Re: Metric unit examples

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1 total messages Started by Fred Mina Sat, 27 Aug 1994 00:36

#1338

Author: Fred Mina
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 1994 00:36

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Patty,
Sorry this is so late, but just got back from vacation.  There are many
strange units, with an extreme of size in the area of radiation and nuclear
physics.  I think my favorite is the barn- 1x10^-24 cm^2  it is a measure of
nuclear capture cross section.  I have been told that the nucleus of uranium
presents such a large cross section to a thermal neutron that in jest it was
said to be as "big as a barn" hence the origin of the unit.  Along with
Cherrie's idea about the size a mole for bigness I have had students
approximate how long it would take MacDonalds to serve a moles worth of
stuff.  You need to find what their current "... ?billions served" number is
and how long they have been in business.  The answer is a real surprise to
most people.  How about the unit for radioactive activity-the Curie-
3.7x10^10 dis/sec ?  You live in a really neat part of the world, my
daughter is a senior at Western Carolina U. so I have visited your area
quite often. If I get any other ideas I'll send them on.

                   Fred Mina
--
Frederic T Mina   (fmina@llnj.ll.pbs.org) or (fmina@eden.rutgers.edu)
257 Mission Road                    West Morris Central HS  Physics Dept
Hackettstown, NJ 07840              Bartley Rd
908-852-5348                        Chester, NJ  07930   908-879-5212

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