Sunday, March 24, 2013

Seeds - Weight of the Matter

The indoor target archery season is coming to an end and I'm starting my preparations to shoot outdoors. There are two more weeks of leagues and the MSAA State Indoor shoot is coming up. I'm happy it's almost over because I'm pretty burnt out shooting. Unlike last season, this year I shot through the summer instead of taking a break between seasons. I'd be sad if one of my favorite forms of recreation turned burdensome. 

I'm also looking forward to my friends getting married this summer! I don't know much about getting married except it involves a lot of resources to express eternal commitment. Shopping for rings sounds as exciting as it sounds terrifying. My friends have thoroughly educated me on the 4Cs, "Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat". 

How do archery and jewelry relate to food? Their units of measurement, grains and carats respectively, are derived from the weight of seeds! It is said that the reason for tying measurements of mass to seeds was a belief that seeds had very low variability in mass. It was also useful because anyone could go grab their own set of seeds to compare. Now, both grains and carats are generally standard units of mass around the world, with some variation in countries that do not recognize those units of measurement.

A grain is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. There are 7000 grains in a pound. Grains are the standard unit of measurement for arrows as well as bullets, gun propellants, water hardness, and some other things.



A carat is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single carob seed. One carat has a mass equal to 200 mg. Carats are used to weigh gemstones and pearls.


The more you know!
Jack

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