A Proposed Exact Integer Value for Avogadro's Number
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An exact value for Avodagro's number, namely NA* = (84446888)^3, is proposed. The number 84446888 represents the side length of a cube of atoms whose volume is closest, among all integral side lengths, to the current official NIST value of Avogadro's number. This value NA* is nearly dead center of the estimated range for the value of Avogadro's number, and is within the official standard level of uncertainty. Adoption of this value as the fixed value for NA would eliminate the current time-dependent definition of Avogadro's number, which depends on the definition of kilogram via an unstable physical artifact. It would also eliminate the need for the kilogram artifact altogether, since then, by definition, a kilogram would be exactly 1000/12 the mass of NA* atoms of carbon-12.
5 pages
5 pages