Pat,
Using the prefixes as you describe for joules, megajoules, etc.
would help people learn the practical application of prefixes.
Stan Doore
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
[email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 1:22 AM
To: U.S. Metric Association
Cc: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:50133] Re: Energy bills
Excellent letter, Pat! :-)
-- Ezra
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pat Naughtin" <[email protected]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2011 8:50:37 PM
Subject: [USMA:50132] Energy bills
Dear All,
I have just responded to an article at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/8395460/Energy-bills-what-the-jargon-means.html
as follows:
##
You write "Kilowatt hours – the standard measurement on an energy bill". This
is not so. Since 1889 the standard measuring unit for energy has been the joule
with the symbol J.
The joule was named by the British Association for the Advancement of Science
(BAAS) to recognise the research work on energy done by James Maxwell Joule, a
brewer from Salford in Lancashire.
The joule is the only measuring unit needed for all the different kinds of
energy in the world (kilojoules for food energy, megajoules for household
electricity, gigajoules and terajoules for nuclear reactors, and so on).
Since 1889, the alternatives are to use joules to measure energy or to use one
of the old pre-1889 loosely defined words associated with energy. I know about
199 of these old words but my favourite is the 'barrel of oil equivalent' that
refers to an oil barrel that never actually existed!
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
##
Pat Naughtin LCAMS
Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see
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