On the facade of the Ministry of Justice in Paris, under one of the windows, a horizontal line and the inscription “meter” are carved in marble. Such a tiny detail is barely noticeable against the backdrop of the majestic Ministry building and Place Vendôme, but this line is the only one remaining in the city of “meter standards”, which were placed throughout the city more than 200 years ago in an attempt to introduce the people to a new universal system of measures - metric.
We often take a system of measures for granted and don’t even think about what story lies behind its creation. The metric system, which was invented in France, is official throughout the world, with the exception of three countries: the United States, Liberia and Myanmar, although in these countries it is used in some areas such as international trade.
Can you imagine what our world would be like if the system of measures was different everywhere, like the situation with currencies that we are familiar with? But everything was like that before french revolution, which flared up at the end of the 18th century: then the units of weights and measures were different not only between individual states, but even within the same country. Almost every French province had its own units of measures and weights, incomparable with the units used by their neighbors.
The revolution brought a wind of change to this area: in the period from 1789 to 1799, activists sought to overturn not only the government regime, but also to fundamentally change society, changing traditional foundations and habits. For example, in order to limit the influence of the church on social life, the revolutionaries introduced a new Republican calendar in 1793: it consisted of ten-hour days, one hour was equal to 100 minutes, one minute was equal to 100 seconds. This calendar was fully consistent with the new government's desire to introduce a decimal system in France. This approach to calculating time never caught on, but people came to like the decimal system of measures, which was based on meters and kilograms.
The first scientific minds of the Republic worked on the development of a new system of measures. Scientists set out to invent a system that would obey logic, and not local traditions or the wishes of authorities. Then they decided to rely on what nature had given us - the standard meter should be equal to one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator. This distance was measured along the Paris meridian, which passed through the building of the Paris Observatory and divided it into two equal parts.
In 1792, scientists Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre and Pierre Méchain set out along the meridian: the former's destination was the city of Dunkirk in northern France, the latter followed south to Barcelona. Using the latest equipment and the mathematical process of triangulation (a method of constructing a geodetic network in the form of triangles in which their angles and some of their sides are measured), they hoped to measure the meridian arc between two cities at sea level. Then, using the extrapolation method (method scientific research, which consists in extending the conclusions obtained from the observation of one part of a phenomenon to another part of it), they intended to calculate the distance between the pole and the equator. According to the initial plan, scientists planned to spend a year on all measurements and the creation of a new universal system of measures, but in the end the process lasted for seven years.
Astronomers were faced with the fact that in those turbulent times people often perceived them with great caution and even hostility. In addition, without the support of the local population, scientists were often not allowed to work; There were cases when they were injured while climbing the highest points in the area, such as church domes.
From the top of the dome of the Pantheon, Delambre took measurements of the territory of Paris. Initially, King Louis XV erected the Pantheon building for the church, but the Republicans equipped it as the central geodetic station of the city. Today the Pantheon serves as a mausoleum for the heroes of the Revolution: Voltaire, René Descartes, Victor Hugo, etc. In those days, the building also served as a museum - all the old standards of weights and measures were stored there, which were sent by residents of all of France in anticipation of a new perfect system.
Unfortunately, despite all the efforts of scientists spent on developing a worthy replacement for the old units of measurement, no one wanted to use new system. People refused to forget the usual methods of measurement, which were often closely related to local traditions, rituals and way of life. For example, the el, a unit of measurement for cloth, was usually equal to the size of the looms, and the size of arable land was calculated solely in the days that had to be spent on cultivating it.
Parisian authorities were so outraged by residents' refusal to use the new system that they often sent police to local markets to force it into use. Napoleon eventually abandoned the policy of introducing the metric system in 1812 - it was still taught in schools, but people were allowed to use the usual units of measurement until 1840, when the policy was renewed.
It took France almost a hundred years to fully adopt the metric system. This finally succeeded, but not thanks to the persistence of the government: France was rapidly moving towards the industrial revolution. In addition, it was necessary to improve terrain maps for military purposes - this process required accuracy, which was not possible without a universal system of measures. France confidently entered the international market: in 1851, the first International Fair was held in Paris, at which event participants shared their achievements in the field of science and industry. The metric system was simply necessary to avoid confusion. The construction of the Eiffel Tower, 324 meters high, was timed to coincide with the International Fair in Paris in 1889 - then it became the tallest man-made structure in the world.
