2002-11-17 Neither have I. Let us see how it would work. Now, if you chose your value for c in feet per second and your mass in pounds, you would get a result in feet squared pounds per second squared. There is no equivalent FFU unit to this. Or for the record, there is no combination of FFU units that can be used that will result in a presently used unit (such as BTUs) in a coherent manner. Somehow the formula in FFU would not be E=mc^2, but E=FFmc^2, where FF equals the fudge factor needed to make the formula work, and it will vary depending on the units used on the right side of the equation to get the desired unit on the left side.
Seems like an exercise in futility to me. But, that is what normally occurs anytime someone attempts to calculate in FFU. John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Naughtin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2002-11-17 12:39 Subject: Re: [USMA:23420] Re: A quote that I want to counter Dear John, To add to your remarks, one of the fundamental equations in atomic bomb design is the Einstein equation: E = mc^2 where energy (E) is calculated in joules from mass (m) in kilograms and the speed of light (c) in metres per second. I suppose it is possible to use this formula using old (foot-pound) units but I have never seen it done that way and I have never heard of anyone doing it that way. Cheers, Pat Naughtin CAMS Geelong, Australia on 2002-11-18 03.09, kilopascal at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > 2002-11-17 > > Actually this topic was discussed many times on this list. I will reiterate > my contribution for you. > > We got to the moon because of one man. That man was a German by the name of > Werner von Braun. Werner von Braun once stated that he loathed the American > measurements and never used them. He designed everything in metric. But, I > think he used the cgs subset. Still he conceived and calculated only in > metric units. But, as was the practice at the time, others working under him > converted his designs into FFU for manufacture. If it wasn't for von Braun, > there never would have been a trip to the moon. > > When von Braun retired and then died in 1977, NASA was run by others. Also, > as all of the old Peenem�nde Germans (do a google search to find out more > about Peenem�nde or see > http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/history/vonBraun/Visit/VILLAGE.HTML) who > came with him, also have retired and/or died off, NASA deteriorated into a > mess of mistakes and errors. > > Can't speak much for the A-bombs, but to my knowledge, the work was done > mostly in the US by Fermi. Being Italian born and educated he most likely > calculated in metric. Also, there are a lot of scientific units that do not > have FFU equivalents, so of course, SI has to be used. > > John > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Matthew Zotter > To: U.S. Metric Association > Sent: Sunday, 2002-11-17 10:18 > Subject: [USMA:23414] A quote that I want to counter > > > 2002 NOV 17 SUN > > Once I ask someone, "Why don't we use SI?" > Response, "Inch pounds put an american on the moon and dropped the A-bomb on > Japan, so they're good enough for me." > > So does anybody know if the Apollo missions were done in SI or US Customary > Units? > I know that a lot of Nuclear research is done in SI, but was the Manhattan > project in SI? Was the first bomb made with is mix of SI and inches? > > Matthew Zotter
