SI base units | ||
Symbol | Name | Quantity |
s | second | time |
m | metre | length |
kg | kilogram | mass |
A | ampere | electric current |
K | kelvin | thermodynamic temperature |
mol | mole | amount of substance |
cd | candela | luminous intensity |
SI defining constants | ||
Symbol | Name | Exact value |
hyperfine transition frequency of Cs | 9192631770 Hz | |
c | speed of light | 299792458 m/s |
h | Planck constant | 6.62607015×10−34 J⋅s |
e | elementary charge | 1.602176634×10−19 C |
k | Boltzmann constant | 1.380649×10−23 J/K |
NA | Avogadro constant | 6.02214076×1023 mol−1 |
Kcd | luminous efficacy of 540 THz radiation | 683 lm/W |
The International System of Units (SI, abbreviated from the French Système international (d'unités)) is the modern form of the metric system. It is the only system of measurement with an official status in nearly every country in the world. It comprises a coherent system of units of measurement starting with seven base units, which are the second (the unit of time with the symbol s), metre (length, m), kilogram (mass, kg), ampere (electric current, A), kelvin (thermodynamic temperature, K), mole (amount of substance, mol), and candela (luminous intensity, cd). The system allows for an unlimited number of additional units, called derived units, which can always be represented as products of powers of the base units. [Note 1] Twenty-two derived units have been provided with special names and symbols. [Note 2] The seven base units and the 22 derived units with special names and symbols may be used in combination to express other derived units, [Note 3] which are adopted to facilitate measurement of diverse quantities. The SI system also provides twenty prefixes to the unit names and unit symbols that may be used when specifying power-of-ten (i.e. decimal) multiples and sub-multiples of SI units. The SI is intended to be an evolving system; units and prefixes are created and unit definitions are modified through international agreement as the technology of measurement progresses and the precision of measurements improves.
Since 2019, the magnitudes of all SI units have been defined by declaring exact numerical values for seven defining constants when expressed in terms of their SI units. These defining constants are the speed of light in vacuum, c, the hyperfine transition frequency of caesium ΔνCs, the Planck constant h, the elementary charge e, the Boltzmann constant k, the Avogadro constant NA, and the luminous efficacy Kcd. The nature of the defining constants ranges from fundamental constants of nature such as c to the purely technical constant Kcd. Prior to 2019, h, e, k, and NA were not defined a priori but were rather very precisely measured quantities. In 2019, their values were fixed by definition to their best estimates at the time, ensuring continuity with previous definitions of the base units. One consequence of the redefinition of the SI is that the distinction between the base units and derived units is in principle not needed, since any unit can be constructed directly from the seven defining constants. [2] :129
The current way of defining the SI system is a result of a decades-long move towards increasingly abstract and idealised formulation in which the realisations of the units are separated conceptually from the definitions. A consequence is that as science and technologies develop, new and superior realisations may be introduced without the need to redefine the unit. One problem with artefacts is that they can be lost, damaged, or changed; another is that they introduce uncertainties that cannot be reduced by advancements in science and technology. The last artefact used by the SI was the International Prototype of the Kilogram, a cylinder of platinum-iridium.
The original motivation for the development of the SI was the diversity of units that had sprung up within the centimetre–gram–second (CGS) systems (specifically the inconsistency between the systems of electrostatic units and electromagnetic units) and the lack of coordination between the various disciplines that used them. The General Conference on Weights and Measures (French: Conférence générale des poids et mesures – CGPM), which was established by the Metre Convention of 1875, brought together many international organisations to establish the definitions and standards of a new system and to standardise the rules for writing and presenting measurements. The system was published in 1960 as a result of an initiative that began in 1948, so it is based on the metre–kilogram–second system of units (MKS) rather than any variant of the CGS.
The International System of Units, the SI, [2] :123 is a decimal [Note 4] and metric [Note 5] system of units established in 1960 and periodically updated since then. The SI has an official status in most countries, [Note 6] including the United States [Note 8] and the United Kingdom, with these two countries being amongst a handful of nations that, to various degrees, continue to resist widespread internal adoption of the SI system. As a consequence, the SI system “has been used around the world as the preferred system of units, the basic language for science, technology, industry and trade.” [2] :123
The only other types of measurement system that still have widespread use across the world are the Imperial and US customary measurement systems, and they are legally defined in terms of the SI system. [Note 9] There are other, less widespread systems of measurement that are occasionally used in particular regions of the world. In addition, there are many individual non-SI units that don't belong to any comprehensive system of units, but that are nevertheless still regularly used in particular fields and regions. Both of these categories of unit are also typically defined legally in terms of SI units. [Note 10]
The SI was established and is maintained by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM [Note 11] ). [4] In practice, the CGPM follows the recommendations of the Consultative Committee for Units (CCU), which is the actual body conducting technical deliberations concerning new scientific and technological developments related to the definition of units and the SI. The CCU reports to the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM [Note 12] ), which, in turn, reports to the CGPM. See below for more details.
