[WP 34S] Ideas for improving unit conversions

[Bit]

(02-02-2014 07:46 PM)walter b Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 06:45 PM)Bit Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 04:44 PM)walter b Wrote:  About the different feet (of various kings and common men ): Please see p. 156 (of 244) for their explanations. What's wrong or unclear there?

As I wrote above, currently I only have access to the PDF manual (version 3.1, generated on Nov 30, 2012). I cannot figure out where page 156 is supposed to be in a different version of that document. Could you please give page references based on what's available online?

You find that on p. 140 (of 211) of the manual v3.1.

One thing is obviously wrong: The calculation given in the documentation for fathom is *1.8288 (which is the multiplier for the international fathom), whereas the WP 34S uses 1.828804 (which is the U.S. survey foot based fathom).

What I consider not only unclear but misleading is the inconsistency in how the 'US' notation is employed. With gallons and fluid ounces it designates the units that are commonly used in the United States but with feet and acres it refers to the rather obscure concept of survey units. The documentation does little to avoid the misunderstanding because I bet most people never heard of U.S. survey units and would (logically) assume that it simply means U.S. units. That's why I suggested abandoning the 'US' postfix for U.S. survey units.