Yea, I'm just curious, I might be wrong, but I don't recall any other SI units having a kilo-prefix. Any interesting history behind this or is it just that the mass in grams would be too small to measure?
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it is just that the mass in grams would be too small to measure. Trade and commerce typically involve items significantly more massive than one gram a provisional mass standard was made based on gram.
No other S.I units has a kilo prefix.
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No other S.I units has a kilo prefix.
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metric system like all other systems changed over time
there is an international organization in france that sets world metric standards
Metric started in France with the French revolution to establish a 'scientific" system based on things everyone could measure anyplace
but they defined the standard Meter as distance between marks on a bar and the standard mass on a cylinder of metal kept in highly controlled conditions and copied for world use
there is a very interesting history of measurement, too long to describe here
before that measurements were arbitrary, like the length of the kings arm or something
prior to 1800s it was NOT necessary to have accurate measurement. things could be 'cut to fit" on site
a liter of water was a cube 10 cm on a side = 1,000 cubic centimeters and was supposed to be almost 1 kilogram
the gram was 1 cc of water. so size and mass were related by water and the division was 1,000 . not sure why kilo went with gram but milli went with meter
not quite perfectly logical but a big improvement over the English common system.
English common used 12 and 2 as multiples. dozen, gross etc. 12 is easy to divide in parts.
there is an international organization in france that sets world metric standards
Metric started in France with the French revolution to establish a 'scientific" system based on things everyone could measure anyplace
but they defined the standard Meter as distance between marks on a bar and the standard mass on a cylinder of metal kept in highly controlled conditions and copied for world use
there is a very interesting history of measurement, too long to describe here
before that measurements were arbitrary, like the length of the kings arm or something
prior to 1800s it was NOT necessary to have accurate measurement. things could be 'cut to fit" on site
a liter of water was a cube 10 cm on a side = 1,000 cubic centimeters and was supposed to be almost 1 kilogram
the gram was 1 cc of water. so size and mass were related by water and the division was 1,000 . not sure why kilo went with gram but milli went with meter
not quite perfectly logical but a big improvement over the English common system.
English common used 12 and 2 as multiples. dozen, gross etc. 12 is easy to divide in parts.
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I think it comes down to that's the way it is.
At one time the standard mass was a one kilogram platinum-iridium cylinder, and the standard length was a one meter platinum-iridium bar.
At one time the standard mass was a one kilogram platinum-iridium cylinder, and the standard length was a one meter platinum-iridium bar.