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Harper Harrell
C Band
January 7th, 2019
Measurement Extra Credit
    In 1875, when the Treaty of the Meter was passed, the goal of the 17 nations represented was to have a common measurement system that was used internationally. This would make trade much easier, as before, one person’s definition of a unit would almost always be different than another’s. An example of this, which is given in the podcast we listened to earlier in the year, was purchasing bread in France before the Revolution. There were massive lines outside of bakeries since a lot of people were starving, and the bakeries could not keep up with demand. In order to solve this problem, they would make their loaves lighter but look the same, so that they could charge the same amount for them. The people became mad as they were getting cheated out of their money, and were not getting full enough from the bread, so they rioted to try and make a common unit that was used by all bakeries which would define the price of bread based on its mass. Because of many instances like this, the people revolted in France, and demanded for an international common measurement system, which was finally passed in 1875.
    After decades of the system evolving, the Treaty of the Meter became SI in 1960, and the scientific community made it their goal to have “a system truly based on fundamental properties of nature.” By 1983, all of the SI units were based solely on nature, except for mass, which was still based on the Le Grand K, a cylinder of platinum-iridium, that defined the internationally used kilogram for all. However, the vote passed in November of 2018 to redefine the definition of a kilogram to its amount in Planck constant. The Planck constant is “a quantity that relates a light particle’s energy to its frequency,” therefore making a kilogram defined by properties of nature, finally fulfilling the goal to have all seven SI units defined by nature.
    The reason why this seemingly minute and negligible change could be a “turning point for humanity” is for multiple reasons, the main one being that it makes all mass measurements much more precise. An example of this is pharmaceutical companies, they often deal with measurements that are one million times smaller than the kilogram. Before this redefinition, there could be noticeable imprecisions in the mass of the substances since their mass was defined by something one million times heavier, that only had precision to a very low extent. However, with the redefinition, the definition of a kilogram allows much more precision, as it comes from nature and can be checked against a more precise amount of light particle energy. Another reason why this change is so important, is because a precise measurement can be made anywhere in the world, or even universe, as the mass could just be checked against light’s particle energy. With more astronomical advancements on the horizon, this is especially exciting because if scientists were to come across intelligent life, they could send the “aliens” our definitions to let them know a bit more about human life. Another reason that this could be helpful in society, is because increasing precision often allows for more technological advancement because of the ability to be more certain when creating new inventions. The article claims that “every time humanity has increased the accuracy and precision of measurements, better technologies have resulted” which means that, if history repeats itself in anyway, it is highly possible this 150-year push could result in huge advancements in society.
Bibliography
≤ kg [Audio blog interview]. (2014, June 13). Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/kg
Materese, R. (2018, December 06). A Turning Point for Humanity: Redefining the World's Measurement System. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.nist.gov/si-redefinition/turning-point-humanity-redefining-worlds-measurement-system
Nasser, L. (2014, July 9). The Meter: The Measure of a Man [Web log post]. Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/meter-measure-man

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  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • HOW TO SUBMIT
  • Past Publications
    • 2019 Publication >
      • Scientific Research
      • Mathematical Exploration
      • Scientific Exploration
      • Computer Science
    • 2018 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Scientific Research
    • 2017 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Scientific Research
    • 2016 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
      • Scientific Research
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Artistic Creations
    • 2015 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Bell Curves
        • Birds Vs. Turbines
        • Energy in the Obama Era
        • The Future of Neuroscience
        • Gender Gap in Math
        • GMOs--Yes or No?
        • The History of Minecraft: How a Swedish Indie Game Came to Dominate the World
        • The Effect of Prozac on the Brain
        • Philae Lander's Discovery of Organic Molecules
        • Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbines
        • Your Own Worst Enemy: An Overview of Lupus
        • The Methylhex Ban
        • The Effect of Lyme Disease on the Immune system
        • Infectious Mononucleosis
        • Replacing CFCs
        • The Switch
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • The 43rd Figure
        • The Clock
        • The Collatz Conjecture
        • Constructing a Soccer Ball
        • Determining how Ballparks Affect Batter's Ability to Create Hits
        • The Rotating Conundrum
        • Pythagorean Puzzle
        • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
        • Kinetics Lab
        • Math in the Restaurant Business
        • Math as a Vessel for Social Change
        • Sustainability of Bottled Vs. Tap Water
        • Thoughts on the Lottery
        • Understanding Player Efficiency Rating
      • Scientific Research >
        • Communicating With Computers
        • The Mystery of Asthma
        • The Nanoscopic War Against Cancer
        • Phytochemistry
        • Solving the energy crisis with Intermediate Band Solar Cells
        • A Pain That Never Ends
        • Rapamycin Resistance
        • Ampacity of a Single Core Horizontal Cable
        • Morphological Properties of Texting Acronym Formation
        • cGAS and STING Expression
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Can Humans Survive the Climate Crisis?
        • My Experience as a Teacher's Assistant
        • Ted Talk Responses
        • Teens For Food Justice
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Chandelier
        • Deltoidal Hexacontrahedon
        • Dodecahedron Card Trick
        • Eye of the Triangle
        • Free Radric Delantic Davis
        • The Grid
        • What Does A Randomly Composed Song Sound Like?
        • Science Wing Mural
    • 2014 Publication >
      • Cover Photo
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Art Using the Fibonacci Sequence
        • Computer Generated Architecture and Designs
        • Mathematical Landscape
        • Math Art
        • Math in Music
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Algae Bio-Fuel
        • An Energy Alternative
        • Clean Energy In Transportation
        • Calorie Restriction
        • Creating Energy in the Modern World
        • Dietary Intervention Impact on Gut Microbial Gene Richness
        • Earthly Applications for NASA Technology
        • Explaining Relative Motion
        • Exploring Artificial Inteligence
        • Gamma Function
        • How Leaves Work
        • Hydrogen Fuel Cells
        • Music and Brain Development
        • Programming Calculators
        • The Science of Microsatellites
        • Sci-Fi Taser
        • Sloane's Gap
        • Sustainable Energy: Why Some Ideas Shine Brighter than Others
        • Understanding The Galvanic Cell
        • The Virus: Our Unforeseen Philosopher's Stone
        • What Are Fuel Cells and How Do They Work?
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • Astrocytes Expressing ALS-Linked Mutated SOD1 Release Factors Selectively Toxic to Motor Neurons
        • Big Bang
        • Dictyostelium Discoideum
        • The Future of Solar Cell Technology
        • And Many More...
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Alternative Energy Sources, New but Unused
        • An Insight Into the Curious World of Ethnobotany
        • Challenging What We Think We Know
        • The Current State of American Education
        • Discovering New Numbers
        • Interview With an Architect
        • Life of Pi Response
        • Mathematical Art Video Commentary
        • Missing from Science Class
        • The Museum of Math
        • The Inside Scoop on a Real Mathematician
    • 2013 Publication