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As you may probably know, temperature
is
often expressed in Kelvin, particularly in
technical and scientific papers. One
Kelvin
is equal in size to one degree Celsius,
but
the starting point differs (zero Kelvin
being about minus 273 Celsius).
Although the equivalence between
Celsius
and Kelvin is convenient for everyday
purposes, it has resulted in the original
unit of temperature falling into disuse. I
refer, of course, to the elvin, equal to one
thousandth of a degree Celsius.
Now that temperature control (including
the asymptotic pursuit of absolute zero)
is
becoming more advanced, the Kilo-elvin
(Kelvin) has become too blunt a unit of
measurement. We need to
campaign to have the elvin restored as a
unit of temperature measurement.
Instead
of claiming that "researchers have
obtained temperatures as low as 0.02
Kelvin", we can save several characters by
using natural units and giving
the
temperature as 20 elvins.
Naturally, the very lowest temperatures
must be expressed in melvins (one
thousandth of an elvin, equal in size to
millionth of a degree Celsius), whilst
extremes of temperature can
conveniently
be expressed in Melvins - far more
sensible that microKelvins or kiloKelvins.
Positive and negative picokelvin temperatures
http://ltl.tkk.fi/triennial/positive.html ?? [csea, Jul 23 2008]
William Thomson would not be amused
http://en.wikipedia...n,_1st_Baron_Kelvin Actually, perhaps he would. Born in Belfast and great son of Glasgow, I'm sure he'd have seen the funny side. [Jinbish, Jul 23 2008]
[link]
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That's not hard! My local news recently reported scientists were able to get the Large Hadron Collider down to a temperature of "-27 degrees C". Perhaps a new unit of measurement would prevent such media blunders. [+] |
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Isn't a Melvin a slang term for a wedgie? |
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[uranus is gaseous....huh huh huh] |
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The uppercase k troubles me. |
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I'm afraid your 'melvin' isn't small enough - the lowest temperature obtained in a lab is less than a nano-kelvin. |
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//the very lowest temperatures must be expressed in melvins (one thousandth of an elvin, equal in size to millionth of a degree Celsius)// |
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Wouldn't that then be a Thelvin? |
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Young [MaxwellBuchanan] was delvin'
To temperatures lower than (one) Kelvin,
But soon, if our hero
Bakes buns less than zero--
The entire idea he'll be shelvin' ! |
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Doesn't this whole unit of measurement sounds like a bridge between Lord of the Rings and physics? |
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[the one ring's melting point is 1e7 elvins] |
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The temperature is 1 degree Calvin, 17 minutes Hobbes. |
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[WhereYouAt] You may be thinking of a Merkin...which, although wedge-like, is not a wedgie. |
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Isn't the Calvin the unit of temperature of the Hell in which all catholics and sinners will burn ? |
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We had a really hot day around here not too long ago. The
temperature was up to 11.3 egrees Fahrenheit (4.5 egrees
Celsius). |
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