All the decisions and recommendations concerning units are collected in a brochure called The International System of Units (SI) [Note 13] , which is published by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM [Note 14] ) and periodically updated.
The SI selects seven units to serve as base units, corresponding to seven base physical quantities. [Note 15] They are the second, with the symbol s, which is the SI unit of the physical quantity of time; the metre, symbol m, the SI unit of length; kilogram (kg, the unit of mass); ampere (A, electric current); kelvin (K, thermodynamic temperature); mole (mol, amount of substance); and candela (cd, luminous intensity). [2] Note that 'the choice of the base units was never unique, but grew historically and became familiar to users of the SI'. [2] :126 All units in the SI can be expressed in terms of the base units, and the base units serve as a preferred set for expressing or analysing the relationships between units.
The system allows for an unlimited number of additional units, called derived units, which can always be represented as products of powers of the base units, possibly with a nontrivial numeric multiplier. When that multiplier is one, the unit is called a coherent derived unit. [Note 16] The base and coherent derived units of the SI together form a coherent system of units (the set of coherent SI units). [Note 17] Twenty-two coherent derived units have been provided with special names and symbols. [Note 18] The seven base units and the 22 derived units with special names and symbols may be used in combination to express other derived units, [Note 19] which are adopted to facilitate measurement of diverse quantities.
Like all metric systems, the SI uses metric prefixes to systematically construct, for the same physical quantity, a set of units that are decimal multiples of each other over a wide range.
For example, while the coherent unit of length is the metre, [Note 20] the SI provides a full range of smaller and larger units of length, any of which may be more convenient for any given application – for example, driving distances are normally given in kilometres (symbol km) rather than in metres. Here the metric prefix 'kilo-' (symbol 'k') stands for a factor of 1000; thus, 1 km = 1000 m. [Note 21]
The current version of the SI provides twenty metric prefixes that signify decimal powers ranging from 10−24 to 1024. [2] :143–4 Apart from the prefixes for 1/100, 1/10, 10, and 100, all the other ones are powers of 1000.
In general, given any coherent unit with a separate name and symbol, [Note 22] one forms a new unit by simply adding an appropriate metric prefix to the name of the coherent unit (and a corresponding prefix symbol to the unit's symbol). Since the metric prefix signifies a particular power of ten, the new unit is always a power-of-ten multiple or sub-multiple of the coherent unit. Thus, the conversion between units within the SI is always through a power of ten; this is why the SI system (and metric systems more generally) are called decimal systems of measurement units. [6] [Note 23]
The grouping formed by a prefix symbol attached to a unit symbol (e.g. 'km', 'cm') constitutes a new inseparable unit symbol. This new symbol can be raised to a positive or negative power and can be combined with other unit symbols to form compound unit symbols. [2] :143 For example, g/cm3 is an SI unit of density, where cm3 is to be interpreted as (cm)3.
When prefixes are used with the coherent SI units, the resulting units are no longer coherent, because the prefix introduces a numerical factor other than one. [2] :137 The one exception is the kilogram, the only coherent SI unit whose name and symbol, for historical reasons, include a prefix. [Note 24]
The complete set of SI units consists of both the coherent set and the multiples and sub-multiples of coherent units formed by using the SI prefixes. [2] :138 For example, the metre, kilometre, centimetre, nanometre, etc. are all SI units of length, though only the metre is a coherent SI unit. A similar statement holds for derived units: for example, kg/m3, g/dm3, g/cm3, Pg /km3, etc. are all SI units of density, but of these, only kg/m3 is a coherent SI unit.
Moreover, the metre is the only coherent SI unit of length. Every physical quantity has exactly one coherent SI unit, although this unit may be expressible in different forms by using some of the special names and symbols. [2] :140 For example, the coherent SI unit of linear momentum may be written as either kg⋅m/s or as N⋅s, and both forms are in use (e.g. compare respectively here [7] :205 and here [8] :135 ).