In 1875, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures was established, with its headquarters located in a quiet suburb of Paris - in the city of Sèvres. The Bureau maintains international standards and the unity of the seven measures: meter, kilogram, second, ampere, Kelvin, Mole and Candela. A platinum meter standard is kept there, from which standard copies were previously carefully made and sent to other countries as a sample. In 1960, the General Conference of Weights and Measures adopted a definition of the meter based on the wavelength of light—thus bringing the standard even closer to nature.
The Bureau's headquarters also houses the kilogram standard: it is housed in an underground storage facility under three glass bells. The standard is made in the form of a cylinder made of an alloy of platinum and iridium; in November 2018, the standard will be revised and redefined using the quantum Planck constant. The resolution on the revision of the International System of Units was adopted back in 2011, but due to some technical features of the procedure, its implementation was not possible until recently.
Determining units of weights and measures is a very labor-intensive process, which is accompanied by various difficulties: from the nuances of conducting experiments to financing. The metric system underlies progress in many fields: science, economics, medicine, etc., and is vital for further research, globalization and improving our understanding of the universe.
Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
Metric system - common name the international decimal system of units, based on the use of the meter and kilogram. For two last centuries existed various options metric system, differing in the choice of base units. Currently, the International System of Units (SI) is widely accepted. Although there are some differences in details, the elements of the system are the same throughout the world. Metric units are widely used around the world for both scientific purposes and Everyday life. Currently, the metric system is officially adopted in all countries of the world, except the USA, Liberia and Myanmar (Burma).
Attempts were made to introduce metric units for measuring time (by dividing a day, for example, into millidays) and angles (by dividing a revolution by 1000 milliturns or by 400 degrees), but they were not successful (although the degree later found quite widespread use in measuring angles in geodesy). Currently, SI uses seconds (divided into milliseconds, etc.) and radians.
Story
The metric system grew out of regulations adopted by the French National Assembly in 1791 and 1795 to define the meter as one ten-millionth of one quarter of the earth's meridian from the North Pole to the equator (Paris meridian).
19th century
By decree issued on July 4, 1837, the metric system was declared mandatory for use in all commercial transactions in France. It gradually replaced local and national systems in other European countries and was legally accepted as acceptable in the UK and USA.
By defining the meter as a ten-millionth part of a quarter of the earth's meridian, the creators of the metric system sought to achieve invariance and accurate reproducibility of the system. They took the gram as a unit of mass, defining it as the mass of one millionth cubic meter water at its maximum density. To facilitate the use of new units in everyday practice, metal standards were created that reproduce the specified ideal definitions with extreme accuracy.
It soon became clear that metal length standards could be compared with each other, introducing much less error than when comparing any such standard with a quarter of the earth's meridian. In addition, it became clear that the accuracy of comparing metal mass standards with each other is much higher than the accuracy of comparing any similar standard with the mass of the corresponding volume of water.
In this regard, the International Commission on the Meter in 1872 decided to accept the “archival” meter stored in Paris “as it is” as the standard of length. Similarly, the members of the Commission accepted the archival platinum-iridium kilogram as the standard of mass, “considering that the simple relationship established by the creators of the metric system between the unit of weight and the unit of volume is represented by the existing kilogram with an accuracy sufficient for ordinary applications in industry and commerce, and exact sciences What they need is not a simple numerical ratio of this kind, but an extremely perfect definition of this ratio.”
On May 20, 1875, seventeen countries signed the Meter Convention, and this agreement established a procedure for coordinating metrological standards for the world scientific community through the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and the General Conference on Weights and Measures.
The new international organization immediately began developing international standards for length and mass and transmitting copies of them to all participating countries.
XX century
The metric system of measures was approved for use in Russia (optional) by the law of June 4, 1899, the draft of which was developed by D. I. Mendeleev, and introduced as mandatory by decree of the Provisional Government of April 30, 1917, and for the USSR - by decree Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated July 21, 1925.
Based on the metric system, the International System of Units (SI) was developed and adopted in 1960 by the XI General Conference on Weights and Measures. During the second half of the 20th century, most countries in the world switched to the SI system.
