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Limitation of the Artifact-Based Definition of the Kilogram, its Redefinition and Realization Using Kibble Balance

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Abstract

Until recently, the kilogram was the only SI base unit having an artifact as its primary standard. For more than four decades, there have been continuous efforts worldwide toward redefining the kilogram, the SI unit of mass, to have an artifact-independent and time-invariant definition based on a fundamental constant. Due to the effort of metrologists across the globe, on 16th November 2018, in the 26th meeting of the General Conference on Weights and Measure (CGPM), the kilogram was finally redefined based on the Planck constant. This paper gives an overview of the limitations of an artifact-based definition and the significance of the redefinition, and, its implications. The principle of the Kibble balance and its major components and their role is also discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. D. K. Aswal, Ex Director, CSIR-NPL, Dr. Sanjay Yadav Head, PMMD, CSIR-NPL, and Dr. H. K. Singh PI, Kibble Balance, CSIR-NPL for their guidance, encouragement and for providing all the facilities. The authors are also grateful to Mr. Dinesh Sharma, Mass metrology, CSIR-NPL, for providing the technical support. The authors are thankful to Dr. Harish Kumar, NIT Delhi, for the fruitful discussions and suggestions. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions in improving the quality of the manuscript. One of the authors, BE is thankful to CSIR for providing financial support in the form of CSIR-SRF.

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  1. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Bushra Ehtesham & Nidhi Singh

  2. CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr. K. S. Krishnan Road, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Bushra Ehtesham, Thomas John & Nidhi Singh

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  1. Bushra Ehtesham
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Ehtesham, B., John, T. & Singh, N. Limitation of the Artifact-Based Definition of the Kilogram, its Redefinition and Realization Using Kibble Balance. MAPAN 36, 333–341 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12647-021-00466-w

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