obvious for me. Then tried '10 Pascals in PSI' in Google. Was expecting this to work, but it didn't. However Wolfram Alpha gives the goods:

http://www22.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=10+pascals+in+psi
posted by unSane at 9:20 PM on June 11, 2009

unSane, Google worked for me:
http://www.google.com/search?q=10+pascals+in+psi
posted by RichardP at 9:24 PM on June 11, 2009

Graphcalc is free and has a nice conversion button that requires only a mouse.
posted by Brian B. at 9:30 PM on June 11, 2009

This is the one thing Wolfram Alpha turned out to be useful for the other day. I was trying to figure out how small a microchip would have to be if it operated at a terahertz. I typed in "wavelength of light at 1 terahertz" and...

Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.

Then I tried speed of light / one trillion hz and I got the right answer. But google also worked, so it wasn't all that impressive. WA's output was prettier though.

Google and WA are far better for this kind of thing because you can do math with them, you can use all kinds of formulas with all kinds of units, and they'll get converted for you
posted by delmoi at 9:35 PM on June 11, 2009

This is another netbros post which explains what one site does. It has, as is usual in these posts, a number of links to things within that domain and which, taken as a whole, give the impression that they're being sold, somewhat lazily, off a template and intended to offer link juice.

Sometimes there's just the one link. Sometimes they don't seem spammy at all.
posted by dmz at 9:42 PM on June 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

UnitConversion was around before Google started doing conversions, I think. Or at least it was definitely around before I realized that Google did conversions...

If you need to do a specific conversion, these days I'd probably try Google first just because it's there at the top of the browser. But UC is good if you want to play around with the input and output units, or see other units for the same measurement. Sometimes I get a kick out of discovering obscure new units via the options there.

I only have basic cable, OK?
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:47 PM on June 11, 2009

RichardP, apparently the case makes a difference to Google. Weird. Especially as the correct capitalization throws up the incorrect answer!

http://www.google.com/search?q=10+Pascals+in+PSI
posted by unSane at 9:48 PM on June 11, 2009

dmz: "This is another netbros post which explains what one site does. It has, as is usual in these posts, a number of links to things within that domain and which, taken as a whole, give the impression that they're being sold, somewhat lazily, off a template and intended to offer link juice.

"Sometimes there's just the one link. Sometimes they don't seem spammy at all."

So? It's just part of highlighting what they though was interesting on the site. I've got several posts like this too.
posted by Mitheral at 9:58 PM on June 11, 2009

which, taken as a whole, give the impression that they're being sold, somewhat lazily, off a template and intended to offer link juice.

dmz, I clicked through the links in your comment but still don't know what you are saying. You point out that netbros has a posting style that includes multiple links to pages within his main like, which is implying.......what exactly?
posted by Roach at 10:00 PM on June 11, 2009

Ugh, just ignore dmz's post. Threadcrapping of the worst kind.

meta is over here.
posted by empath at 10:21 PM on June 11, 2009

Best inadvertent unit conversion-search: "10k half marathon".

That crazy Boltzmann constant.

Or did I see that here on metafilter already?
posted by GuyZero at 10:30 PM on June 11, 2009

Especially as the correct capitalization throws up the incorrect answer!

Nope. SI unit names are lowercase. The corresponding symbol is capitalized if derived from the name of a person. Hence pascal and Pa.
posted by ryanrs at 10:49 PM on June 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

If you are on a unix box this looks like it's just a web front end to the awesome "units" application.
posted by aspo at 11:23 PM on June 11, 2009

I buy my units by the gross, so this site is useless for me.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:35 AM on June 12, 2009

I wonder how hard it would be to make a prank fork of open source GPS software that reported in leagues, furlongs and rods?
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:11 AM on June 12, 2009

It's odd that the units aren't in alphabetical order in their tables.
posted by digsrus at 4:36 AM on June 12, 2009

No rods to the hogshead? FAIL.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:47 AM on June 12, 2009

Google does that
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:25 AM on June 12, 2009

From the FAQ:

The "e" stands for exponent. So 4.12e+04 is a convenient way of saying 4.12*104, or 4120000.

Ic^k.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 6:55 AM on June 12, 2009

Google can't convert ells to feet, though. I finally know how long Sam Gamgee's elven rope was.
posted by bonecrusher at 7:08 AM on June 12, 2009

Yes, but what site can I use to find out what calculation this is the answer to.
posted by rusty at 9:09 AM on June 12, 2009

Still looking for one that tells me how many Libraries of Congress the new iPhone is.
posted by ceribus peribus at 9:16 AM on June 12, 2009

I have the inside back cover of my Thermodynamics book for this.

(I can also tell you the saturation temperature of water for like *any* pressure!)

(*is a member of the 778 club*)
posted by rubah at 7:30 PM on June 12, 2009

Rusty, I'd think that level of energy density would be referring to something radioactive.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:53 PM on June 13, 2009

I've been using Onlineconversion.com for years. It claims 5000 units.

I've found it useful for blood sugar conversions. Stupid USA can't do it like the rest of the world. *grumble grumble*
posted by deborah at 10:24 PM on June 13, 2009

Deborah, do you work in health care? I've never found a glucose meter that can't be set to either measurement (other than the sidekick).
posted by BrotherCaine at 11:22 PM on June 13, 2009