End of XX-XXI century
In the 1990s, the widespread distribution of computer and household appliances from Asia, which lacked instructions and inscriptions in Russian and other languages of the former socialist countries, but were available in English, led to the displacement of the metric system in a number of areas of technology. Thus, the sizes of CDs, floppy disks, hard drives, diagonals of monitors and televisions, digital camera matrices in Russia are usually indicated in inches, despite the fact that the original design is usually made in the metric system. For example, the width of “3.5-inch” hard drives is actually 90 mm, the diameter of CDs and DVDs is 120 mm. All computer fans use the metric system (80mm and 120mm). The most popular format for amateur photographs, 4R (known as 4x6 inches in the US and 10x15 cm in metric countries) is pegged to the millimeter and measures 102x152mm instead of 101.6x152.4mm.
To date, the metric system has been officially adopted in all countries of the world, except the USA, Liberia and Myanmar (Burma). The last country to have already completed the transition to the metric system was Ireland (2005). In the UK and Saint Lucia, the process of transition to SI is still not completed. In Antigua and Guyana, in fact, this transition is far from complete. China, which has completed this transition, nevertheless uses ancient Chinese names for metric units. In the USA, the SI system is adopted for use in science and the manufacture of scientific instruments; for all other areas, the American version of the English system of units is adopted.
Metric system in aviation, space and maritime affairs
Despite the widespread use of the metric system throughout the world, in some industries the situation is completely different. Thus, historically, aviation (civil) and maritime affairs use an outdated system of measures based on feet and miles. Despite the categorical position ICAO(international organization civil aviation) on the unconditional withdrawal of non-metric units from aviation practice. In aviation, the purely metric system is used in Sweden, Russia, China and some other countries, which sometimes creates some misunderstanding between controllers and pilots.
November 17, 2011 in civil aviation Russian Federation there was partial recognition of a system of measures based on feet. Thus, Russian civil aviation is approaching the civil aviation standards of English-speaking countries.
But in the space field, including the USA (NASA), there has been a complete transition to the metric system.
Prefixes for multiples and submultiples
| Multiplicity | Console | Designation | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian | international | Russian | international | ||
| 10 1 | soundboard | deca | Yes | da | dal - deciliter |
| 10 2 | hecto | hecto | G | h | hPa - hectopascal |
| 10 3 | kilo | kilo | To | k | kN - kilonewton |
| 10 6 | mega | mega | M | M | MPa - megapascal |
| 10 9 | giga | giga | G | G | GHz - gigahertz |
| 10 12 | tera | tera | T | T | TV - teravolt |
| 10 15 | peta | peta | P | P | Pflop - petaflop |
| 10 18 | exa | exa | E | E | EB - exabyte |
| 10 21 | zetta | zetta | Z | Z | ZeV - zettaelectronvolt |
| 10 24 | iotta | yotta | AND | Y | Ig - iottagram |
Along with basic and derived units, the metric system uses a standard set of prefixes to form multiples and submultiples. (This idea was proposed by Gabriel Mouton - a French mathematician and theologian in 1670. For example, the prefix "kilo" is used to form a unit of length (kilometer) 1000 times the base unit of measurement. The International System of Units (SI) recommends the use of standard decimal prefixes SI for the formation of names and designations of multiples and submultiples.
Metric variants of traditional units
There have also been attempts to slightly modify the traditional units so that the relationship between them and metric units becomes simpler; this also made it possible to get rid of the ambiguous definition of many traditional units. For example:
- metric ton (exactly 1000 kg)
- metric carat (exactly 0.2 g)
- metric pound (exactly 500 g)
- metric foot (exactly 300 mm)
- metric inch (exactly 25 mm)
- metric horsepower (exactly 75 kgf m/s)
Some of these units have taken root; Currently, in Russia, “ton”, “carat” and “horsepower”, without specification, always denote metric versions of these units.
see also
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Notes
Links
- // Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg. , 1907-1909.
- (English)
- Compulenta
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Excerpt characterizing the Metric system of measures
- What kind of people? - he shouted at the people, scattered and timidly approaching the droshky. - What kind of people? I'm asking you? - repeated the police chief, who did not receive an answer.“They, your honor,” said the clerk in the frieze overcoat, “they, your highness, at the announcement of the most illustrious count, without sparing their lives, wanted to serve, and not like some kind of riot, as said from the most illustrious count...
