Everyone knows how to measure, for example, 1cm or 1 kg of something, but how did people decide how much length is going to be 1 cm or how much weight is going to be 1kg? And how did they make most of the world accept those measurements? Questions applies to other measurements aswell, these two were just examples.
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One of the problems with older forms of measurement like pounds, cubits, and feet was the lack of standardization. What was defined as a foot varied depending on where you lived. The British later implemented the Imperial measuring system to standardize this.
When the metric system was defined in France they decided that measurements would be defined as repeatable standards. Meaning that you define a particular measurement based on a repeatable test so that it can be regularly checked and be consistent.
The meter was originally defined as 1 millionth the distance between the equator and the pole.
Since the metric system is all about fractions of 10 the meter was easily transformed into the KM, CM, and MM, etc
A KG was originally defined as a 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm cube of water.
These were later re-defined with standard weights and lengths. Devices made of metal that would be used to calibrate measuring tools. Essentially a stick made of metal that is the standard meter that everyone else copies from, and a block of brass that is the standard KG.
This was again later re-defined to a more precise measurement, today the meter is defined by the speed of light in a vacuum. While weights like the KG are defined by the mass of a certain number of atoms.
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