tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433841880619171855.post3024069315156560297..comments2024-03-27T21:09:44.320+00:00Comments on Pat'sBlog: A Kilogram is a Kilogram is....Oops, Wait...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433841880619171855.post-40679933392799391682011-01-29T02:28:48.590+00:002011-01-29T02:28:48.590+00:00The fact that we can't even discern whether th...The fact that we can't even discern whether the standard kilo is getting heavier or lighter seems to place some serious doubt on our ability to devise and validate a superior method of measuring this. We might be out of our depth here. <br /><br />Could the kilo be defined in terms of the speed of light?Natehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447378242231039304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433841880619171855.post-21015063117932886232011-01-28T12:48:28.763+00:002011-01-28T12:48:28.763+00:00There are only two physical constants that we are ...There are only two physical constants that we are sure are fundamental, Planck's constant h and the speed of light in vacuum, c. Many feel there should be at least one more but what that would be, and even if there is another is controversial. I lean toward the electric charge e, but I am no expert in the subject.<br /><br />We can only probe so deep and "defining" things like "mass", "charge" or "spin" becomes problematic (other than how to recognize and manipulate them) as we can only probe so deep and have no idea what these things actually look like at the smallest levels. (Currently, treating the fundamental particles such as quarks and electrons as zero-dimensional point particles seems to work fine ... if not fully satisfying).<br /><br />There are of course, an incredible number of mathematical constants.Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433841880619171855.post-34067661395549336142011-01-28T12:47:41.528+00:002011-01-28T12:47:41.528+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.com