this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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xkcd #3106: Farads (imgs.xkcd.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by xkcdbot@lemmy.world to c/xkcd@lemmy.world
 

xkcd #3106: Farads

Title text:

'This HAZMAT container contains radioactive material with activity of one becquerel.' 'So, like, a single banana slice?'

Transcript:

[Cueball holds a stick while talking with Megan and White Hat.]
Cueball: This stick is one meter long.
Megan: Cool.
White Hat: That's a nice stick.

[Cueball holds a smallish rock.]
Cueball: This rock weighs one pound.
Megan: I'd believe it.
White Hat: Looks like a normal rock.

[Cueball holds a small battery.]
Cueball: This battery is one volt.
Megan: Seems fine.
White Hat: Might need a recharge.

[Cueball holds a capacitor while Megan and White Hat panic.]
Cueball: This capacitor is one farad.
Megan: Aaaaa! Be careful!!
White Hat: Put it down!!

Source: https://xkcd.com/3106/

explainxkcd for #3106

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 38 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

Only criticism is the use of non-metric weight units when everything else is SI-based.

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 17 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Wikipedia currently says:

the international avoirdupois pound, [...] is legally* defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms

So, technically, a pound is a metric weight, only a niche one whose use may or may not be permitted by local regulations.

Similar is true* of the inch, which is defined as precisely 25.4 millimetres.

* The US, UK and a handful of others collectively signed this into their respective laws in 1959. You might think we don't use the pound in the UK any more but it still shows up often in informal situations. Ditto inches and feet.

[–] dellish@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

That's similar to saying "Auf Wiedersehen" translated to English is "until I see you again", therefore "Auf Wiedersehen" is technically English. Just because there's a recognised translation to a thing, that doesn't make it that thing.

[–] gazter@aussie.zone 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's not a recognised translation- it's the definition.

[–] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If we're going to split hairs then while it's defined in terms of metric units, it doesn't scale with prefixes and factors of 10, so it can't be an S.I. unit.

[–] gazter@aussie.zone 2 points 1 week ago

You're right, the imperial units are not S.I. units, but each (most?) imperial unit is defined by an S.I. unit.

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