On the other hand, several different quantities may share same coherent SI unit. For example, the joule per kelvin is the coherent SI unit for two distinct quantities: heat capacity and entropy. Furthermore, the same coherent SI unit may be a base unit in one context, but a coherent derived unit in another. For example, the ampere is the coherent SI unit for both electric current and magnetomotive force, but it is a base unit in the former case and a derived unit in the latter. [2] :140 [Note 26]
There is a special group of units that are called 'non-SI units that are accepted for use with the SI'. [2] :145 See Non-SI units mentioned in the SI for a full list. Most of these, in order to be converted to the corresponding SI unit, require conversion factors that are not powers of ten. Some common examples of such units are the customary units of time, namely the minute (conversion factor of 60 s/min, since 1 min =60 s), the hour (3600 s), and the day (86400 s); the degree (for measuring plane angles, 1° = π/180rad); and the electronvolt (a unit of energy, 1 eV = 1.602176634×10−19 J).
The SI is intended to be an evolving system; units [Note 27] and prefixes are created and unit definitions are modified through international agreement as the technology of measurement progresses and the precision of measurements improves.
Since 2019, the magnitudes of all SI units have been defined in an abstract way, which is conceptually separated from any practical realisation of them. [2] :126 [Note 28] Namely, the SI units are defined by declaring that seven defining constants [2] :125–9 have certain exact numerical values when expressed in terms of their SI units. Probably the most widely known of these constants is the speed of light in vacuum, c, which in the SI by definition has the exact value of c = 299792458 m/s. The other six constants are , the hyperfine transition frequency of caesium; h, the Planck constant; e, the elementary charge; k, the Boltzmann constant; NA, the Avogadro constant; and Kcd, the luminous efficacy of monochromatic radiation of frequency 540×1012 Hz. [Note 29] The nature of the defining constants ranges from fundamental constants of nature such as c to the purely technical constant Kcd. [2] :128–9 Prior to 2019, h, e, k, and NA were not defined a priori but were rather very precisely measured quantities. In 2019, their values were fixed by definition to their best estimates at the time, ensuring continuity with previous definitions of the base units.
As far as realisations, what are believed to be the current best practical realisations of units are described in the so-called 'mises en pratique', [Note 30] which are also published by the BIPM. [11] The abstract nature of the definitions of units is what makes it possible to improve and change the mises en pratique as science and technology develop without having to change the actual definitions themselves. [Note 33]
In a sense, this way of defining the SI units is no more abstract than the way derived units are traditionally defined in terms of the base units. Consider a particular derived unit, for example, the joule, the unit of energy. Its definition in terms of the base units is kg⋅m2/s2. Even if the practical realisations of the metre, kilogram, and second are available, a practical realisation of the joule would require some sort of reference to the underlying physical definition of work or energy—some actual physical procedure for realising the energy in the amount of one joule such that it can be compared to other instances of energy (such as the energy content of gasoline put into a car or of electricity delivered to a household).
The situation with the defining constants and all of the SI units is analogous. In fact, purely mathematically speaking, the SI units are defined as if we declared that it is the defining constant's units that are now the base units, with all other SI units being derived units. To make this clearer, first note that each defining constant can be taken as determining the magnitude of that defining constant's unit of measurement; [2] :128 for example, the definition of c defines the unit m/s as 1 m/s = c/299792458 ('the speed of one metre per second is equal to one 299792458th of the speed of light'). In this way, the defining constants directly define the following seven units: the hertz (Hz), a unit of the physical quantity of frequency (note that problems can arise when dealing with frequency or the Planck constant because the units of angular measure (cycle or radian) are omitted in SI. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] ); the metre per second (m/s), a unit of speed; joule-second (J⋅s), a unit of action; coulomb (C), a unit of electric charge; joule per kelvin (J/K), a unit of both entropy and heat capacity; the inverse mole (mol−1), a unit of a conversion constant between the amount of substance and the number of elementary entities (atoms, molecules, etc.); and lumen per watt (lm/W), a unit of a conversion constant between the physical power carried by electromagnetic radiation and the intrinsic ability of that same radiation to produce visual perception of brightness in humans. Further, one can show, using dimensional analysis, that every coherent SI unit (whether base or derived) can be written as a unique product of powers of the units of the SI defining constants (in complete analogy to the fact that every coherent derived SI unit can be written as a unique product of powers of the base SI units). For example, the kilogram can be written as kg = (Hz)(J⋅s)/(m/s)2. [Note 34] Thus, the kilogram is defined in terms of the three defining constants ΔνCs, c, and h because, on the one hand, these three defining constants respectively define the units Hz, m/s, and J⋅s, [Note 35] while, on the other hand, the kilogram can be written in terms of these three units, namely, kg = (Hz)(J⋅s)/(m/s)2. [Note 36] True, the question of how to actually realise the kilogram in practice would, at this point, still be open, but that is not really different from the fact that the question of how to actually realise the joule in practice is still in principle open even once one has achieved the practical realisations of the metre, kilogram, and second.
