Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Slug (unit)
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== History == The ''slug'' is part of a subset of units known as the [[Foot–pound–second system#Variants|gravitational FPS system]], one of several such specialized systems of mechanical units developed in the late 19th and the early 20th century. ''Geepound'' was another name for this unit in early literature.<ref>[http://www.unit2unit.eu/lb_gee.html gee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127202421/http://unit2unit.eu/lb_gee.html |date=2018-01-27 }}. unit2unit.eu</ref> The name "slug" was coined before 1900 by British physicist [[Arthur Mason Worthington]],<ref>{{cite book |author= Worthington, Arthur Mason |title= Dynamics of Rotation: An Elementary Introduction to Rigid Dynamics |publisher= Longmans, Green, and Co. |year= 1900 |edition= 3rd |page= 9 |url= https://archive.org/stream/dynamicsofrotati00wortuoft#page/8/mode/2up}}</ref> but it did not see any significant use until decades later.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XnRVDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Arthur+Mason+Worthington%22+slug&pg=PA207|title=Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures: Volume 1|first=Jan|last=Gyllenbok|date=April 11, 2018|publisher=Birkhäuser|isbn=9783319575988|via=Google Books}}</ref> It is derived from the meaning "solid block of metal" (cf. [[Slug (coin)|"slug" fake coin]] or [[Slug (projectile)|"slug" projectile]]), not from the [[slug]] mollusc.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9E4gAQAAIAAJ&q=%22solid+block+of+metal.%22+slug|title=Papers and Presentations|first=Digital Equipment Computer Users|last=Society|date=September 4, 1965|via=Google Books}}</ref> A 1928 textbook says: {{quote|text=No name has yet been given to the unit of mass and, in fact, as we have developed the theory of dynamics no name is necessary. Whenever the mass, ''m'', appears in our formulae, we substitute the ratio of the convenient force-acceleration pair ''(w/g)'', and measure the mass in lbs. per ft./sec.<sup>2</sup> or in grams per cm./sec.<sup>2</sup>.|author=Noel Charlton Little, ''College Physics'', Charles Scribner's Sons, 1928, p. 165.}} {{GravEngAbs}} The slug is listed in the Regulations under the Weights and Measures (National Standards) Act, 1960. This regulation defines the units of weights and measures, both regular and metric, in Australia.
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)