At 13:13 -0500 2001/06/16, Gene Mechtly wrote:
>On Sat, 16 Jun 2001, Louis JOURDAN wrote:
>
>> ... Advanced people know that a daN is approximately a kg...
>
>Louis,
>
>Please correct your statement above. I'm certain you do not mean the
>statement as written.
>
>Your statement might mislead beginners to believe that the newton and the
>kilogram are units of the same quantity, but which would the quantity be,
>mass or force?
>
>Certainly, "advanced people" (people who understand SI) do not confuse
>mass (unit = kilogram) and force (unit = newton)!
>
>Please know that I maintaining complete confidence in your thorough
>understanding of SI, even though this prod might sting a bit.
>
>Gene.
Gene, I thank you for granting me a complete understanding of SI and
of the difference between force and mass.
What I meant by "advanced people" are those people who are just above
basic education and have been told that "force" of a crane is now
expressed in a new unit, whilst formerly there was a confusion with
"mass" expressed in kilograms (or tons).
Allow me a comment : we, the proponents (or zealots ???) of SI and
metrication in the US should take great care not to appear as
"terrorists" of the purity of SI. If not, we run the risk of
discouraging a number of people otherwise ready to be converted.
Louis
