Scientists will change kilogram weight to avoid accidents

Эталон килограмма Le Grand K

In today’s world, when every day scientists are developing new technologies in the fields of medicine, aerospace and military Affairs, even the slightest deviation from the standards of the international system of units SI can be the cause of the accident. All countries have a unified idea about the weight of a kilogram, length, meter, and properties of other quantities, in France, kept their standards, copies of which reconciled all of the country. If the standard meter and second are the fundamental laws of physics, the kilogram is the piece of metal. To avoid problems, scientists intend to abandon the standard of the nineteenth century.

The actual standard kilogram was created in 1889. He kept at the headquarters of the International Bureau of weights and measures BIPM and is a cylinder of an alloy of platinum and iridium in a ratio of 90% to 10%. With a height and diameter 39,17 mm, it is stored in two sealed caps from glass and in publications often referred to as Le Grand K.

Le Grand K

In order to compare ideas about kilogram between countries adopting metric Convention, was created 80 copies of the reference. Their mass is compared with mass standard every 40 years, and it was observed that the difference in their mass reaches 50 micrograms. Even the misunderstanding between the two countries at this level can be a source of disaster. The cause of the difference could be anything, for example, absorption by the metal molecules from the air or weathering.

To solve the problem and to avoid accidents, 16 November 2018, the Bureau BIPM will hold a special meeting. It will take a final decision on whether to replace the current standard of more modern counterpart, does not change its properties after a time.

Баланс Киббла

It is expected that 130 years, Le Grand K will be replaced by a device called the “balance of the Kibble”. It allows you to create “electronic” kilogram mass which is proportional to the product of current and voltage. Thanks to him, the country will know the mass of the kilogram with the same accuracy, which is measured by Planck’s constant. Unfortunately, to install the device in laboratories of countries participating in the metre Convention will take a long time due to its high cost.

What do you think, what can cause the difference in understanding the weight of a kilogram? Their assumptions it is possible to write in the comments or in our Telegram chat.


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