Yesterday marked a great achievement for mankind in creating a new, perfect definition of what a kilogram is. ?Back in 1889, France made the world’s official kilogram weight made out of a?platinum-iridium alloy. ?This type of metal was specifically chosen due to its ability to hold up to corrosion and its stability to maintain it’s weight over a long period of time. ? To make sure it would keep its weight it was also placed in 2 different vacuum chambers and was not allowed to be touched directly by anyone, since the oils on your skin would rub off, changing the weight and speed up corrosion. ?Unfortunately, since it is a man-made object, it wasn’t perfect and has lost 50micrograms since it was originally made.
Now scientists, after decades of work, have defined the weight of a kilogram?by the Planck constant. ?The Planck constant is a concept in quantum mechanics?which describes how the tiniest bits of matter release energy in discrete steps or chunks. ?What makes?the Planck constant a perfect measurement is that it will never change. ?It is also called a natural constant, much like the speed of light. ?We have changed the way we measure other standards?to a natural constant, such as the length of a meter is defined as?the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second, since light cannot change speed, the length of a meter will always be the same.
To read in more detail about the new definition of the kilogram, please click on this article :https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/5/17/18627757/kilogram-redefined-world-metrology-day-explained
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