“The Count has not left, he is here, and there will be orders about you,” said the police chief. - Let's go! - he said to the coachman. The crowd stopped, crowding around those who had heard what the authorities said, and looking at the droshky driving away.
At that time, the police chief looked around in fear and said something to the coachman, and his horses went faster.
- Cheating, guys! Lead to it yourself! - shouted the voice of a tall guy. - Don't let me go, guys! Let him submit the report! Hold it! - voices shouted, and people ran after the droshky.
The crowd behind the police chief, talking noisily, headed to the Lubyanka.
- Well, the gentlemen and the merchants have left, and that’s why we are lost? Well, we are dogs, or what! – was heard more often in the crowd.
On the evening of September 1, after his meeting with Kutuzov, Count Rastopchin, upset and offended by the fact that he was not invited to the military council, that Kutuzov did not pay any attention to his proposal to take part in the defense of the capital, and surprised by the new look that opened up to him in the camp , in which the question of the calm of the capital and its patriotic mood turned out to be not only secondary, but completely unnecessary and insignificant - upset, offended and surprised by all this, Count Rostopchin returned to Moscow. After dinner, the count, without undressing, lay down on the sofa and at one o'clock was awakened by a courier who brought him a letter from Kutuzov. The letter said that since the troops were retreating to the Ryazan road outside Moscow, would the count like to send police officials to lead the troops through the city. This news was not news to Rostopchin. Not only from yesterday’s meeting with Kutuzov on Poklonnaya Hill, but also from the Battle of Borodino itself, when all the generals who came to Moscow unanimously said that another battle could not be fought, and when, with the count’s permission, every night government property and residents were already removing up to half let's leave - Count Rastopchin knew that Moscow would be abandoned; but nevertheless, this news, communicated in the form of a simple note with an order from Kutuzov and received at night, during his first sleep, surprised and irritated the count.
Subsequently, explaining his activities during this time, Count Rastopchin wrote several times in his notes that he then had two important goals: De maintenir la tranquillite a Moscou et d "en faire partir les habitants. [Keep calm in Moscow and escort the inhabitants out of it.] If we allow this dual goal, every action of Rastopchin turns out to be impeccable. Why was the Moscow shrine, weapons, and cartridges not taken out? , gunpowder, grain supplies, why were thousands of residents deceived by the fact that Moscow would not be surrendered, and ruined? - In order to maintain calm in the capital, Count Rastopchin’s explanation answers. Why were piles of unnecessary papers removed from public places and Leppich’s ball and others objects? - In order to leave the city empty, Count Rostopchin’s explanation answers. One has only to assume that something threatened the people’s peace, and any action becomes justified.
All the horrors of terror were based only on concern for public peace.
What was Count Rastopchin’s fear of public peace in Moscow based on in 1812? What reason was there for supposing there was a tendency towards indignation in the city? Residents left, troops, retreating, filled Moscow. Why should the people rebel as a result of this?
Not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia, upon the entry of the enemy, nothing resembling indignation occurred. On September 1st and 2nd, more than ten thousand people remained in Moscow, and apart from the crowd that had gathered in the courtyard of the commander-in-chief and attracted by him himself, there was nothing. Obviously, it would be even less necessary to expect unrest among the people if after the Battle of Borodino, when the abandonment of Moscow became obvious, or, at least, probably, if then, instead of agitating the people with the distribution of weapons and posters, Rostopchin took measures to the removal of all sacred objects, gunpowder, charges and money, and would directly announce to the people that the city was being abandoned.
Rastopchin, an ardent, sanguine man who always moved in the highest circles of the administration, although with a patriotic feeling, did not have the slightest idea about the people he thought of governing. From the very beginning of the enemy’s entry into Smolensk, Rostopchin envisioned for himself the role of leader of the people’s feelings—the heart of Russia. It not only seemed to him (as it seems to every administrator) that he controlled the external actions of the inhabitants of Moscow, but it seemed to him that he controlled their mood through his proclamations and posters, written in that ironic language that the people in their midst despise and which they do not understands when he hears it from above. Rostopchin liked the beautiful role of the leader of popular feeling so much, he got used to it so much that the need to get out of this role, the need to leave Moscow without any heroic effect, took him by surprise, and he suddenly lost from under his feet the ground on which he stood, he absolutely did not know what should he do? Although he knew, he did not believe with all his soul in leaving Moscow until the last minute and did nothing for this purpose. Residents moved out against his wishes. If public places were removed, it was only at the request of officials, with whom the count reluctantly agreed. He himself was occupied only with the role that he made for himself. As often happens with people gifted with an ardent imagination, he knew for a long time that Moscow would be abandoned, but he knew only by reasoning, but with all his soul he did not believe in it, and was not transported by his imagination to this new situation.
