Bill: If you were going to use the atomic symbol from the periodic table for hydrogen, you would write H2, not H. Similarly, you wouldn't use O for oxygen. You'd use O2 for oxygen and O3 for ozone. It's irrelevant, but I couldn't help remembering the following: This is the tale of poor old Fred. We shall hear from him no more. What he thought was H2O Was H2SO4. Bill _____
Bill Potts <http://wfpconsulting.com/> WFP Consulting 1848 Hidden Hills Drive Roseville, CA 95661-5804 Phone: 916 773-3865 Cell: 916 302-7176 _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill Hooper Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 09:47 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:41357] RE: symbols vs. abbreviations On Jul 9 , at 11:24 AM, Pierre Abbat wrote: "Mg" is two symbols. If you have 1 Mg Mg, how many flashbulbs could you make? OI doubt whether anyone would write that. If we were writing about magnesium, we would probably write "magnesium", not "Mg". In your example above, I think I would write: "If you have one milligram of magnesium, how many flashbulb could you make?" If you had a quarter henry induction coil that was cooled by liquid hydrogen, would you deliberately obfuscate your meaning by writing: "I have a 0.25 H H cooled inductor." This sort of thing may be cute or funny but it's not realistic. Regards, Bill Hooper Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA ========================== SImplification Begins With SI. ==========================
