One morning the Emperor asked Laotzu to describe the fundamental proportions. Laotzu replied: "The Son of Heaven knows that there are four basic proportions in nature: the speed of light, the frequency coefficient of temperature, the ratio of frequency to voltage, and the constant of gravity. In the units of the Forbidden City, these proportions are a ten million, one quadrillion, one hundred quadrillion, and again one quadrillion."
"In one minute, which is your Majesty's unit of time, the light sent by the sun to illuminate the Forbidden City travels a trillion of your Majesty's fingerwidths. This width is a distance which the ancient sages called a bone and was considered by them to be the hundred thousandth part of a mile. Thus in one minute light may be said to travel ten million miles, and this is the first of the fundamental proportions."
"The keynote frequency in the light from a glowing object is a quadrillion times the object's temperature, measured on your Majesty's scale. The surface temperature of the sun is 40 grade and therefore the keynote frequency in sunlight is 40 quadrillion per minute."
"Now I shall describe the frequency coefficient of voltage. When one of your Majesty's electrons absorbs a quantum of light, it becomes able to rise to a higher plane of voltage, indicating the energy it has acquired. The light's frequency is proportional to the rise in voltage experienced by electron. And one of the Son of Heaven's voltage units corresponds to the frequency of 100 quadrillion per minute. Thus we may see that blue light, which causes a voltage rise of 2.5 units, has a frequency of 250 quadrillion per minute and this illustrates yet another of the natural proportions."
"O Sage," said the Emperor, "you have described but three of the fundamental constants. Describe the constant of gravity as well."
"If it please the Son of Heaven, the value of this constant is a quadrillion and I shall illustrate this to your Majesty by weighing the sun in its own gravity," said Laotzu. Wishing to compare the sun's weight with the Emperor's standard of force, he caused a bronze dragon, which in the estimation of barbarians weighed two-point-seven pounds, to be placed on a small table before the throne. The force of this dragon's weight in the gravity of the Forbidden City was called one ocque and had been decreed by the Emperor to be his measure of force.
"The Son of Heaven may wish to know the attraction which two copies of the sun would exert on each other if they were separated by the same distance that earth is from the sun. Indeed it can be reckoned from circular orbit speed at this distance, by squaring the speed twice in succession. Each quartic unit of speed must be counted as a quadrillion ocques and this illustrates one of several forms taken by this constant."
The earth's orbit speed is a thousand miles per minute, which is typical of a circular orbit at this distance. In the measure favored by the Son of Heaven. Squaring that twice in succession gives 1012 quartic units of speed. In accordance with the fundamental constant of gravity, each quartic unit of speed is worth 1015 ocques. In this way Laotzu demonstrated that the sun's weight, at this distance, is 1027 ocques.
Since the Emperor's ton is equal to a thousand ocques, this 1027 ocques is the same as 1024 tons. In its own gravity at this distance, Lao-Tzu explained, the sun would weigh a trillion trillion of the Emperor's tons.
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Copyright © 2002 Leonard Cottrell. All rights reserved.
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