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Q Rael
January 13, 2019

Unification : The New Kilogram



At the end of the French Revolution, with the monarchy defeated and the new republic in power, the kilogram was born from the idea of global agreement. Using one type of unit, the entire globe should be able to communicate with one another about such a fundamental aspect of our world. The sole purpose of the kilogram was to understand one another clearly, but the way that it was defined at its creation has some issues.

For the longest time, the kilogram had been defined as the weight of an special little object. This object, called “Le Grande K” was so special, that it was under the most careful protection in the most secret of places in the most delicate and precise conditions to ensure this royal object’s safety. Everyone in the world relied on this single object to define their unit, even though its prone to change. The reason that it’s under such protection in the first place was to make sure it never changed, but even that intense level of security was not enable to prevent it from losing mass ever so slightly. We needed a solution: something constant and clear and not reliable on insanely anal security.  Recently, the definition of the kilogram was changed. Now, a kilogram is the weight equal to an extremely specific electromagnetic force. At this period in time, the kilogram joins all other measurements with definitions based on natural constants. The meter is defined by a specific fraction of a light second. The second is defined by the amount of time it takes a certain particle to oscillate.

The Grande K was fragile. There is no real way to reconstruct it if it were destroyed. But now that we use these concrete constants, there is no need for our entire world to rely on such an arbitrary cylinder. We no longer restrict ourselves by sticking to arbitrary and meaningless definitions, but recognize the stability and strength of the world around us and embrace it.  
​

The most important thing about this force is that it can be replicated by any person around the world. With this truth, the goal of the creation of kilogram is now finally realized. It is only now that we can truly communicate completely with one another using the language of constants. At its creation, the kilogram was intended to unite the globe, and now, it finally can. The kilogram is no longer European. It is no longer French. It is no longer confined, kept away from the rest of the world. It’s as if the kilogram has finally been released and distributed across the globe. Because of its accessibility, the kilogram finally belongs to everyone, just as it was intended to be. Symbolically, the completion of naturalizing the standard base units is representative of global unification. There is no city, country, continent, or even planet that is not capable of sharing this knowledge.

For most of the people on earth, everything will basically stay the same. You’ll still weigh the same, you’ll still get the same amount of Arizona for 99 cents. That isn’t the point. The point of changing the kilogram was not to change things, but to keep them the same. The point of changing the base kilogram was to keep things consistent. By not relying on some random thing, the new definition of the kilogram has made our understanding of our own world more clear. Measurements themselves are completely arbitrary; they are only the method in which we describe the qualities of things that we observe around us. Units only matter because we agree to prescribe meaning to them. But if the units that we follow are constantly changing, this system of agreement and communication all falls apart. We changed the kilogram to be consistent with ourselves. With this new definition comes precision, clarity, and stability.

We did not change the kilogram to change the present. We changed it in order to secure the future. From this point on, we have set in stone the fundamental ways to communicate the world around us. There is no changing the standard base units now, and through this solidification of the kilogram, we can now ensure that the future of the world has a stable foundation to communicate about the observable universe.



Works Cited

French Revolution. (2018, December 29). Retrieved January 13, 2019, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution
Ghosh, P. (2018, November 16). Kilogram gets a new definition. Retrieved January 13,
2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46143399
Grave (unit). (2018, December 31). Retrieved January 13, 2019, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_(unit)
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-m
easurement-system
Veritasium. (2017, July 12). How We're Redefining the kg. Retrieved January 13, 2019,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo0jm1PPRuo


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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