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K
s
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kg
BACKGROUND
A number of authors have published criticisms of the revised denitions in particular that proposal had failed
to address the impact of breaking the link between the
mole, kilogram, the dalton, the Avogadro constant and
Avogadros number.
BIPM (International Bureau for Weights and Measures / Bureau international des poids et mesures)
The Bureau provides safe keeping of the international prototype kilogram and metre, provides laboratory facilities for regular comparisons of the national prototypes with the international prototype
and is the secretariat for the CIPM and the CGPM.
Background
1.1
Development of SI
During the early years of the French Revolution, the leaders of the French National Constituent Assembly decided
to introduce a completely new system of measurement
based on the principles of logic and natural phenomena. The resulting mtre des archives and kilogramme des
archives were dened in terms of artefacts that were a
best attempt at fullling these principles.[3]
3
13th CGPM (1967) replaced the original denition of to 2014.[26][27]
the second (which was based on a back-calculation of the
Earths rotation in the year 1900) with a denition based
on the frequency of the radiation emitted between two 2 The proposal
hyperne levels of the ground state of the caesium 133
atom. Similarly, the 17th CGPM (1983) replaced the
In this section, an X at the end of a number
1960 denition of the metre[Note 2] with one where the
means one or more nal digits yet to be agreed
metre is derived from the speed of light where the speed
upon.
of light had been dened exactly in terms of metres per
second.[13]
In 2011 the CCU published a draft of the proposed
Over the years, drifts of up to 2108 kilograms per change in the form of an amendment that should be made
annum in the national prototype kilograms relative to to the 8th edition of the SI Brochure.[2] In it they proposed
the international prototype kilogram have been detected. that in addition to the speed of light, four further conThere was no way of determining whether the national stants of nature should be dened to have exact values:
prototypes were gaining mass or whether the IPK was losing mass.[14] At the 21st meeting of the CGPM (1999),
The Planck constant h is exactly
national laboratories were urged to investigate ways of
6.62606X1034 joule second (Js).
breaking the link between the kilogram and a specic
artefact. Newcastle University metrologist Peter Cump The elementary charge e is exactly
son has since identied mercury vapour absorption or
1.60217X 1019 coulomb (C).
carbonaceous contamination as possible causes of this
The Boltzmann constant k is exactly
drift.[15][16]
1.38065X1023 joule per kelvin (JK1 ).
Independently of this drift having been identied, the
The Avogadro constant NA is exactly
Avogadro project and development of the Watt balance
6.02214X1023 reciprocal mole (mol1 ).
promised methods of indirectly measuring mass with
a very high precision. These projects provided tools
that would enable alternative means of redening the These constants were described in the 2006 version of the
SI manual; the latter three were dened as constants to
kilogram.[17]
be obtained by experiment.
A report published in 2007 by the Consultative Committee for Thermometry to the CIPM noted that their current The CCU also proposed that the numerical values assodenition of temperature has proved to be unsatisfactory ciated with the following constants of nature be retained
for temperatures below 20 kelvins and for temperatures unchanged:
above 1300 kelvins. The committee was of the view that
The speed of light c is exactly
the Boltzmann constant provided a better basis for tem299792458metres per second (ms1 ).
perature measurement than did the triple point of water,
[18]
as it overcame these diculties.
The ground state hyperne splitting
At its 23rd meeting (2007), the GCPM mandated the
CIPM to investigate the use of natural constants as the
basis for all units of measure rather than the artefacts that
were then in use. The following year this was endorsed
by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
(IUPAP).[19] At a meeting of the CCU held in Reading,
United Kingdom, in September 2010, a resolution[20] and
draft changes to the SI brochure that were to be presented
to the next meeting of the CIPM in October 2010 were
agreed to in principle.[21] The CIPM meeting of October 2010 found that the conditions set by the General
Conference at its 23rd meeting have not yet been fully
met.[Note 3] For this reason the CIPM does not propose
a revision of the SI at the present time";[23] however, the
CIPM presented a resolution for consideration at the 24th
CGPM (1721 October 2011) to agree the new denitions in principle, but not to implement them until the
details have been nalised.[24] This resolution was accepted by the conference,[25] and in addition the CGPM
moved the date of the 25th meeting forward from 2015
= 9192631770s1
c = 299792458s1 m
h = 6.62606X1034 s1 m2 kg
e = 1.60217X1019 sA
3
k = 1.38065X1023 s2 m2 kgK1
NA = 6.02214X10 mol
23
3.2 Metre
The proposed denition of the metre is eectively the
same as the current denition, the only dierence being
that the additional rigour in the denition of the second
will propagate to the metre.
