#and so that leads to measuring energy in ergs instead of joules
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my mom's complaining about knot as a unit of measurement like "why dont you just say miles per hour then" like. oh boy she would hate astronomy units LOL
#ive said this before but units of measurement are literally fake#and its actually so interesting to think about in terms of like#the way most people think of units as hard and fast things. immutable. inherent to nature#but really they are entirely shaped by human psychology and history and the way we perceive the world#like. theyre fake. they dont exist. theyre made up.#humans invented units of measurements for our own ease of understanding#and so in certain fields. certain units are easier than standard units#with maritime navigation evidently nautical miles are easier than normal miles. thus leading to knots as an equivalent to mph#astronomy uses the weirdest fucking units. cgs instead of standard mks#and so that leads to measuring energy in ergs instead of joules#literally the weirdest fucking units you have never heard of before unless u are involved in the academic side of astronomy#im not even quite sure why we use cgs i was just told its the standard in the field. but im sure theres a reason#that was determined a long time ago by people much smarter than me LOL#brot posts#but basically the point in these units are weird as fuck and VERY specialized but they like. exist for a reason#most of the time to simplify math#and really! thats even why normal standard units you're used to ALSO exist !#all units are made up by and for humans <3
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