July 2, 2012

The Kilogram Cabal

The Kilogram Conundrum 1

Robert Rathe

A large, expensive device, like this one at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is needed to gauge the Planck kilogram, the proposed new standard measure of mass.

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close The Kilogram Conundrum 1

Robert Rathe

A large, expensive device, like this one at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is needed to gauge the Planck kilogram, the proposed new standard measure of mass.

By Theodore P. Hill

The International Committee for Weights and Measures is about to reach a decision that could affect the teaching and understanding of basic science for the next hundred years. It has passed a resolution proposing a radically new definition for a ubiquitous word: "kilogram."

Is a new official definition of the kilogram necessary? The rule of thumb—that a kilogram is about the mass of one liter of water—works perfectly well for everyday use. When we read that our granola bar