The Grind's Almost Over to Forge two Perfect balls

Reuters ^ | 6/14/07 | Rob Taylor

[anymouse]

Let the jokes commence.

Come on now guys, this is serious science. ;)

[Cringing Negativism Network]

The RNC is looking for donations.

They could certainly make do with those.

[Kirkwood]

Maybe I missed something. Why are they making them as “perfect” spheres? Seems like a lot of wasted effort that serves no purpose other than to say look what we did.

[word_warrior_bob]

The part they didn’t tell you is that John McCain has commissioned this project, he would like to fidget with the balls in his hands, he claims he can feel the imperfections in the steel balls he currently fidgets with.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

For the first time in over a century, europe will be in possession of a pair of balls.

They bloody well better make sure those two are perfect, it’ll be many a year before the euros find another set of balls to replace these with.

[MHGinTN]

Serious? Well, depending upon where on earth this ball is weighed (was it milled down in Paris by Aussies, or milled down in Autralia?), it will be more or less than exactly the weight it was milled to originally. Of course, if kept in Paris it is never going to be safe anyway ...

[Redcloak]

Maybe I missed something. Why are they making them as “perfect” spheres? Seems like a lot of wasted effort that serves no purpose other than to say look what we did.

Making them spherical gives them a predictable volume. Since they know the isotope used and its density, knowing the exact volume tells you the exact mass of the sphere.

[Grunthor]

“The Grind’s Almost Over to Forge two Perfect balls”

Someone ask Hillary, I think she can help.

[John Valentine]

Europe? I had the impression from the preceeding post these balls were being fashioned for John McCain as his were imperfect.

Maybe they can make a second set for McCain.

[Pelham]

The RNC only accepts pesos.

[John Valentine]

On second thought, these one kg.silica balls will undoubtedly be too big for John McCain.

Maybe AC/DC can use them.

[GoldCountryRedneck]

The RNC is looking for donations.

You jest. The RNC would be afraid of a real set....

[Dr.Zoidberg]

john mccain and imperfect balls. You know, I can see it.

As warped as he is though, not even a new perfect pair will help him achieve balance.

[EternalVigilance]

The RNC had a set, but Hillary’s got ‘em...

[MarkL]

Making them spherical gives them a predictable volume. Since they know the isotope used and its density, knowing the exact volume tells you the exact mass of the sphere.

But a cube would be even more exacting, since the volume of a cube is LxWxH, and since L, W, and H can be rational numbers, you can have a volume that's a rational number. However, when you're dealing with something that's got a circular component, now you're adding an irrational number (pi) into the computation, and while the volume is going to be a finite number, it will still be irrational, and therefore somewhat less exact (on an infinitesimal level).

Mark

[Straight Vermonter]

They are not measuring for weight but rather for mass. Weight is relative, mass is a constant.

[MHGinTN]

And how will they prevent the degeneration which befell the bar?... Atoms and electrons come and go don’tchaknow.

[drlevy88]

Couldn’t a gadget be made to actually count individual atoms into a single mass? Then when it’s counted off a few quadrillion or so, we have something we can weigh.

[GOP_Raider]

Hmmmm, you know I think this was attempted a few times on the corners of 17th St and Castro in San Francisco, but with mixed results.

[MHGinTN]

Probably wouldn’t need a quadrillion to get a ‘standard’ ... time is already standarized by a vibrational wavelength isn’t it?