MSGID: 1:153/716.0 f975d73d
REPLY: 2:5064/54.1315 5f9654ff
CHRS: IBMPC 2
Hi, Denis!  Recently you wrote in a message to All:

DM>  ... Mass fraction of milk fat minimum 10,5%.

DM>  So, what is this?


          Mass fraction of milk fat?  The wording seems rather odd to me too,
but I'd break it down into manageable bits as follows:

           mass = (in physics) a measurement of the quantity of matter.  Mass
            is often regarded as more or less synonymous with weight, here on
            earth, but on other celestial bodies the gravitational forces are
            different & our accustomed measurements of weight are misleading.
            In domestic science what one needs to realize is that both food &
            drink can be measured either by volume or by weight.  If you look
            at the nearest bottle of your favourite alcoholic beverage you'll
            probably see something like "percentage of alcohol by volume".  I
            take it the percentage of milk fat in your example was calculated
            by weight... but I don't know whether or not this is usual.

           fraction = a numerical quantity which is not a whole number.  This
            term may be confusing to people who are accustomed to thinking of
            fractions as e.g. 1/2, 2/3, or 3/4.  But according to my CANADIAN
            OXFORD DICTIONARY the word is also applied to decimals like ".5".

           milk fat = butterfat, abbreviated to "BF" where I come from.

           10,5% = 10.5% in English-speaking countries.  In continental Europe
            people often use commas where I'd use decimal points.  That is how
            the French handle such things & apparently they're not alone.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
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