On Sat, 20 Apr 2002, Ben Franchuk wrote:
> > [1] If I want to name the unit of length that's 1/1000 of a metre I call
> > it a millimetre. But if I want one thousandth of the standard unit of
> > mass, I don't call it a millikilogram :-).
>
> > > Also the kilogramm is, AFAIR, the last of the basic units which
> > > still relies on a prototype and has no definition on some nature
>
> It does so! Just the basic unit of nature they picked was not a real
> basic unit - it was the earth! The meter was something like 1/10,000,000
> the Earth's curumfrence going thru Paris and the North and South poles.
> The Kilogram's (derived from the meter ) volume was filled with water
> and thus you got a unit weight.
<PEDANTIC>
Ahem. Kilograms don't measure weight. Newtons measure weight.
</PEDANTIC>
Peace... Sridhar
Received on Sat Apr 20 2002 - 17:09:04 BST