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Alex Smith
E Band
​1/14/18

                                                                             Redefining the World’s Measurement System
                                                                                                   By Alex Smith

                   On November 16th of 2018, the dreams of scientists across the world came true; it was agreed that the kilogram would be redefined using the unchanging properties of nature. Previously, the kilogram was defined as the mass of an international standard kept in France, nicknamed “the Grand K.” Even though most of the units in the metric system were already based on constants in nature, it was not always this way. At the beginning of the French Revolution, there were approximately 250,000 different units of measurement in use, which made trade difficult because there was no consensus for how units were defined. During this period a great famine took place, and the people of France grew angry with bakers who cheated customers by reducing the amount of bread per one loaf over time, while keeping the price of one loaf constant. People began crying out for standardized weights and measurements. Once the revolutionary government took over, they made it their goal to create a system of units that were timeless and based on nature. For example, to create the meter, they tried to take one fourth of the circumference of the earth, and divided that by 1/10,000,000. To create the kilogram, they took 1/10 of the meter, cubed it, and filled it with water, took the mass of that water, and then created a metal cylinder with that same mass. This mass (the Grand K), was then precisely reproduced and distributed around the world, but the original was safeguarded in France. Until its new redefinition, the definition of the kilogram had been working well around the world. Unfortunately, after having been steamed and showered to be cleansed from contaminants, scientists measured the weight of the original platinum-iridium cylinder against its sister copies and found that it had ever-so-slightly lost mass. This discovery was quite troubling, as it meant that the world’s understand of the kilogram was now wrong, because the Grand K is always right (the definition can never be wrong). Eventually, almost all of the units in the metric system were based on physical constants. The meter was defined as  of the distance travelled by light in a vacuum over 1/299,792,458 seconds. The second was defined as “how much radiation corresponds to the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the Cesium-133 atom.” The kilogram, along with a few other units, were the only units without a natural and timeless definition. So, on the aforementioned date (11/16/18) scientists around the world voted unanimously in the 26th General Conference on Weights and Measures in Versailles to redefine the kilogram (along with other SI units that were previously not based on physical invariants). They decided to use Planck’s constant (a physical constant that relates the energy carried to a photon by its frequency), a fundamental factor in physics, to redefine the kilogram. This vote was a pivotal event in modern science and humanity because it ensured that the kilogram, a crucial unit in our everyday lives, will never change. It also means that anybody with the proper tools can determine the value of a kilogram. However momentous this vote was, the actual change in the definition of the kilogram is not scheduled to occur until the 20th of May this year. Nonetheless, when the change does come into fruition it will have a number of impacts. Because units provide assurance in stability in manufacturing, we may see an increase in production/commerce around the world given that companies will have a newfound confidence in the kilogram.  Perhaps even the United States may reconsider their stubborness and join the rest of the world in using the metric system. As far as day-to-day life goes, the redefinition will not have a large impact on us (or our bathroom scales). But, a change Packer students may notice, however, is new scientific instrumentation in the science department calibrated according to the kilogram’s new definition. Even though the redefinition of the SI units may not directly affect everyday life, at least we can rest assured that on May 20th of 2019, we will no longer have to fear the involuntary change of value of our units.


Works Cited


Materese, R. (2018, December 06). A Turning Point for Humanity: Redefining the World's Measurement System. Retrieved January 8, 2019, 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 | Radiolab. Retrieved December 30, 2018, from https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/meter-measure-man
Wei-Haas, M. (2018, November 16). The kilogram is forever changed. Here's why that matters. Retrieved December 30, 2018, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/11/kilogram-forever-changed-why-mass-matters/

≤ kg | Radiolab. (2014, June 13). Retrieved December 30, 2018, 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