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So, whe have to adopt a new definition for the second:
it is now the duration of 429,228,004,229,952 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the strontium atom at rest at a temperature of 0°K.

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
by Melanchthon on Wed Apr 25th, 2007 at 08:14:17 AM EST
...give or take a period.

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.
by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Wed Apr 25th, 2007 at 12:03:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
give a period to whom?

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
by Melanchthon on Wed Apr 25th, 2007 at 04:32:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
To the great goddess of the infinite fraction.  Or take...

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.
by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Wed Apr 25th, 2007 at 04:36:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
And (whisper it): they say the give and take goes all the way down...

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.
by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Wed Apr 25th, 2007 at 04:37:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
..and up...

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.
by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Wed Apr 25th, 2007 at 04:37:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
At its 1997 meeting the CIPM affirmed that:

      This definition refers to a caesium atom at rest at a temperature of 0 K.

This note was intended to make it clear that the definition of the SI second is based on a caesium atom unperturbed by black body radiation, that is, in an environment whose thermodynamic temperature is 0 K. The frequencies of all primary frequency standards should therefore be corrected for the shift due to ambient radiation, as stated at the meeting of the Consultative Committee for Time and Frequency in 1999.

Gaah, this means the second is now defined in terms of unrealisable physical conditions!

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Apr 26th, 2007 at 11:53:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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