I was always under the impression that 1 gram was based on one cubic centimeter of water, which, in turn, also measures 1 mililiter of volume?
I didn't think the measure of a kilogram was based on an artifact. Is one CC/ml of water only approximately one gram?
EDIT: Ugh, somewhere along the line it was changed...
Originally defined as "the absolute weight of a volume of
pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a
metre, and at the temperature of melting ice" (later four
degrees Celsius), a gram is now defined as one one-
thousandth of the SI base unit (kilogram), or 1×10^3kg,
which itself is defined as being equal to the mass of a
physical prototype preserved by the International Bureau
of Weights and Measures.
As to "why", because the new definition is simpler, more consistent and easier to explain. By the way, your quotation from the gram definition page contains a glaring flaw -- the definition is 1 x 10^-3 kg, not 1 x 10^3 kg.
Reasonable people may differ, but to me, saying, "a gram is one thousandth of a kilogram" is self-evident and simplicity itself.
2 comments
[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 9.6 ms ] threadI didn't think the measure of a kilogram was based on an artifact. Is one CC/ml of water only approximately one gram?
EDIT: Ugh, somewhere along the line it was changed...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GramWho made that decision? When and why?
As to "why", because the new definition is simpler, more consistent and easier to explain. By the way, your quotation from the gram definition page contains a glaring flaw -- the definition is 1 x 10^-3 kg, not 1 x 10^3 kg.
Reasonable people may differ, but to me, saying, "a gram is one thousandth of a kilogram" is self-evident and simplicity itself.