All his activities, diligent and energetic (how useful it was and reflected on the people is another question), all his activities were aimed only at arousing in the residents the feeling that he himself experienced - patriotic hatred of the French and confidence in itself.
But when the event took on its real, historical dimensions, when it turned out to be insufficient to express one’s hatred of the French in words alone, when it was impossible even to express this hatred through battle, when self-confidence turned out to be useless in relation to one issue of Moscow, when the entire population, like one person, , abandoning their property, flowed out of Moscow, showing with this negative action the full strength of their national feeling - then the role chosen by Rostopchin suddenly turned out to be meaningless. He suddenly felt lonely, weak and ridiculous, without any ground under his feet.
Having received, awakened from sleep, a cold and commanding note from Kutuzov, Rastopchin felt the more irritated, the more guilty he felt. In Moscow there remained everything that had been entrusted to him, everything that was government property that he was supposed to take out. It was not possible to take everything out.
“Who is to blame for this, who allowed this to happen? - he thought. - Of course, not me. I had everything ready, I held Moscow like this! And this is what they have brought it to! Scoundrels, traitors! - he thought, not clearly defining who these scoundrels and traitors were, but feeling the need to hate these traitors who were to blame for the false and ridiculous situation in which he found himself.
All that night Count Rastopchin gave orders, for which people came to him from all sides of Moscow. Those close to him had never seen the count so gloomy and irritated.
“Your Excellency, they came from the patrimonial department, from the director for orders... From the consistory, from the Senate, from the university, from the orphanage, the vicar sent... asks... What do you order about the fire brigade? The warden from the prison... the warden from the yellow house..." - they reported to the count all night, without stopping.
To all these questions the count gave short and angry answers, showing that his orders were no longer needed, that all the work he had carefully prepared had now been ruined by someone, and that this someone would bear full responsibility for everything that would happen now.
“Well, tell this idiot,” he answered a request from the patrimonial department, “so that he remains guarding his papers.” Why are you asking nonsense about the fire brigade? If there are horses, let them go to Vladimir. Don't leave it to the French.
- Your Excellency, the warden from the insane asylum has arrived, as you order?
- How will I order? Let everyone go, that’s all... And let the crazy people out in the city. When our armies are commanded by crazy people, that’s what God ordered.
When asked about the convicts who were sitting in the pit, the count angrily shouted at the caretaker:
- Well, should I give you two battalions of a convoy that doesn’t exist? Let them in, and that’s it!
– Your Excellency, there are political ones: Meshkov, Vereshchagin.
- Vereshchagin! Is he not hanged yet? - shouted Rastopchin. - Bring him to me.
By nine o'clock in the morning, when the troops had already moved through Moscow, no one else came to ask the count's orders. Everyone who could go did so of their own accord; those who remained decided with themselves what they had to do.
The count ordered the horses to be brought in to go to Sokolniki, and, frowning, yellow and silent, with folded hands, he sat in his office.
In calm, not stormy times, it seems to every administrator that it is only through his efforts that the entire population under his control moves, and in this consciousness of his necessity, every administrator feels the main reward for his labors and efforts. It is clear that as long as the historical sea is calm, the ruler-administrator, with his fragile boat resting his pole against the ship of the people and himself moving, must seem to him that through his efforts the ship he is resting against is moving. But as soon as a storm arises, the sea becomes agitated and the ship itself moves, then delusion is impossible. The ship moves with its enormous, independent speed, the pole does not reach the moving ship, and the ruler suddenly goes from the position of a ruler, a source of strength, into an insignificant, useless and weak person.
Rastopchin felt this, and it irritated him. The police chief, who was stopped by the crowd, together with the adjutant, who came to report that the horses were ready, entered the count. Both were pale, and the police chief, reporting the execution of his assignment, said that in the count’s courtyard there was a huge crowd of people who wanted to see him.
