|
Weight/Mass | Convert from slug to dalton |
Related Categories:
Common Weight Conversions Metric Weight Conversions Unit Definition (slug) The slug is a unit of mass in the English foot-pound-second system. One slug is the mass accelerated at 1 foot per second per second by a force of 1 pound. Since the acceleration of gravity (g) in English units is 32.174 04 feet per second per second, the slug is equal to 32.174 04 pounds (14.593 90 kilograms). The slug was formerly used in calculations in mechanics and engineering, but it has been largely abandoned in favor of metric units. The unit was called the "engineer's mass unit" during the late nineteenth century. The British physicist A. M. Worthington first called it a slug in a 1902 textbook. (Probably he had in mind older uses of the word to mean a weight or a projectile. In the 1600's a slug was a roughly shaped lump of metal shot from a primitive cannon.) Unit Definition (dalton) The dalton is an alternate name for the unified atomic mass unit (u or amu). The dalton is often used in microbiology and biochemistry to state the masses of large organic molecules; these measurements are typically in kilodaltons (kDa). It seems necessary to have such a unit, since "kilo-amu" would be such a clumsy name. The SI accepts the dalton as an alternate name for the unified atomic mass unit and specifies Da as its proper symbol. The unit honors the English chemist John Dalton (1766-1844), who proposed the atomic theory of matter in 1803.
|
|