Official Kilogram Standard Contaminated: Experiments Could be Affected

The Kilogram Has Gained Weight

by Tia Ghose, LiveScience Staff Writer

Date: 06 January 2013 Time: 07:43 PM ET

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The international prototype kilogram is a cylinder of platinum and platinum-iridium alloy, which is kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) near Paris. CREDIT: Image Courtesy BIPM View full size image

The kilogram may need to go on a diet. The international standard, a cylinder-shaped hunk of metal that defines the fundamental unit of mass, has gained tens of micrograms of mass from surface contamination, according to a new study.

As a result, each country that has one of these standard masses has a slightly different definition of the kilogram, which could throw off science experiments that require very precise weight measurements or international trade in highly restricted items that are restricted by weight, such as radioactive materials.

But ozone and ultraviolet light could be used to clean the kilograms without damaging them, the research suggests.


More - Link >>> http://www.livescience.com/26017-kilogram-gained-weight.html

Source: LiveScience.com .

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