Re: Energy units

[Reedtb2@cs.com]

Dear A. D. Karve and all:

Congratulations on getting a bomb calorimeter and keep us posted on how well it works.  I have been collecting the results of calorimetry for 50 years and have the highest respect for it even though I can't do my own.  

I respectfully suggest that you should call it a "Joulometer" to honor the coordinator of heat/power rather than just heat itself in the name "calorimeter" (as in calorie).  And I hope you will report in Joules (kJ, MJ, GJ) instead of calories even though I will then mentally divide by 4.186 to compare to the list of calorie data that I have in my memory bank).  

I am embarassed for the U.S. that such a world power is dragging its feet on metricizing.  We can help by stop calling our folly "the English System of Measurement" and start calling it pejoratively "The American Folly System".  

I honestly believe that if the metric system had been in force during my life I would be 10 years younger - or would have accomplished 10% more.  

Your friend,                 TOM REED              BEF STOVEWORKS

In a message dated 1/12/02 12:28:41 AM Mountain Standard Time, pverhaart@optusnet.com.au writes:


> Unhappy to hear of the preference of obsolete units. The whole world (even 
> the USA is paying lip service to the idea) is using or getting ready to use 
> SI units. So preference for kJ/kg should be undisputed.
>
> You mention conversion formulae, the SI system of units was developed to do 
> away with conversion formulae (which boils down to remembering constants, 
> one should make better use of brain capacity remembering phone numbers of 
> friends). Years ago our physics lecturer commented on the so-called 
> 'Mechanical equivalent of heat' that it is nothing more than the specific 
> heat capacity of water expressed in an absurd number of decimals. "Surely 
> not a very interesting quantity," said he.
>
> Peter (SI freak) Verhaart
>
> At 09:36 11/01/02 +0530, you wrote:
> >Dear Stovers,
> >our Government has magnanimously sanctioned us some money for buying a bomb
> >calorimeter, which is certainly going to be of great help to us in our
> >briquettes related work.  Since we shall now be able to measure the energy
> >value of our fuel briquettes, and since we would also be reporting the
> >figures, I would like to know which units are prefered by this group. The
> >contributers to discussions in this group have been using BTU per pound,
> >calories per kg and Joules per kg.  Our Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy
> >Sources prefers KCal per kg, and they would expect us too to use the same
> >unit. I am quite sure that the conversion formulae are available in some
> >engineering or physics books, but our Institute does not have them. Would
> >somebody from this group provide us with the formulae for converting
> >BTU/pound into Joules/kg and  KCal/kg, and for Joules to KCal?
> >Dr.A.D.Karve, President
> >Appropriate Rural Technology Institute
> >Maninee Apartments, Survey no. 13
> >Dhayarigaon, Pune 411 041, India.
> >
> >