Re: Figg Newtons?

[Jack Bunce <jackbunce@xxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 05 Jul 2004 09:37:51 -0400, PLPKLT@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2004 09:37:51 -0400
> From: PLPKLT@xxxxxxx
> Subject: Figg Newtons?
>
> does anyone have the conversion factor to convert from the 
> Newton-meters which seems to be given in all the manuals.  I would 
> like to turn them into cookie-ft lbs....
>
>
> And why isn't it Kg-meters.  What does a newton weigh anyway?
> and while we are at it, why isn't milk included in any of the 
> formulas....
>
> Paige

To answer your other question:  A Newton weighs exactly that, i.e., 1 
Newton.  Here on planet earth at sea level 1 Newton has a mass of 1 Kg.

In the older days we used to use the term "slug" for the unit of mass. 
So it was real simple: 1 slug multiplied by the acceleration of gravity 
was equal to one pound.... and everybody was very happy because only 
ones were involved.

Then we went to the moon and when we got there we noticed that the 
acceleration of gravity wasn't a one any more. That started to make 
things get pretty messy.

And, at the same time, the flower children, who stayed behind here on 
planet earth, didn't like those slimy things that ate their flowers so 
they invented the word icky.

So, then when we came back from the moon and started talking to the 
flower children again we noticed that the things that ate their flowers 
and our mass units had the same name, they were both slugs!

Well, since the flower children thought slugs were icky and we really, 
really liked the flower children; after all they wanted to make love, 
not war... we decided to get rid of our slugs.

But how were we to do it? We couldn't kill them because our slugs 
weren't alive.

Then we noticed that the flower children not only had their own names 
for things but that lots of their things had the same name!  How did 
they do this? Well it turned out to be simple.. they invented the 
concept of like...as in you know, like.....man.  This was awfully 
appealing; fewer words, more things. So modern.

We could just change the name of our slugs to something simple, elegant 
even and sort of like mass. So we did!  We changed the name to lbs, 
There were some of us who wanted to change to lbm and lbf but they just 
didn't like get it, you no what I mean.

And the best part is that when our friends overseas saw this and 
realized how friendly and easy to get along with we really were they 
decided to help us out just like we helped them out before and they 
decided to give us, free of charge, the metric system where everything 
is ones!  And everything since then just keeps getting better and 
better.

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