Measurement In Guatemala

THEORICAL FRAMEWORK:

1.1. MEASUREMENT

Measurement is the assignment of numbers to objects or events. It is a cornerstone of most natural sciences, technology, economics, and quantitative research in other social sciences.

Before 1960 there were many systems, so the countries had to reach an agreement to have an “universal” system. With the international system established they had a reference, in which everyone had to understand. However, it was never completely pulled out by the roots the custom of the native measurement.

With the exception of a few seemingly fundamental quantum constants, units of measurement are essentially arbitrary; in other words, people make them up and then agree to use them. Nothing inherent in nature dictates that an inch has to be a certain length, or that a mile is a better measure of distance than a kilometre.

1.1.1. IMPERIAL SYSTEM:

Before SI units were widely adopted around the world, the British systems of English units and later imperial units were used in Britain, the Commonwealth and the United States. The system came to be known as U.S. customary units in the United States and is still in use there and in a few Caribbean countries. These various systems of measurement have at times been called foot-pound-second systems after the Imperial units for length, weight and time even though the tons, hundredweights, gallons, and nautical miles, for example, are different for the U.S. units.

1.1.2. METRIC SYSTEM:

The metric system is a decimal systems of measurement based on its units for length, the metre and for mass, the kilogram. It exists in several variations, with different choices of base units, though these do not affect its day-to-day use. Since the 1960s, the International System of Units (SI) is the internationally recognised metric system. Metric units of mass, length, and electricity are widely used around the world for both everyday and scientific purposes. The metric system features a single base unit for many physical quantities.

1.1.3 INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS:

The International System of Units (abbreviated as SI from the French language name Système International d'Unités) is the modern revision of the metric system. It is the world's most widely used system of units, both in everyday commerce and in science. The SI was developed in 1960 from the metre-kilogram-second (MKS) system, rather than the centimetre-gram-second (CGS) system, which, in turn, had many variants. During its development the SI also introduced several newly named units that were previously not a part of the metric system. The original SI units for the six basic physical quantities were:

Base quantity Base unit Symbol Current SI constants New SI constants (proposed)

Time Second S hyperfine splitting in Cesium-133 same as current SI

Length Metre M speed of light in vacuum, c same as current SI

Mass Kilogram kg mass of International Prototype Kilogram (IPK) Planck's constant, h

Electric Current Ampere A permeability of free space, permittivity of free space charge of the electron, e

Temperature Kelvin K triple point of water, absolute zero Boltzmann's constant, k

Amount of Substance Mole mol molar mass of Carbon-12 Avogadro constant NA

Luminous Intensity Candela cd luminous efficacy of a 540 THz source same as current SI

1.2. MEASUREMENT IN GUATEMALA:

Guatemala use the International System but they are still using some traditional units brought by the Spaniards and English units.

When the Spanish came in 1524, European measurements were based on Marcus Vitruvius’ (80-70 BC—15 AD) “De Architectura,” known today as the “Ten Books of Architecture.” According to Vitruvius, architecture is an imitation

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