A Better Definition of the Kilogram

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new, precise, and unchanging definition of the kilogram based on fixing Avogadro's constant, replacing the artifact kilogram with a fundamental constant-based standard.

Contribution

It introduces a novel definition of the kilogram using a fixed value of Avogadro's constant, ensuring stability and precision over time.

Findings

Provides a clear mathematical formulation for the new kilogram definition

Highlights advantages over artifact and experimental definitions

Ensures long-term stability and reproducibility

Abstract

Fixing the value of Avogadro's constant, the number of atoms in 12 grams of carbon-12, at exactly 84446886^3 would imply that one gram is the mass of exactly 18x14074481^3 carbon-12 atoms. This new definition of the gram, and thereby also the kilogram, is precise, elegant and unchanging in time, unlike the current 118-year-old artifact kilogram in Paris and the proposed experimental definitions of the kilogram using man-made silicon spheres or the watt balance apparatus.