Trivia Guy

So last night we had the following question in round 3:

The international system (SI) of units defines seven SI base (or fundamental) units. Name them.

I thought the question was pretty straight forward but when people heard the correct answers, several trivia-goers cried about it. There is NO crying in Trivia! It says so right on your answer sheet! The answers are: Meter, Second, Ampere, Mole, Kg, Candela, degree Kelvin.

I had people claim that there was no way that a mole was a unit…people that claimed the Kg is a modified unit and other that it’s a derivative unit. The final straw was then someone implied that I get all my answers from and do all my research on, Wikipedia (Wikipedia!!). Well, I don’t. I will be the first to admit that I screw up sometimes… In a way, it’s a good thing because it proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I am NOT the Pope. Kidding aside, I definitely make mistakes and will continue to do so, but I try to keep incorrect information to a minimum. So feel free to tell me that you think I’m wrong but don’t accuse me of relying on Wikipedia…I know that a large percentage of its “knowledge” is…truthy at best.

Having said that, here are a few sources which back me up on the 7 fundamental SI units:

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Prof. Russ Rowlett at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

eFunda – Engineering Fundamentals

I bet Wiki would back me up too…but you can find that on your own. Ok, I’m done proving myself now.

The winners last night were from a team called Delivery Boys and they’re no strangers to Trivia Nite at John Harvard’s. This win gives them sole possession of 1st place on the All-Time Leader board. Congrats!