How many milliliters are in a 12oz can of Coke?

This might seem an odd question, but nevertheless a very easy one to answer.  Yes, you could look it up online, but wouldn’t it be quicker to pick up your nearest pop can?

Have you ever noticed how in America we seem to be very accommodating of measurement systems we don’t use?  For example, our banks’ signs will tell us the temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, food packages almost always have ounces and grams, and, to get back to the original question of this post, pop is often measured in ounces and milliliters.  Why do we do this?  Is it just to accommodate those from other countries?  Or is it for our own scientific community who prefers the Système international d’unités?  Is there another audience?

I will admit that the U.S. is practically the only holdout on the old Imperial System, but our society is nowhere near the brink of become “metric.”  In fact, I would argue that the use of “miles”, “inches”, “gallons”, and all the rest make up an important part of our unique cultural identity.

It’s interesting to note that as soon as you leave the U.S., you will not see Imperial units on packaging in other countries.  Even in our close neighbor of Mexico, beverages will be listed only in milliliters and the bank will give you the temperature only in Celsius.  Frankly, this seems to make more sense; the units of measure are those used by the society. 

Some say, “Why can’t the U.S. be like everyone else and adopt the Metric System?”  I say, “Why can’t the U.S. be like everyone else and only display the units of measure that people actually use?”

(In case you were wondering, the answer to the question of this post is 355mL.  In Europe, pop cans are 330mL, but we’ll save that discussion for another day…)