Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> Number of atoms? (Or sometimes ions, or subatomic particles of some 
> kind. Make sure you specify; it kinda makes a difference.)

12 grams of carbon-12.  Avagadro's number is the number of neutrons in one 
gram of neutrons. 1/A is the weight of a neutron.

They specify "carbon 12" because not all neutrons weigh the same amount, due 
to E=Mc^2.

> There's a whole zoo of algebraic systems (I think that's the term) - 
> monoids, semigroups, groupoids, groups, rings, fields, etc. They're all 
> essentially the same "thing", just with differing numbers of properties 
> guaranteed.

Right. I'd have to go look up the details.

> Personally, I only bother with fields and groups. A group is closed, 
> associative, and possesses a unique identity element and an inverse 
> element for every member. An Abelien group or commutative group is... 
> self-explanatory, actually?

That was my memory, yes.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Insanity is a small city on the western
   border of the State of Mind.

Post a reply to this message