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Kilogram Reference Losing Weight

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the incredible-shrinking-alloys dept.

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.""

4 of 546 comments (clear)

  1. Haha! by Twisted64 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    So am I! But thankfully I'm not used as a reliable reference weight.

    --
    Consciousness is a myth. Trust me.
  2. Re:It must not lose mass! by CowboyBob500 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I can't believe I got this far down the page before anyone mentioned that it's a unit of mass and not weight.

    Bob

    --
    Listen to my latest album here
  3. Re:The Kilogram is not losing weight by Grech · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    There is no 0.99999(&c) == 1 argument. It is a fact.

    Lemma:The set of Real Numbers is dense
    Meaning:For any two Real Numbers A & B such that A > B, there exists a Real Number C such that C > B and A > C.

    1. By definition, A > B implies that (A - B) is a positive Real, specifically noting that this means (A - B) > 0.
    2. A - B is a positive Real implies that (A - B)/2 is also a positive Real less than (A - B) but still greater than 0
    3. For completeness, note that (A - B)/2 being Real implies that B + (A - B)/2 is also Real.
    4. (A - B) > (A - B)/2 implies B + (A - B) > B + (A - B)/2.
    5. (A - B)/2 > 0 implies B + (A - B)/2 > B
    6. Recall A == B + (A - B)
    7. Therefore, A > B + (A - B)/2 > B
    8. B + (A - B)/2 meets the definition of C shown above and the Lemma is proved

    Claim: The number N, defined as 0.99999(&c) is infinitely close to 1 without actually being equal to 1.
    Meaning:Define a Real Number N such that for any number A such that 1 > A and A != N, N > A. We claim that N != 1

    1. 1 is Natural, and therefore Real by definition.
    2. For illustration, 1/3 == .33333(&c)
    3. For further illustration, N == 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 and is therefore Rational, and therefore Real.
    4. 1 != N implies either than 1 > N, or N > 1. We take the case that 1 > N
    5. 1 > N, 1 Real, N Real implies that there exists a Real C such that 1 > C > N by the Lemma shown above.
    6. The above contradicts the Claim.
    7. The Claim implies its own negation, and is therefore false.
    8. N == 1
    --
    It may not be just, but it is fair, and that is more important.
  4. Re:The metre must be shrinking then... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Finally these penis-enlargement pills will have an effect. YAY!