2001-2-28
11338 Joe Reid says the kilogram is "preserved with all precautions".
Metrologia
has had articles on change of mass of the standard kilogram due to chemical
reactions on the surface and maybe adsorption of molecules on the surface. I
wrote
to BIPM asking why it is not kept in a vacuum. I got no answer.
11320 Gene Mechtly You don't say what the word xxxx is.
?? Older grammar books say the possessive is always 's which I prefer.
We can say
"Let us go to Bill Potts' house and argue the pronunciation of giga."
or we can say
"Let us go to Bill Potts's house and argue the pronunciation of giga."
PS I go for the soft g (as in giant) for the first g in giga.
11351 John Brownridge Thanks for saying xxxx is "mass". Nobody else has
offered
a word yet. Stan Jakuba gives a Czech word (looks like Russian to me) but
does not
say what English word to use. Thanks, Stan. Maybe we can use a Czech word.
11352 John Tauxe You are stuck on a meaning for the word "measure". Look
up
P. W. Bridgman on the subject of "operational analysis". All physics is
based on
such operations. For example, the mass of the electron has been measured.
The value
in kilograms is precise. Was it measured? Most assuredly, it was. But was
it
measured directly? Probably not. The point I make is that "directly" is not
a word that
is useful in the business of measurement.
We are not going to satisfy you about "direct" measurement. So you may go
your way.
We hope you are happy in your view. The rest of us do not care.
Robert Bushnell
