Units of choice
One of the first things that struck me odd in university was how we were introduced into calculating machine parts: "OK gentlemen, now that we calculated everything to the fifth decimal place, lets add, say, two thumbs of safety."
Subsequently, I started expressing speeds in angstrom per lunar cycle instead of in meters per seconds, as this unit combines extreme precision in its one and (seemingly) slightly less precision in its other part. Memorizing conversion factors for my new favourite unit was the easier part.
Now, Google has found a heart for those of you that want or have to deal with similar esoteric units, and I praise the makers of Google Calculator for including both the angstrom and the lunar cycle. For quick reference, calling
- http://xrl.us/angstrom2meter gives you the conversion factor for meter per seconds into angstrom per lunar cycle (2.55144298 × 10E16), and
- http://xrl.us/meter2angstrom gives you the conversion factor for vice versa calculations (3.91935077 × 10E-17)
For more academic uses, I also set up http://xrl.us/c2angstrom (speed of light c in angstrom per lunar cycle) and http://xrl.us/angstrom2c (angstrom per lunar cycle in c). If all this does not help, try http://xrl.us/theanswer.
More usage examples at waxy.org and loads of other places in blogworld.
