Physics Club: William D. Phillips, NIST & University of Maryland, “A New Measure: the reform of the International System of Units”

Event time: 
Monday, November 18, 2019 - 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Location: 
Sloane Physics Laboratory (SPL), Room 57 See map
217 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

The metric system began with the French revolution, and now we are experiencing the greatest revolution in measurement since the French revolution. The definitions of the kilogram, ampere, kelvin, and mole are all changed, being based on chosen and fixed values for Planck’s constant, the electron charge, Boltzmann’s constant, and Avogadro’s number. I will explain how this is possible, why it was necessary, and speculate about future changes in the SI.
Host: Steven Girvin (steven.girvin@yale.edu)