New definitions of the SI base units

Authors

  • Emanuel Svoboda Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc

Abstract

The article informs about the change of the definitions of the SI base units. The change came into force on May 20th 2019 by a decision of the 26th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM). The kilogram, ampere, kelvin and mole were redefined and the definitions of the second, metre and candela were modified. The fundamental change in the SI system is that the base units are introduced by the usage of seven basic quantities: the frequency of the radiation ΔνC emitted between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom, the speed of light in vacuum c, the Planck constant h, the elementary charge e, the Boltzmann constant k, the Avogadro constant NA and the luminous efficacy of monochromatic radiation Kcd of frequency 540 THz. The new definitions of the SI units are given in the table. The conclusion of the article presents possible ways how to incorporate these changes into secondary school Physics teaching.

Published

2019-08-28

How to Cite

Svoboda, E. (2019). New definitions of the SI base units. MATHEMATICS–PHYSICS–INFORMATICS, 28(3), 190–201. Retrieved from https://mfi.upol.cz/index.php/mfi/article/view/458

Issue

Section

Physics