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Kilogram Reference Losing Weight
doubleacr writes "Ran across a story on CNN that says the "118-year-old cylinder that is the international prototype for the metric mass, kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing weight — if ever so slightly. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, southwest of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies.""
The Kilogram is defined in reference to the chunk of metal in Paris. It's the *definition* of the Kilogram.
Therefore, the Kilogram is not getting lighter.
We're all getting heavier.
If you look over history, governments have taken metals that were supposed to be a certain weight, and mysteriously removed weight from them and still called the weight the same thing.
Look at the standard weight known as the "dollar" (thaler). It used to be the equivalent of 1/20th of an ounce of gold. Then it was 1/35th of an ounce of gold. Last month that same dollar weight standard was 1/650th of an ounce of gold, and today I believe it is 1/711th of an ounce of gold.
The Roman Empire leaders also had mysteriously disappearing weights... Their Denarius lost over 99% of its official weight over just a few hundred years.
It is definitely a mystery...
Ah, so that explains the obesity epidemic, but my ever increasing middle indicates that the metre must also be shrinking at the same time.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
... why Americans use ounce-feet (or something) instead.
How much on the black market for a microgram off the ole standard?
but don't worry, it will regain the weight after a couple of months.
This is called sublimation. And it's the first thing that I thought of myself as well.
WARNING! This girl exceeds the MAXIMUM SAFE standards established by the FDA for BRATTINESS
If that old lady who plugs that vacuum cleaner into the UPS every day at 05:00 would stop cleaning it, there would be no such problems with gravity!
You need to drop at least 250 micrograms to really experience the magnitude of the kilogram, man... Wow, Mr. Mackie, Drugs -are- bad. It's not just reference mass lost -Where is my mind? -you thieving Pixies. woooo-oooooh.
The wife: Don't you think I am gaining weight ?
Me: No honey, it's just the kilogram that is getting lighter.
foot-pounds and even inch-pounds. It's so neat.
"The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it!"
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
So time is speeding up then?
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Terrorists can't threaten a country's freedom and democracy. Only lawmakers and voters can do that.
Date: September 16, 62002
/var/lib/reality/core/constants/MassCalulator.rb /tmp/MassCalulator.rb.orig /var/lib/reality/core/constants/MassCalulator.rb /usr/sbin/reload_constants.rb
Location: God's Court
"God": My angels, we have a problem. The Universe we created 6000 years ago is about to die.
"Angel 1": Holy shit dude, you suck. You were supposed to create the universe for eternity. This is like, what the fifth time?
"Angel 2": What are the humans figuring it out again?
"God": Well, frankly, yes. A few are close, again. They keep learning as we expected, but we didn't account for how fast they would learn. All these exponentials. As you all know, the fabric of their reality only works as long as no consciousness figures out how I did it. Once they do, we are morally obligated to treat them as alive.
"Angel 1": Can't we just fuck with them again? You know, turn off a few suns or create another particle or something?
"God": (Sighing deeply) We don't have much choice. We have to do something sublte, yet significant... Bob, would you go ahead and start changing how mass is calculated. Make it something that will be hard to find.
Angel 2 smiles, and turns around to his machine, and starts typing furiously...
sudo cp
sudo emacs
sudo
The screens shift slightly, a few numbers flutter
"Angel 2": It is done, Joe.
"Angel 1": Hey, who wants to grab a beer?
--
My future is coming on;think twice, that's my only advice;Tóg do chroísa. Tar trí na stoirmeacha.
This is almost true, although it's 1000 cubic cm or 1 litre rather than 10 square cms. Mathematics, however, has evolved.
10 cubic cm can be described as the volume of a cube with ten cm per side, or 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000 cm3. At least that's how it was. These days, multiplication has mutated slightly, so 10 x 10 is now 99.9999994482 +/- 0.0000000002. This means that the mass of a litre of water has indeed changed slightly, while the standard kilogram remains correct. In fact, the mass of a litre of water is now subtly different depending on the shape of its container, an effect which is more evident with larger containers. A 50 litre cube of water without handles is indeed heavier than a 50 litre flexible bag with a nice long handle attached to a harness.
