| Revision as of 02:30, 30 June 2004 editUberdog (talk | contribs)14 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 08:25, 30 June 2004 edit undoHeron (talk | contribs)Administrators29,256 edits The degree Kelvin is dead. Long live the kelvin.Next edit → | ||
| Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
| Page 31 of the United States National Institue of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Puplication 811 (''Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)'') states that unit names should be spelled out in full like any other English noun, with lower-case letters, except at the start of a sentence or in a title. However, if you write "degree Kelvin", Kelvin should be capitalized (since it's a type of degree, same way you'd write "Kennedy High School" and "high school") The publication actually uses celsius for the example but it's the same principle. A capital K should be used when abbreviating, since the unit is named after a person. -- ] 02:14, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC) | Page 31 of the United States National Institue of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Puplication 811 (''Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)'') states that unit names should be spelled out in full like any other English noun, with lower-case letters, except at the start of a sentence or in a title. However, if you write "degree Kelvin", Kelvin should be capitalized (since it's a type of degree, same way you'd write "Kennedy High School" and "high school") The publication actually uses celsius for the example but it's the same principle. A capital K should be used when abbreviating, since the unit is named after a person. -- ] 02:14, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC) | ||
| :According to the ] , the "degree Kelvin" ceased to exist 36 years ago: | |||
| ::''The 13th CGPM (1967-1968, Resolution 3) adopted the name kelvin (symbol K) instead of "degree Kelvin" (symbol °K) and defined the unit of thermodynamic temperature as follows (Resolution 4): ... '' | |||
| :On the other hand, Celsius has a capital C because it hasn't been adopted by the SI. -- ] 08:25, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC) | |||
Revision as of 08:25, 30 June 2004
Is the Kelvin temperature scale actually supposed to be written as a lower-case k? I thought k stood for kilo- and K stood for Kelvins. --24.72.34.179 22:44, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I think they meant that:
- A "kelvin" is written with a lowercase "k", just like "ampere" is written with a lowercase "a", even though it's named after a person too.
- However, the abbreviation for a kelvin is an uppercase "K", just like the abbreviation for an ampere is an uppercase "A".
200 K = 200 kelvins
200 A = 200 amperes
Perhaps the wording needs some clarification, or perhaps it's unnecessary. -- Curps 23:46, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Page 31 of the United States National Institue of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Puplication 811 (Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)) states that unit names should be spelled out in full like any other English noun, with lower-case letters, except at the start of a sentence or in a title. However, if you write "degree Kelvin", Kelvin should be capitalized (since it's a type of degree, same way you'd write "Kennedy High School" and "high school") The publication actually uses celsius for the example but it's the same principle. A capital K should be used when abbreviating, since the unit is named after a person. -- Uberdog 02:14, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC)
- According to the BIPM (see here), the "degree Kelvin" ceased to exist 36 years ago:
- The 13th CGPM (1967-1968, Resolution 3) adopted the name kelvin (symbol K) instead of "degree Kelvin" (symbol °K) and defined the unit of thermodynamic temperature as follows (Resolution 4): ...
- On the other hand, Celsius has a capital C because it hasn't been adopted by the SI. -- Heron 08:25, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC)