more A Metric measure of volume. Equal to 1,000 liters.

One litre of liquid water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram, because the kilogram was originally defined in 1795 as the mass of one cubic decimetre of water at the temperature of melting ice (0 °C). Subsequent redefinitions of the metre and kilogram mean that this relationship is no longer exact.

Pavillon de Breteuil

Thus, if would not have existed, we were not be able to design and use balances or mass-measuring equipment in order to provide a reliable measure of the real mass of an object.

As of today (May 20), physicists have replaced the old kilogram — a 130-year-old, platinum-iridium cylinder weighing 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) sitting in a room in France —— with an abstract, unchanging measurement based on quadrillions of light particles and Planck’s constant (a fundamental feature of our universe).

After 130 years of faithful service, the so-called “prototype kilogram” upon which nations base their weight measurements was just replaced by a new standard based on fundamental laws of physics.

Using this table as a reference, you can see the following: • A kilogram is 1,000 times larger than one gram (so 1 kilogram = 1,000 grams). A centimeter is 100 times smaller than one meter (so 1 meter = 100 centimeters).

Mass (weight) Units