While this doesn't currently pose any major problems, I for one pity the engineers when cartesian geometry evolves opposable thumbs.
I don't therefore I'm not.
Really? Wow, that's even bigger news! The kilogram reference is losing mass but somehow maintaining weight!! Is this unexplained increase in the Earth's gravitational field localized or general? What strange phenomenon is increasing gravity by the precise amount required to offset the reduced mass?
This observation of yours is going to require us to rethink large parts of physics.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Proof at last that the imperial system of weights and measures is superior to that silly "metric" fad....
If you think the kilogram is in bad shape, consider the dire fate of the Newton (the SI unit of force, a.k.a. weight). Newton's been decomposing for centuries -- there's no way he weighs the same as he used to!
A while back the meter was defined artificially, by some marks on a post.
Then someone got the idea to peg it to another unit. Time and space are related, and the conversion between them is the speed of light. So the solution to the problem was to adopt a precise definition of c, thus defining the meter in terms of the second (defined elsewhere) and the speed of light (a constant).
Couldn't we peg the kilogram to either the meter or the second as well, using another fundamental constant as the conversion. Planck's constant is the obvious one. Here's a clunky definition:
Define the joule to be "The energy difference between two states which interfere with a frequency of 1.50919067 × 10^33 cycles per second" or "6.626068 × 10^-34 joule is the energy difference between two states which interfere with a frequency of 1 cycle per second." What is a second? That's defined empirically, based on a transition in cesium. Or you could define a joule as some fraction of the energy carried by a photon with such-and-such wavelength, or however you want to do it.
Now you've got the joule, the meter, and the second defined. The second is the only empirical one; the other two are defined in reference to it and two fundamental constants of the universe, h and c.
Then you define the kilogram as that mass which, when moving at a speed of 2N meters per second, has a kinetic energy of N joules, in the limit of small N (to dodge the relativistic correction). Or you could calculate the relativistic correction at 2 meters per second and put it into the definition.
Shave a little off the kilogram reference, everyone who measures their weight in kilos gains a little. US residents are largely unaffected, and it helps squelch stories about the American obesity epidemic. I'll bet if you turn the Secretary of Health and Human Services upside-down, 50 micrograms of metal shavings drops right to the floor.
I just want to know what a klingongram is; a measure of mass or a method of communication.
Ok, I got a flash light and a dirt devil. Anyone have a watch? Preferably with a seconds hand. Lets check how accurate this is.
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation.
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
I remember hearing some years back about a graduated set of calibrated weights sent to Kennedy Space Center -- very expensive, environment-controlled copies calibrated against the standard in Paris. The set arrived in good condition, but the quartermaster who received them had instructions affix an identification plate to all inbound goods received, and complained that some of the smaller weights had turned out to be too small to drill and rivet...
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
Obligatory xkcd reference
I blame global warming, myself. If only the US had ratified Kyoto, this wouldn't be happening.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
...an Al Gore film about this someday.
Table-ized A.I.
Yeah they just made up weird standards to confuse us after they'd sorted out the whole year thing. The people who invented time - the french - actually have watches that go up to a nice round 100, and have 1000 days every year. That's why a lot of europeans can be caught napping in our afternoons, or having more than 3 meals per 'day'. I can't say any more at this juncture.
which is totally what she said
Sir, you are suggesting caesium is responsible for obesity. I find that rather hard to believe.
If that's an unceasing chucklefest for you, then I'm pretty sure you need to get out more.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
It must be pretty embarrassing to have the user name "PhysicsPhil" when you make a mistake like that.
Clearly, the kilogram reference should be constructed of cesium-133. This will remove all ambiguity.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.