Why A Kilogram Isn't Actually 1,000 Grams

We usually think of weight in terms of pounds and kilograms. But how do we decide how much a kilogram actually weighs?

Read More:
Kilogram conflict resolved at last
"For decades, meteorologists have strived to retire 'Le Grand K' - the platinum and iridium cylinder that for 126 years has defined the kilogram from a high-security vault outside Paris. Now it looks as if they at last have the data needed to replace the cylinder with a definition based on mathematical constants."

This Kilogram Has A Weight-Loss Problem
"More than a century ago, a small metal cylinder was forged in London and sent to a leafy suburb of Paris. The cylinder was about the size of a salt shaker and made of an alloy of platinum and iridium, an advanced material at the time."

Elusive Quest for One True Kilogram Finally Pays Off
"For over a century, a golf-ball sized cylinder locked in a vault in Sèvres, France, has defined the true mass of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) for the entire planet. The International Prototype of the Kilogram, a gleaming object of platinum and iridium otherwise known as Le Grand K or Big K, is the last of its kind."

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[Mukation]

2, 15*10^25 atoms of Silicon 28 is exact 1 Kilogram. (Thanks Veritasium).

[jadduajones]

Yeah a kilogram is a unit of mass not weight. Please stop saying that it weighs or that it has a weight. It does, but that weight is not intrinsic to the unit. The weight varies depending on the forces acting on the object. Stop using weight when you mean mass please.

[phaenius]

This is bullshit. 1 Kg = 1000 grams. Nevermind that variable weight object that may or not exist.

[Master_Therion]

1, 000 grams + 500 marshmallows + 250 bars of Hershey chocolate = One Kilosmore

[giorgidvalidze]

So the easiest way of losing a weight is sneaking into that french basement and putting a small chocolate bar on that "le grand K"

[maxera]

don't care. 1kg is still 1000gram.

[juschu]

1:25 If you would do that, formerly 1kg weights wouldn't weight 1kg + 1g because you also changed the mass of 1g. They would weight 1kg + (1000/999)g.

[Vibinator]

that object is worth $48667 (of platinum)
and $2080 of iridium.

total = $50747 or £39793

[matthewmarsh]

in prefixes a kilo is 1, 000 like a kilo meter is 1, 000 meters so 1kg always equals 1000 grams

[EXRazeBurn]

This strikes me as a purely psychological construct being artificially hyped in the scientific community.

"Le Gran K" was only decided upon/created utilizing the criteria of the concept of "1, 000 cubic centimeters of water at room temperature in 1 standard Earth gravity". That constant existed prior to the object's inception, and would exist if the object were wiped from existence. The idea that the concept would somehow be changed simply because somebody manipulated this platinum/iridium cylinder in some faculty is laughable in the extreme.

[atomicgiraffe]

Kilograms aren't even a measure of weight in the first place as it is a measure of mass. The formula for weight is w = mg, and therefore weight should be measured by newtons and NOT kilograms. Your weight can fluctuate because g can change depending on where you are, but your mass (m) will never change.

[exbcn]

So if we destroy Le Grand K, 1Kg will equal 0Kg meaning we'd be weightless????

[itaytabib]

1:29 but a gram is a 1000th of a kilo gram.. so if u take a gram off the original weight, the other weight won't be kg + a gram


#exposed

[shafiqnorddin]

in the era of technology 1kilo mean 1024.

[Mukation]

But you failed in the title. Kilo is 1000. That's the definiton. A gram is one thousand of a Kilogram. If the mass of the Kilogram changed, so would the mass of gram.

[exklimexklim]

A kilogram can't be a Kilogram knowing that gravity varies on each part of the world.

[philipfickel]

they are also trying to reinvent the kilogramm with a pure sphere of silicon, basicly trying to round it and shape it to an exact amount of silicon atoms which wouldnt change in time

[cWeeks]

These comments are angering me so much. People who have 0 understanding of science, acting like they are experts.
Why do I read comments and do this to myself...?

[ShawnRavenfire]

To make things even more complicated, the avoirdupois pound is defined as 0.45359237 kg, which means that a unit of weight is defined by a unit of mass.

[raoul]

We've stopped measuring Kg, Meters and Seconds with actual things for a long time, now we use parameters such as the speed of light and the weight of atoms to be sure that our conception of measurment unit is as absolute as possible.

This is the international system m8, it ain't no approximate imperial system.