[Keiyla]

I thought I was ok with science stuff, but now I'm all confused. Isn't the definition of a kilogram, 100X a gram? (milli, enti, deci, *unit* deka, hecto, kilo) And a gram is so many grains? etc, etc. Why does this article make it sound like a kilogram's weght is independent of what the base unit is?

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/0...19-502-ak-0000

Roundest Sphere to Measure Kilogram


June 15, 2007 — Scientists are hoping to redefine the kilogram by counting the number of atoms in the roundest objects ever made. So for the first time, a kilogram would relate to a universal constant, which by definition will remain constant, as long as certain basics of the universe don't change.
It means that the kilogram of today will be exactly the same in 5000 years, explained Walter Giardini of Australia's National Measurement Institute (NMI), which is part of the international team working on the new definition.
"It will be redefined so we don't have to all reset our instruments," Giardini said.
For most of us, though, a kilogram will remain a kilogram. It's just the way scientists define it that will change as this has implications for precision research.
The kilogram is the only base, or SI, unit still defined by a physical object, a bar of platinum-iridium alloy kept in a vault in Paris.
But over time, identical copies of this bar have gained or lost weight ever so slightly compared with the standard.
"We know that the kilogram is not perfectly stable so what we would like to do is to redefine the kilogram in a way that is independent of an actual object," said Giardini.
If the scientists are successful, the kilogram will one day be defined as a certain number of atoms, rather than as the mass of the metal bar in Paris.
The international project, known as the Avogadro Project, plans to link the kilogram to numbers of atoms through the Avogadro number.
This universal constant is the number of atoms in 12 grams of carbon-12, 1 gram of hydrogen or 28 grams of silicon-28.
This is where the perfect spheres come in.
CSIRO will make two spheres of silicon crystal, each 93 millimeters in diameter and with a mass of 1 kilogram (measured against the existing standard).
The sphere's crystalline structure contains evenly spaced atoms, which allows researchers to count them relatively easily.
A crucial step in the process is taking delivery of a cylinder of pure silicon-28 manufactured in Russia and turned into crystal in Germany. A representative of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is set to hand over the crystal to optical engineers at CSIRO's Australian Center for Precision Optics, who will cut, grind and polish the crystal into the two spheres.
"They can make it into a sphere which is much closer to a true sphere than anyone else has ever been able to make or can make at the moment anywhere in the world," said Giardini. "They're as near perfect as you can imagine."
Once the optical engineers have made the spheres, they will be handed back to the international team, including Giardini at the NMI, which will make the necessary measurements.OAS_RICH("x25");
The researchers have decided to work with a sphere because it is the easiest shape to measure accurately.
For example, the volume of a perfect sphere can be determined from just one measurement — the diameter.
Measuring the volume of a cube, by contrast, involves taking many measurements and there is more room for error, said Giardini.
The faces of the cube may not be flat or parallel and it would be difficult to maintain perfect edges on a cube.
"A sphere has no edges so it's going to last a lot longer," said Giardini.
The final standard will equate a kilogram with a certain number of atoms.
For example, it might be "1 kilogram is the mass of 5.0184625 x 1025 carbon-12 atoms at rest and in their ground state," said Giardini.
Once the standard has been established, spheres can be used as a concrete representation of that standard, but they themselves will not be the standard, he said.

[JoshuiMora]

he's in panama

[Keiyla]

I wonder if I should work on my rhetorical questions a bit more.

[JoshuiMora]

Originally Posted by Keiyla

I wonder if I should work on my rhetorical questions a bit more.

yes

[Noodle Boy]

Kilo means 10^3

Also kilogram is the "base unit", not gram, despite the name. The definition of a kilogram dictates what a gram is.

[Keiyla]

Originally Posted by Noodle Boy

Kilo means 10^3

Also kilogram is the "base unit", not gram, despite the name. The definition of a kilogram dictates what a gram is.

Really? Now that's something they really should have mentioned sometime in four semesters of college chemistry classes, I should think.

[Noodle Boy]

I don't understand your question!

[Pope Larry]

Originally Posted by Noodle Boy

Kilo means 10^3

Also kilogram is the "base unit", not gram, despite the name. The definition of a kilogram dictates what a gram is.

Fuck you, not for chemists.

[Noodle Boy]

Yes but in physics, which is what all your dumb sciences are based on.

[Pope Larry]

You make no sense.

[Wayward]

Originally Posted by Noodle Boy

Kilo means 10^3

Also kilogram is the "base unit", not gram, despite the name. The definition of a kilogram dictates what a gram is.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!

I think they made kg the standard instead of grams so their force measurements would make sense. Fuck dynes.

[Pope Larry]

if by winner you mean loser






































loser