Rastopchin, without answering a word, stood up and quickly walked into his luxurious, bright living room, walked up to the balcony door, grabbed the handle, left it and moved to the window, from which the whole crowd could be seen more clearly. A tall fellow stood in the front rows and with a stern face, waving his hand, said something. The bloody blacksmith stood next to him with a gloomy look. The hum of voices could be heard through the closed windows.
- Is the crew ready? - said Rastopchin, moving away from the window.
“Ready, your Excellency,” said the adjutant.
Rastopchin again approached the balcony door.
- What do they want? – he asked the police chief.
- Your Excellency, they say that they were going to go against the French on your orders, they shouted something about treason. But a violent crowd, your Excellency. I left by force. Your Excellency, I dare to suggest...
In 1795, France passed the Law on New Weights and Measures, which established a single unit of length - meter, equal to ten millionths of a quarter of the arc of the meridian passing through Paris. This is where the name of the system comes from - metric.
A platinum rod one meter long and of a very strange shape was chosen as the standard of the meter. Now the size of all rulers, one meter long, had to correspond to this standard.
The units were installed:
- liter as a measure of the capacity of liquid and granular bodies, equal to 1000 cubic meters. centimeters and holding 1 kg of water (at 4° Celsius),
- gram as a unit of weight (the weight of pure water at a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius in the volume of a cube with an edge of 0.01 m),
- ar as a unit of area (area of a square with a side of 10 m),
- second as a unit of time (1/86400 part of the average solar day).
Later the basic unit of mass became kilogram. The prototype of this unit was a platinum weight, which was placed under glass flasks and the air was pumped out - so that dust would not get in and increase the weight!
The prototypes of the meter and kilogram are still kept today in the National Archives of France and are called the “Archive meter” and “Archive kilogram” respectively.
There were different measures before, but an important advantage of the Metric system of measures was its decimality, since submultiple and multiple units, according to accepted rules, were formed in accordance with decimal counting using decimal factors, which correspond to the prefixes deci, - centi, - milli, - deca, - hecto- and kilo-.
Currently, the metric system of measures is adopted in Russia and in most countries of the world. But there are other systems. For example, English system measures, in which the base units are foot, pound and second.
Interestingly, all countries have customary packaging for different foods and drinks. In Russia, for example, milk and juices are usually packaged in liter bags. And the large glass jars are all three-liter jars!
Remember: on professional drawings, the dimensions (dimensions) of products are written in millimeters. Even if these are very large products, like cars!
Volkswagen Cadi.
Citroen Berlingo.
Ferrari 360.
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History of the creation of the metric system
As you know, the metric system originated in France in late XVIII centuries. The variety of weights and measures, the standards of which sometimes differed significantly in different regions of the country, often led to confusion and conflict. Thus, there is an urgent need to reform current system measurements or develop a new one, using a simple and universal standard as a basis. In 1790, a project by the well-known Prince Talleyrand, who later became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, was submitted for discussion to the National Assembly. As a standard of length, the activist proposed to take the length of the second pendulum at a latitude of 45°.
By the way, the idea of a pendulum was no longer new at that time. Back in the 17th century, scientists made attempts to determine universal meters based on real objects that maintained a constant value. One of these studies belonged to the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens, who conducted experiments with a second pendulum and proved that its length depends on the latitude of the place where the experiment was carried out. A century before Talleyrand, based on his own experiments, Huygens proposed using 1/3 the length of a pendulum with a period of oscillation of 1 second, which was approximately 8 cm, as a global standard of length.
And yet, the proposal to calculate the standard of length using the readings of a second pendulum did not find support in the Academy of Sciences, and the future reform was based on the ideas of the astronomer Mouton, who calculated the unit of length from the arc of the earth's meridian. He also came up with a proposal to create a new measurement system on a decimal basis.
In his project, Talleyrand outlined in detail the procedure for determining and introducing a single standard of length. Firstly, it was supposed to collect all possible measures from all over the country and bring them to Paris. Secondly, the National Assembly was to contact the British Parliament with a proposal to create an international commission of leading scientists from both countries. After the experiment, the French Academy of Sciences had to establish the exact relationship between the new unit of length and the measures that had previously been used in various parts of the country. Copies of the standards and comparative tables with the old measures had to be sent to all regions of France. This regulation was approved by the National Assembly, and on August 22, 1790, it was approved by King Louis XVI.