Current denition: The metre is the length of
the path travelled by light in vacuum during a
time interval of 1/299792458 of a second.
The CCU proposal recommended that the text of the definitions of all the base units be either rened or rewritten changing the emphasis from explicit-unit to explicit- 3.3
constant type denitions.[28] Explicit-unit type denitions
dene a unit in terms of a specic example of that unit
for example in 1324 Edward II dened the inch as being the length of three barleycorns[29] and since 1889
the kilogram has been dened as being the mass of the
International Prototype Kilogram. In explicit-constant
denitions, a constant of nature is given a specied value
and the denition of the unit emerges as a consequence.
For example, in 1983, the speed of light was dened to be
exactly 299,792,458 metres per second and as long as the
second has already been dened, the length of the metre
can be dened.
Kilogram
The current (2008)[13] and proposed (2011)[21] denitions are given below. In many cases the nal digit of any
constant is yet to be agreed, so it has been represented by
an "X"
3.1
Second
The watt balance which will measure the ratio of the Planck constant to the international prototype kilogram.[30]
The denition of the kilogram is undergoing a fundamental change - the current denition denes the kilogram as
being the mass of the international prototype kilogram
which is an artifact, not a constant of nature[31] while
the new denition relates it to the equivalent energy of
a photon via the Planck constant.
Current denition: The kilogram is the unit
of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram.
3.5
Kelvin
Proposed denition: The kilogram, kg, is the
unit of mass; its magnitude is set by xing the
numerical value of the Planck constant to be
equal to exactly 6.62606X1034 when it is expressed in the unit s1 m2 kg, which is equal to
Js.
5
dependent on the denitions of the kilogram and the metre, but will still be dependent on the denition of the
second. In addition the vacuum permeability, vacuum
permittivity and impedance of free space, which, in the
current denition have exact values will, in the future, be
subject to experimental error.[34]
Z0 =
0
0
IMPACT ON REPRODUCIBILITY
4 Impact on reproducibility
Apart from the candela,[Note 4][35] all the base units will
be dened in terms of universal physical constants, but
without an explicit one-to-one correspondence between
the constants and the base units. Thus six physical constants will be needed to dene the six base units.
A near-perfect sphere of ultra-pure silicon - part of the Avogadro
project, an International Avogadro Coordination project to determine the Avogadro number[30]
The draft SI brochure assumes the rst will remain true, 4.1 Physical constants used in the new defwhich would mean that the second will no longer be true.
initions
The molar mass constant, while still with great accuracy
remaining equal to 1 g/mol, will no longer be exactly The following table catalogues the changes in the relative
equal to that.
uncertainty of the physical constants and of base units that
are directly aected by the proposals:[21][37]
3.7
Candela
4.2 Other physical constants
7
The fundamental constants whose value is by denition xed.
The relative uncertainty of Boltzmann constant derived from two fundamentally dierent methods
such as acoustic gas thermometry and dielectric constant gas thermometry be better than one part in
106 and that these values be corroborated by other
measurements.[43]
Physical constants that are a function of the fundamental constants, for example the von Klitzing constant RK = h/e2 . In this case, both e and h are fundamental constants, so the von Klitzing constant has
an exact denition.
As at March 2011, the International Avogadro Coordination (IAC) group had obtained an uncertainty of 3.0
Physical constants that were alternative candidates
108 and NIST had obtained an uncertainty of 3.6 108
as fundamental constants. These have to be meain their measurements.[17]
sured separately, but the fundamental constants are
On 1 September 2012 the European Association of Naoften used in calculating these constants.
tional Metrology Institutes (Euramet) launched a formal
project to reduce the relative dierence between the wattAlthough there are potentially many thousands of conbalance and the silicon sphere approach to measuring the
stants in the latter two groups, those identied by Mills[37]
kilogram from 17 5 108 to within 2 108 .[44]
are listed below. Constants that are closely related have
As of March 2013 the proposed redenition is known
been grouped together.[21]
as the New SI,[1] but Mohr, in a paper following the
CGPM proposal but predating the formal CCU proposal,
suggested that since the proposed system makes use of
4.3 Dalton
atomic scale phenomena rather than macroscopic phe[45]
In 1993, the International Union of Pure and Applied nomena, it should be called the Quantum SI System.
