Remind me, why cant gram be the base unit?
From: Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:10:44 +1100 To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Cc: USMA <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:40315] Re: kg Dear Bill and All, Thanks for your comment. Yes, you are correct; I intended the word gry as a replacement for the word kilogram. I'm sorry that I didn't make this clear. (Note that Bill Hooper's criticism of this suggestion is at the bottom of this email). I should have said: On 2008/01/30, at 2:06 AM, Pierre Abbat wrote: The problem with using "G" for the grave is that it has since been used for the gauss. Even though the gauss has been replaced with the tesla, more people would think "gauss" when they see "G" as a unit symbol. Pierre Dear All, I would like to suggest the word 'gry' as a replacement for the word kilogram in the International System of Units (SI). the unit, gry, would replace the kilogram as the standard unit of mass as defined by the artifact, 'Le Grand K' that is currently held by the BIPM (until such time as a suitable new, non-artifact, definition is developed for the gri). The new unit, gri, would have the symbol 'G'. Perhaps now is the time to re-suggest the word 'gry' as an international unit, only this time for mass rather than length. I would pronounce this as in 'angry' and 'hungry'. As a unit, gri, seems to have several properties that might make it useful: 1 It is a short word 2 It has only one syllable 3 It is not used elsewhere in the English language and I suspect that it is not used much in other languages (although I don't know if this is the case). 4 It has a connotation of being an abbreviation of the word, 'gravity', which is a property shared by all objects with mass 5 It fits well with the prefixes and it is easy to pronouce either alone or in combination (say out loud: nanogry, microgry, milligry, gry, kilogry, megagry, gigagry etc). 6 The word gry has a long (classical) history in that it is derived from the ancient Greek word, gry, where it meant 'a small amount'. This use seems to imply a small amount of mass rather than a small amount of length but my Greek isn't up to such subtleties. 7 The idea of using a gry as a measuring unit (for length) goes back to John Locke in 1679 only 11 years after John Wilkins developed the original idea for an international system based on a 'universal measure'. 8 Thomas Jefferson probably developed his ideas for a decimal measuring system from John Locke's gry but he used the word point instead in his 1790 report. 9 The clash with the gauss is not a great issue as the gauss is deprecated anyhow. Surely it's time for our magnetic friends to move on! 10 The gry could then have the symbol G The web site at: http://www.onlineunitconversion.com/gry_to_shackle.html <http://www.onlineunitconversion.com/gry_to_shackle.html> says 'In 1813, the gry was revived in another decimal measurement scheme in Britain.' but I have never heard of such a scheme at that time. Can anyone help me with details of a decimal measurement scheme in the UK in 1813? Of course there is the small problem of the gry riddle (see: http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/article008.html <http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/article008.html> ) but I digress as this is definitely off topic. Cheers, Pat Naughtin PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/ <http://www.metricationmatters.com/> for more metrication information, contact Pat [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe to the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter at http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/ On 2008/01/31, at 8:16 AM, Bill Hooper wrote: > > On 2008 Jan 30 , at 4:56 AM, Pat Naughtin wrote regarding the suggestion of > "gry" for a unit of mass. >> 4 It has a connotation of being an abbreviation of the word, 'gravity', which >> is a property shared by all objects with mass > > This is not a good argument for the use of the gry as a unit of mass. > > Mass is much less associated with gravity than is force (specifically the > weight force). Mass is associated with gravity only in its relation to the > force of attraction between two bodies. The mass of a single body is a fixed > and measurable quantity regardless of the distance to any other object, > regardless of the mass of the other object or even the existence of another > object. > > This is not to say the the gry could not be a good name for a mass unit, only > that the above reason is not a good reason for it. > > Also, you did not specifically say this, but I assume you meant to suggest the > name "gry " to replace the name "kilogram". Am I correct? > > > > Regards, > Bill Hooper > Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA > > ========================== > SImplification Begins With SI. > ========================== > > >
