cubic VVV

[Chris Waigl]

Joel S. Berson wrote:

>Perhaps this added to the confusions, "one cubic decimeter" (of
>water, approx. one liter) becoming "one cubic liter".
>
>

Whatever the history[1], one cubic decimeter is _exactly_ one liter.

Chris Waigl

[1] I learned this the way Wikipedia explains it: "In 1793, the litre
was introduced in France <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France> as one of
the new "Republican Measures", and defined as one cubic decimetre. [...]
In 1901, at the 3rd CGPM
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conf%C3%A9rence_G%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale_des_Poids_et_Mesures>
conference, the litre was redefined as the space occupied by 1 kg of
pure water <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water> at the temperature of
its maximum density (3.98 °C) under a pressure of 1 atm
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_pressure>. This made the litre
equal to about 1.000 028 dm³ (earlier reference works usually put it at
1.000 027 dm³). [...] In 1964, at the 12th CGPM
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conf%C3%A9rence_G%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale_des_Poids_et_Mesures>
conference, the litre was once again defined in exact relation to the
metre, as another name for the cubic decimetre, that is, exactly 1 dm³."
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liter>