Just to answer part of that, Norm, the �ngstr�m is metric, but not SI.
Light years were never metric (or "customary"), as they are units of
distance expressed independently of either metric or WOMBAT measurement
units.
In spite of their not being SI or even metric, I like light years. They
certainly convey, to me, the staggeringly huge nature of the distances they
depict. And, unlike values of a more modest size, they don't affect the
everyday process of measuring or quantifying.
I'll now go and stand in the corner for saying that. <g>
Bill Potts, CMS
Roseville, CA
http://metric1.org [SI Navigator]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of Norman Werling
> Sent: May 08, 2001 16:05
> To: U.S. Metric Association
> Subject: [USMA:12716] Re: From 1 yottameter to 1 femtometer
>
>
> Scott & all,
>
> As I have often admitted, my interest in SI-metric is because measuring
> would be so much easier for everyone in all areas of life.
>
> My modem is pretty good because on automatic this zipped along quite
> quickly. Then I put it on manual and jotted down the light
> years, microns,
> angstroms and fermis on a copy of Jim Frysinger's Prefix Compendium.
>
> It appears that they used the word 'micron' for a micrometer
> (�m) or 10 to the -6 power. Then 'angstroms' filled in at 10 to
> the -7, -8,
> and -10 powers. Then fremis filled in at 10 to the -13 and -14
> powers. Thus
> one fremi is the same as one femtometer at 10 to the -15 power.
>
> On the other end of the scale, light years were shown from 10 to the 16th
> power all the way to 10 to the 23rd power. Obviously they didn't
> use 'exa',
> 'zetta', or 'yotta'.
>
> Did they use SI with terms that I don't know to be SI? Or are they mixing
> some of the earlier metric systems into this.
>
> I know there have been threads before which discussed 'light years' and
> 'angstroms', but I don't recall 'fermis'. I hope that I am not suggesting
> too technical a thread with this question, although perhaps I would
> understand some of it this time around.
>
> Norm
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott Clauss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: 2001May08 16:03
> Subject: [USMA:12710] From 1 yottameter to 1 femtometer
>
>
> > This is sort of fun.
> >
> > Try this website to see the orders of magnitude fly by:
> >
> >
> http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/
index.html
>
> This may bog down with slower modems.
>
> They notate in SI mostly, but also use light years, microns, angstroms,
and
> fermis.
>
