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Re: what do you call this in English?
Posted:
Jul 12, 1999 1:11 PM
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On 12 Jul 1999 13:34:18 GMT, rhofmann@crl.com (Kyle R. Hofmann) wrote:
>On 12 Jul 1999 08:34:25 GMT, Helmut Richter <Helmut.Richter@lrz-muenchen.de> wrote:
>> I have one of these language problems where no dictionary helps:
>>
>> If you have the result of a measurement of a physical quantity,
>> e.g. "3.5 kg" or "2.0 cm", what would you call the two parts?
>> Numerical value and unit? Quantity and dimension? ... If somebody is
>> writing into a report "the velocity is 25", you would ask back
>> "25 what?, you forgot the xxx"; then what is xxx?
>
>The "dimensions" or the "units".
>
Actually a notation such as kg indicates both that the dimension is
mass and that the unit is kilograms. If we had said lb. the dimension
is still mass but the unit is pounds. Similarly length can be meters,
feet, furlongs, etc. I would use the word unit to describe this as a
unit of measure inevitably implies a dimension, and only in certain
textbooks of theoretical physics do people think it is actually an
advantage not to talk about units (lets see, c=1, pi=1, mu=1,
epsilon=1, all products of physical constants =1, etc.).
Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of my employer.
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