3 ms·

> two million cubic tonnes The British really do have the weirdest units.

a1369209993 5y ago
Cubic tonnes are technically a real and valid (SI even, ish) unit of measurement (for example the fundamental evaporation rate of a black hole via hawking radiation is on the order of 100 million cubic tonnes per second), but I think in this case they're just outright wrong.
- jl6 5y ago
  What does cubic mass mean?
  - a1369209993 5y ago
    The time it takes a black hole to evaporate is proportional to the cube of its mass. If you graph mass-cubed versus time, it decreases linearly at about 100 million cubic tonnes per second. The actual mass decreases at a rate that's inversely proportional to the square of the mass.
chrismcb 5y ago
Interestingly this may be a typo as the article mentions cubic meters. But wiki says cubic tons is a measure of volume that is obsolete in UK and mostly used in the US
- bombela 5y ago
  It really irks me that journalists cannot make the slightest effort using proper units. Here I understand they meant 2Tm³ (terameter³). Feel free to put in parenthesis the number of British buses or American football pitches, for the older folk from UK and USA if necessary. But please use units that are universal and scientific!
  - stan_rogers 5y ago
    No matter how you parse it, it cannot be 2Tm³. The most generous reading would be "two trillion cubic metres" rather than two million. It could also be read to mean that you want to cube a terametre.
  - robbedpeter 5y ago
    If you're going to be pedantic, please put in more effort in identifying the correct unit of measurement, whether it's feet, meters, leagues, or terameters. A terameter is a unit of length equal to 1 trillion meters. A cubic terameter is 1x10^36 cubic meters. 2 million cubic meters would be something like: .000000000000000000000000000002 cubic terameters Or: 2e-30 terameter³ If you're wanting minimalconversion, the amount comes to 2 cubic hectometers.
    - bombela 5y ago
      Indeed. 2 million tonnes == 2Tg. 2 million metre³ == 2hm³. The unit in the article is "cubic tonne". I mixed the whole thing without thinking. This is maybe adding weight (what a pun) to my original point though. Using the proper unit at the source.

a1369209993 5y ago

Cubic tonnes are technically a real and valid (SI even, ish) unit of measurement (for example the fundamental evaporation rate of a black hole via hawking radiation is on the order of 100 million cubic tonnes per second), but I think in this case they're just outright wrong.

jl6 5y ago
What does cubic mass mean?
- a1369209993 5y ago
  The time it takes a black hole to evaporate is proportional to the cube of its mass. If you graph mass-cubed versus time, it decreases linearly at about 100 million cubic tonnes per second. The actual mass decreases at a rate that's inversely proportional to the square of the mass.

chrismcb 5y ago

Interestingly this may be a typo as the article mentions cubic meters. But wiki says cubic tons is a measure of volume that is obsolete in UK and mostly used in the US

bombela 5y ago
It really irks me that journalists cannot make the slightest effort using proper units. Here I understand they meant 2Tm³ (terameter³). Feel free to put in parenthesis the number of British buses or American football pitches, for the older folk from UK and USA if necessary. But please use units that are universal and scientific!
- stan_rogers 5y ago
  No matter how you parse it, it cannot be 2Tm³. The most generous reading would be "two trillion cubic metres" rather than two million. It could also be read to mean that you want to cube a terametre.
- robbedpeter 5y ago
  If you're going to be pedantic, please put in more effort in identifying the correct unit of measurement, whether it's feet, meters, leagues, or terameters. A terameter is a unit of length equal to 1 trillion meters. A cubic terameter is 1x10^36 cubic meters. 2 million cubic meters would be something like: .000000000000000000000000000002 cubic terameters Or: 2e-30 terameter³ If you're wanting minimalconversion, the amount comes to 2 cubic hectometers.
  - bombela 5y ago
    Indeed. 2 million tonnes == 2Tg. 2 million metre³ == 2hm³. The unit in the article is "cubic tonne". I mixed the whole thing without thinking. This is maybe adding weight (what a pun) to my original point though. Using the proper unit at the source.