May 20 is World Metrology Day and the signing of the so-called Meter Convention is commemorated. It is represented by seventeen nations and where its first convention was held on May 20, 1875.
This convention reminds us of the vital importance of having a universal value or level of measurement on a global scale. This method used in many everyday aspects and important jobs, as in science, health, commerce and industrial applications.
What is metrology?
Metrology is the science that studies measurement, it has to be accurate and efficient in many respects and partly known to all mankind. This point is of vital importance so that we can all share and organize everything with which we operate and in the same way.
For example, metrology is used in human health. All people need a health system where measurement is used and it is an issue that plays a very important role. With this precision, many parameters have to be measured to be able to make diagnoses.
The manufacture and marketing of products and everything that derives from it you need an adequate measurement system, this way all the commerce will use the same tables in length and weight so that there are no conflicts.
Satellite navigation systems also rely on measurement. They use the same international time correlation to accurately pinpoint moments as precise as location. An example would be in the use of measurement in the interconnection of complex computer systems, where everyone would use them, so an airplane can maneuver, take off and land with hardly any visibility.
How were the modern units of measurement born?
Although technology and many of our advances did not exist centuries ago, metrology has always been a measurement system. It has always existed and has developed over the years and depending on the evolution of society in each era.
Over the years this type of measurement has been used for scientific discovery and innovation. His invention is created to improve the quality of life of people, industrial manufacturing and international trade and even for the protection of the environment.
The measurement system was born in 1789 during the French Revolution, when the French National Assembly proposed to the Academy of Sciences a new modern measurement system. You had to create a new stable and static measurement system for everyone, where the feet and hands were no longer worth. Before it was measured with this system, but the length of the hands or feet varies depending on the person.
Thus the centimeter was defined and from there it was proposed to add the liter as a volume. A liquid that enters a cube with a side of 10 cm and the kilogram as the weight of a liter of water was created as a measure. Decimals were also created, showing the multiples of the units to vary from 10 to 10.
With these proposals the meter was created as a unit of measurement of length, creating an exact copy that has been saved in a security vault. The same happens with the kilogram, which as we have explained would be the weight of water that fits in a bucket, that is, 10 cubic centimeters. A weight was created that would serve as a standard for the kilogram which would be saved as the meter.
Some of the types of units of measurement that are used today are: of dough: kilograms, grams; we use the length: kilometer, meter; capacity: Kiloliter, liter; over time: hours, minutes, seconds, calendar; measurement: scale; temperature: thermometers; pressure: barometer, manometer.
It is vitally important that everyone knows this type of measurements so there are no discrepancies. All national institutes of metrology continually advance to develop. They are intended to be confidently approved and validated for everyone.
