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2006-07-25 06:33:31 · 8 answers · asked by hickskicks 5 in Science & Mathematics Physics

8 answers

Originally it was 1 10 millionth the distance from the equator to the pole.

Then it was the distance between two lines scribed on a platinum bar.

Now it is defined interms of wavelengths of light.

No king/emperor/pope's feet, elbows, or other bodily parts were ever involved in this measurement.

2006-07-25 06:36:56 · answer #1 · answered by rt11guru 6 · 0 1

It's a unit or measurement.

It's a specific distance that light will travel in a split part of a second when traveling in a vacuum. The exact fraction of the second is 1/ 299792458.

In the olden Roman times, it was the distance that a Roman soldier would step. That is, when the right heel lifted off the ground to the point when the right heel touched the ground again. The distance between the two heel marks on the ground was considered to be a meter in distance.

2006-07-25 06:38:13 · answer #2 · answered by Brenmore 5 · 0 0

The meter is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second

2006-07-25 06:36:29 · answer #3 · answered by Bors 4 · 0 0

It is scientifically calculated. I have heard that it was originally calculated as the distance from the north pole to the equator, divided by some even number. It is slightly off from the accurate calculation becuase it was done in ancient times, before measurements could be 100% accurate.

Nowadays, the universal distance for a meter is measured physically with light. Scientists have calculated the time it takes light to travel exactly one meter, and they have a setup where someone looking to match their meterstick to the official meter can see the distance the light goes in that amount of time. (It used to be a stick was used as the universal meter stick, but since it slightly changed size with temperature and moisture, they switched to the light method.)

2006-07-25 06:38:19 · answer #4 · answered by Sappho 4 · 0 0

The meter is now based on the speed of light and the basic unit of time, the second. One second is defined as 9,192,631,770 oscilliations of a Cesium-133 atom (hyperfine transitions for the purist). A counter keeps track of the oscillations and that is the basis for the second.

If a beam of light is timed for one second, the distance it travels will be one light-second or 299,792,458 meters. So the distance that light travels in 30.6633189... oscillations of Cesium-133 is one meter.

2006-07-25 06:46:12 · answer #5 · answered by aichip_mark2 3 · 0 0

Today, it is defined as equal to the length of the path traveled by light in absolute vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.

But before, it was defined as many things, and most famously as one ten millionth the distance from the Equator to the North Pole.

See the link for extensive information.

2006-07-25 06:39:28 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

it has 2 basis.
1.1000 milimeters or
2. 0.001 Kilometers

2006-07-25 07:12:41 · answer #7 · answered by Nalin S 2 · 0 0

It's a rod in Paris. I'm serious.

2006-07-25 06:36:59 · answer #8 · answered by madbaldscotsman 2 · 0 0

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