Jake Anderson wrote:

> Wouter van Ooijen wrote:
>> Glimpse from my 6-y old son trying to understand our sometimes confusing
>> world: kilo is a synonym for 1000, as in km. but it is also a synonym
>> for 1000g. 

Only a "synonym", as in "everyday language", otherwise it would be
something like "kilogram". I think he's probably old enough to start
understanding the difference between exact definitions and "normal"
language.

> The Kilo Gram is an odd unit of measurement, it is actually 1000 grams,
> but it "works" better than measuring everything in grams.

That has historical reasons, because the units meter and gram (and many
others) were there before the SI and its precursors like CGS were formed.
They picked the base units among what was already there, considering
convenience over consistency.
<http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/history.html>

Gerhard

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist