“this page seriously undersells the versatility and utility of the units program” (comment)
recommended by 2 users | 2023 | kragen on: GNU Units | command line | original thread |
kragen on Aug 3, 2023 | on: GNU Units | view on HN

this page seriously undersells the versatility and utility of the units program

how long will my laptop take to charge at its current rate of charging?

    You have: (22.8 Wh - 16.8 Wh)/7.4W
    You want: time
            48 min + 38.918919 sec

how thick of a cable do i need to support me (or, from a different point of view, to pose a risk of accidental strangulation)? suppose its tensile strength is 2.7 gigapascals

    You have: 120kg gravity / 2.7 GPa
    You want: mm2
            * 0.43585111
            / 2.2943615
    You have: _
    You want: circlearea
            0.00037247244 m
    You have: _
    You want: mm
            * 0.37247244
            / 2.6847624

note that this is the radius of the cable, not its diameter!

(to be continued)

2 users recommended this comment. What they said:
dredmorbius Aug 28, 2023 | on: 111,111.1 meters is reliably 1 degree of latitude | context

kragen's recent HN comment is a gold mine:

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36988917>

schoen Jul 9, 2025 | on: Can an email go 500 miles in 2025? | context

Also check out Kragen's examples from a thread a couple of years ago!

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36988917