In excess of .08 grams per 210 liters of breath . . .
These days people talk about someone being "above an 08" they generally have no idea what that means.
Hearken back to the days we were all in elementary school. When we all learned about decimals in mathematics we were told that the number immediately to the right of the decimal point was the value "tenths." The number immediately to the right of tenths was "hundredths." The number immediately to the right of hundredths was "thousandths." For example, .203 would be read "two hundred three thousandths."
Another way to describe that value would be in the form of a fraction. The value can be represented thusly 203/1000.
So the value .08 that so many people commonly call an 'oh-eight" is eight hundredths of a gram. Does that really help anyone understand what being above an oh-eight means? Let's flesh it out some more.
A gram is a small unit of measurement. Just over twenty-eight grams equals one ounce. As a means of comparison a single serving packet of Nurtasweet weighs .458 ounces or just under 12 grams.
As for the other part of the measurement of .08 grams per 210 liters of breath what exactly does 210 liters look like? Consider that a bottle of Coca Cola is 2 liters. Fifty-five bottles of Coca Cola equals 210 liters. Also, 210 liters is the equivalent of 55.45 gallons. If you're familiar with a fifty five gallon drum than you have some idea of what he volume is.
Do we now know exactly what .08 grams per 210 liters of breath is?
Yes and no.
We know that it is a very, very small measurement. We know that the machine is looking for an amount that is 162 times smaller than the contents of a single serving packet of Nurtasweet while floating around in a 55 gallon drum of breath.
What we still don't know is exactly what that means.
Hearken back to the days we were all in elementary school. When we all learned about decimals in mathematics we were told that the number immediately to the right of the decimal point was the value "tenths." The number immediately to the right of tenths was "hundredths." The number immediately to the right of hundredths was "thousandths." For example, .203 would be read "two hundred three thousandths."
Another way to describe that value would be in the form of a fraction. The value can be represented thusly 203/1000.
So the value .08 that so many people commonly call an 'oh-eight" is eight hundredths of a gram. Does that really help anyone understand what being above an oh-eight means? Let's flesh it out some more.
A gram is a small unit of measurement. Just over twenty-eight grams equals one ounce. As a means of comparison a single serving packet of Nurtasweet weighs .458 ounces or just under 12 grams.
As for the other part of the measurement of .08 grams per 210 liters of breath what exactly does 210 liters look like? Consider that a bottle of Coca Cola is 2 liters. Fifty-five bottles of Coca Cola equals 210 liters. Also, 210 liters is the equivalent of 55.45 gallons. If you're familiar with a fifty five gallon drum than you have some idea of what he volume is.
Do we now know exactly what .08 grams per 210 liters of breath is?
Yes and no.
We know that it is a very, very small measurement. We know that the machine is looking for an amount that is 162 times smaller than the contents of a single serving packet of Nurtasweet while floating around in a 55 gallon drum of breath.
What we still don't know is exactly what that means.
posted by Stephen Stanfield at 6:43 AM
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