the.com/kilogram
The only unit that fired its sacred Paris lump for a quantum upgrade.
means The base unit of mass in the metric system, equal to 1,000 grams.
from From French 'kilogramme,' coined in the 1790s during the metric reform: the Greek 'khilioi' ('thousand') bolted onto 'gramma' (originally a small weight, from Greek for a written letter or scruple). For over a century the kilogram was literally a thing — a platinum-iridium cylinder kept under glass near Paris, 'Le Grand K' — until 2019, when the definition was finally pinned to a constant of nature (the Planck constant) rather than a lump of metal that could gain or lose a few atoms over time.
- former boss
- A platinum cylinder under three glass bells near Paris
- the redefinition
- Since 2019, defined by Planck's constant instead
- weight loss
- The old prototype mysteriously shed micrograms over decades
- only with prefix
- The lone base unit named with kilo built in
- a liter equals
- Roughly one kilogram of water, by clever design
for instance
le grand k — the artifact's nickname, retired in 2019 when kilogram was redefined using planck's constant