On 2009/05/07, at 8:55 AM, Stan Jakuba wrote:
Bruce:
Using GW has little to do with it being known or unknown. Any number
of energy units in use are not known to somebody (many!) and that is
one of the reasons why the science/engineering illiterate American
politicians cannot agree on the energy issues. …
Dear Stan,
One problem with this approach is that GW is not an energy unit at all
— it is a power unit.
Perhaps 'one of the reasons why the science/engineering illiterate
American politicians cannot agree on the energy issues' is that
scientists and engineers do not make the distinction between energy
and power clear at all when they use these two distinct physical
realities and their respective units, joule and watt, as if they are
interchangeable.
After all, energy and power are as dissimilar as distance and velocity.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
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