Chemistry approved the use of the dalton as an alternative
to the unied atomic mass unit with the qualication that
the GCPM had not given its approval.[38] This approval 6 Comment
has since been given.[39] Following the proposal to redene the mole by xing the value of the Avogadro num- In 2010 Marcus Foster of the Commonwealth Scientic
ber, Brian Leonard of the University of Akron, writing in and Industrial Research Organisation published a wideMetrologia proposed that the dalton (Da) be redened as ranging critique of SI in which he raised numerous isan SI derived unit exactly equal to (1/1000NA) kg; but sues ranging from basic issues such as the absence of the
that the unied atomic mass unit (m) retain its current symbol "" from most Western keyboards to the abstract
denition based on the mass of 12 C, ceasing to be SI. issues such as inadequate formalism in the metrological
This would result in the dalton and the atomic mass unit concepts on which SI is based. The changes proposed in
potentially diering from each other by a factor of the the New SI only addressed issues regarding the denition
order of 109 .[40]
of the base units including new denitions of the candela
Acceptance
Much of the work done by the CIPM is delegated to consultative committees. The CIPM Consultative Committee for Units (CCU) has made the proposed changes while
other committees have examined the proposal in detail
and have made recommendations regarding their acceptance by the GCPM in 2014. The various consultative
committees have laid down a number of criteria that must
be met before they will support the CCUs proposal, including:
At least three separate experiments be carried out
yielding values having a relative expanded (95%)
uncertainty of no more than 5 108 and at least one
of these values should be better than 2 108 . Both
the Watt balance and the Avogadro project should
be included in the experiments and any dierences
between these be reconciled.[41][42]
and the moleunits that Foster argued were not true base
units. Other issues raised by Foster fell outside the scope
of the proposal.[46]
8 NOTES
the quantum electrodynamics level is somewhat dierent from the nature at classical electrodynamic levels, it is
considered inappropriate to use classical electrodynamics
to dene quantities that exist at quantum electrodynamic
levels.[34]
6.3
Temperature
Temperature is somewhat of an enigma - room temperature can be measured by means of expansion and contraction of a liquid in a thermometer, but high temperatures are often associated with a colour. Wojciech T.
Chyla, approaching the structure of SI from a philosophical point of view in the Journal of the Polish Physical
Society, argued that temperature is not a real base unit
but is rather an average of the thermal energies of the individual particles that make up the body concerned.[34]
He noted that in many theoretical papers, temperature is
represented by the quantities or where
= kb T ; =
1
kb T
SI base unit
8 Notes
[1] Prototype No. 8(41) was accidentally stamped with the
number 41, but its accessories carry the proper number
8. Since there is no prototype marked 8, this prototype is
referred to as 8(41).
[2] Since the adoption of SI in 1960, the metre had been dened in terms of the wavelength of krypton 86 radiation.
[3] In particular the CIPM was to prepare a detailed mise en
pratique for each the new denitions of the kilogram, ampere, kelvin and mole set by the 23rd CGPM[22]
[4] Measurement of the candela also requires a knowledge of
the response of the human eye to dierent wavelengths
of light known as the (luminosity function) and denoted
by V(), a function computed by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) to dierent wavelengths of
light.
[5] The dimensions of G are L3 M1 T2 , so once standards
have been established for length and for time, mass can in
theory be deduced from G.
[6] The following terms are dened in International vocabulary of metrology Basic and general concepts and associated terms:
measurement reproducibility - denition 2.25
standard measurement uncertainty - denition 2.30
9
relative standard measurement uncertainty - denition 2.32
[7] The two quantities of the Avogadro constant and Avogadros number are numerically the same, but while NA
has the units of mole1 , NN is a pure number.
References
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REFERENCES
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External links
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Images
11.3
Content license