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​Joey Spungen
Chemistry E Band
January 14, 2019
Redefining the World’s Measurement System
Around the time of the French Revolution, over 250,000 different units existed, which made trade extremely difficult, and even led to people paying unfair prices for bread, as there wasn’t a standard to hold sellers to.  This led to the creation of a new, standardized system of measurement called the SI system. The creators of the SI system sought to create a single set of measurement standards that was based on nature and timeless, so that it could be used by people everywhere, forever.  However, the meter, which was supposed to be one ten-millionth of the distance between the equator and the North Pole, was calibrated slightly inaccurately, so that the bar made to represent the meter was not based off nature. The kilogram was based on the mass of a liter of water, but it was represented by a physical object, called “Le Grand K,” and as time went on, the mass of that object actually decreased.  Clearly, this system did not meet the original goal of the creators of the SI system, who wanted the units to be available “for all times, for all people,” and have the units be based on nature and timeless, and it was not ideal for making accurate, precise measurements.
Over time, though, all of the SI units, including meters, seconds, and more, except the kilogram were redefined to be based on constants of physical science.  For example, the meter is now based off the speed of light. On November 16, 2018, a vote confirmed that the kilogram will become the final SI unit to be redefined to be based off of natural constants.  It will now be defined using the Planck constant, which relates a light particle’s energy to its frequency, and the definitions of the meter and the second, which are already based on physical constants.
Finally, hundreds of years after the SI system was first conceived, all of its units have met the goals of the system’s creators, and eliminated the problems the units faced when they were represented by physical objects.  We can now advance in science and industry at a greater pace than ever before, and possibly, the redefinition of all seven SI units will allow us to solve problems and understand our world in a way that we couldn’t have otherwise.
While the redefinition of SI units may not affect my life or many other people’s lives directly, its impact on science and industry can affect all of our lives indirectly.  With the redefinition of a kilogram, we finally have an unchanging, standardized, precise definition for the unit of measurement for mass, which has numerous benefits for science and industry.  For example, when the kilogram was based off of a physical object, accuracy decreased when the thing you were measuring was much larger or smaller than a single kilogram, but after the redefinition, that is no longer an issue.  This will lead to more accuracy and precisions in measurements, allowing us to test things that we couldn’t before, giving more accurate and precise results than ever. In industry, if a measurement of something very small or large is needed, that can now be completed more accurately and precisely, so better product testing can be done and products that require very precise, accurate measurements, such as drugs, can be made better.  In addition, any measurement can now be better repeated by others around the world, and we no longer need to regularly recalibrate our measuring tools, because we know our kilogram is unchanging, unlike with “Le Grand K,” and people now do not need to calibrate their kilograms against a physical object. This can lead to expansion in both science and industry, as experiments can be better repeated, and products can be manufactured the same way across the world without any issue.  Overall, while we might not feel the effects of the redefinition of the kilogram on a day to day basis, it completes the work of people from hundreds of years ago, and can genuinely allow for great advancement in science and industry.

Works Cited
Materese, R. (2018, December 06). A Turning Point for Humanity: Redefining the World's Measurement System. Retrieved January 13, 2019, from https://www.nist.gov/si-redefinition/turning-point-humanity-redefining-worlds-measurement-system
The Meter: The Measure of a Man | Radiolab. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2019, from https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/meter-measure-man
≤ kg | Radiolab. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2019, from https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/kg

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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