Work on determining the meter began in 1792. The leaders of the expedition, which was tasked with measuring the meridian arc between Barcelona and Dunkirk, were the French scientists Mechain and Delambre. The work of French scientists was planned for several years. However, in 1793, the Academy of Sciences, which carried out the reform, was abolished, which caused a serious delay in the already difficult, labor-intensive research. It was decided not to wait for the final results of measuring the meridian arc and to calculate the length of the meter based on existing data. So in 1795 the temporary meter was defined as 1/10000000 of the Parisian meridian between the equator and north pole. Work to clarify the meter was completed by the fall of 1798. The new meter was shorter by 0.486 lines or 0.04 French inches. It was this value that formed the basis of the new standard, legalized on December 10, 1799.
One of the main provisions of the metric system is the dependence of all measures on a single linear standard (meter). So, for example, when determining the basic unit of weight - - it was decided to take a cubic centimeter of pure water as a basis.
TO end of the 19th century century, almost all of Europe, with the exception of Greece and England, adopted the metric system. The rapid spread of this unique system of measures, which we still use today, was facilitated by simplicity, unity and accuracy. Despite all the advantages of the metric system, Russia at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries did not dare to join the majority of European countries, even then breaking the centuries-old habits of the people and abandoning the use of the traditional Russian system of measures. However, the “Regulations on Weights and Measures” dated June 4, 1899 officially allowed the use of the kilogram along with the Russian pound. The final measurements were completed only by the beginning of the 1930s.
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Metric system (SI International System)
Metric system of measures (SI International System)
For residents of the United States or another country that does not use the metric system, it is sometimes difficult to understand how the rest of the world lives in and navigates it. But in fact, the SI system is much simpler than all traditional national measurement systems.
The principles of the metric system are very simple.
The structure of the international system of SI units
The metric system was developed in France in the 18th century. The new system was intended to replace the chaotic collection of different units of measurement then in use with a single common standard with simple decimal coefficients.
The standard unit of length was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's north pole to the equator. The resulting value was called meter. The definition of meter was later refined several times. The modern and most accurate definition of a meter is: “the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.” Standards for the remaining measurements were established in a similar manner.
The metric system or International System of Units (SI) is based on seven basic units for seven basic dimensions, independent of each other. These measurements and units are: length (meter), mass (kilogram), time (second), electric current (ampere), thermodynamic temperature (kelvin), amount of substance (mole) and radiation intensity (candela). All other units are derived from the base ones.
All units of a specific measurement are built on the basis of the base unit by adding universal ones metric prefixes. A table of metric prefixes is shown below.
Metric prefixes
Metric prefixes simple and very convenient. It is not necessary to understand the nature of the unit in order to convert a value from, for example, kilo units to mega units. All metric prefixes are powers of 10. The most commonly used prefixes are highlighted in the table.
By the way, on the Fractions and Percentages page you can easily convert a value from one metric prefix to another.
| Prefix | Symbol | Degree | Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| yotta | Y | 10 24 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| zetta | Z | 10 21 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| exa | E | 10 18 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| peta | P | 10 15 | 1,000,000,000,000,000 |
| tera | T | 10 12 | 1,000,000,000,000 |
| giga | G | 10 9 | 1,000,000,000 |
| mega | M | 10 6 | 1,000,000 |
| kilo | k | 10 3 | 1,000 |
| hecto | h | 10 2 | 100 |
| soundboard | da | 10 1 | 10 |
| deci | d | 10 -1 | 0.1 |
| centi | c | 10 -2 | 0.01 |
| Milli | m | 10 -3 | 0.001 |
| micro | µ | 10 -6 | 0.000,001 |
| nano | n | 10 -9 | 0.000,000,001 |
| pico | p | 10 -12 | 0,000,000,000,001 |
| femto | f | 10 -15 | 0.000,000,000,000,001 |
| atto | a | 10 -18 | 0.000,000,000,000,000,001 |
| cepto | z | 10 -21 | 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,001 |
| yocto | y | 10 -24 | 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 |
Even in countries that use the metric system, most people only know the most common prefixes, such as kilo, milli, mega. These prefixes are highlighted in the table. The remaining prefixes are used mainly in science.