One consequence of the redefinition of the SI is that the distinction between the base units and derived units is in principle not needed, since any unit can be constructed directly from the seven defining constants. Nevertheless, the distinction is retained because 'it is useful and historically well established', and also because the ISO/IEC 80000 series of standards [Note 37] specifies base and derived quantities that necessarily have the corresponding SI units. [2] :129
The current way of defining the SI system is the result of a decades-long move towards increasingly abstract and idealised formulation in which the realisations of the units are separated conceptually from the definitions. [2] :126
The great advantage of doing it this way is that as science and technologies develop, new and superior realisations may be introduced without the need to redefine the units. [Note 31] Units can now be realised with ‘an accuracy that is ultimately limited only by the quantum structure of nature and our technical abilities but not by the definitions themselves. [Note 32] Any valid equation of physics relating the defining constants to a unit can be used to realise the unit, thus creating opportunities for innovation... with increasing accuracy as technology proceeds.’ [2] :122 In practice, the CIPM Consultative Committees provide so-called "mises en pratique" (practical techniques), [11] which are the descriptions of what are currently believed to be best experimental realisations of the units. [19]
This system lacks the conceptual simplicity of using artefacts (referred to as prototypes) as realisations of units to define those units: with prototypes, the definition and the realisation are one and the same. [Note 38] However, using artefacts has two major disadvantages that, as soon as it is technologically and scientifically feasible, result in abandoning them as means for defining units. [Note 42] One major disadvantage is that artefacts can be lost, damaged, [Note 44]
We shall in the first place describe the state of the Standards recovered from the ruins of the House of Commons, as ascertained in our inspection of them made on 1st June, 1838, at the Journal Office, where they are preserved under the care of Mr. James Gudge, Principal Clerk of the Journal Office. The following list, taken by ourselves from inspection, was compared with a list produced by Mr. Gudge, and stated by him to have been made by Mr. Charles Rowland, one of the Clerks of the Journal Office, immediately after the fire, and was found to agree with it. Mr. Gudge stated that no other Standards of Length or Weight were in his custody.
No. 1. A brass bar marked “Standard [G. II. crown emblem] Yard, 1758,” which on examination was found to have its right hand stud perfect, with the point and line visible, but with its left hand stud completely melted out, a hole only remaining. The bar was somewhat bent, and discoloured in every part.
No. 2. A brass bar with a projecting cock at each end, forming a bed for the trial of yard-measures; discoloured.
No. 3. A brass bar marked “Standard [G. II. crown emblem] Yard, 1760,” from which the left hand stud was completely melted out, and which in other respects was in the same condition as No. 1.
No. 4. A yard-bed similar to No. 2; discoloured.
No. 5. A weight of the form [drawing of a weight] marked [2 lb. T. 1758], apparently of brass or copper; much discoloured.
No. 6. A weight marked in the same manner for 4 lbs., in the same state.
No. 7. A weight similar to No. 6, with a hollow space at its base, which appeared at first sight to have been originally filled with some soft metal that had been now melted out, but which on a rough trial was found to have nearly the same weight as No. 6.
No. 8. A similar weight of 8 lbs., similarly marked (with the alteration of 8 lbs. for 4 lbs.), and in the same state.
No. 9. Another exactly like No. 8.
Nos. 10 and 11. Two weights of 16 lbs., similarly marked.
Nos. 12 and 13. Two weights of 32 lbs., similarly marked.
No. 14. A weight with a triangular ring-handle, marked "S.F. 1759 17 lbs. 8 dwts. Troy", apparently intended to represent the stone of 14 lbs. avoirdupois, allowing 7008 troy grains to each avoirdupois pound.
It appears from this list that the bar adopted in the Act 5th Geo. IV., cap. 74, sect. 1, for the legal standard of one yard, (No. 3 of the preceding list), is so far injured, that it is impossible to ascertain from it, with the most moderate accuracy, the statutable length of one yard. The legal standard of one troy pound is missing. We have therefore to report that it is absolutely necessary that steps be taken for the formation and legalising of new Standards of Length and Weight.
</ref> or changed. [Note 45] The other is that they largely cannot benefit from advancements in science and technology. The last artefact used by the SI was the International Prototype Kilogram (IPK), a particular cylinder of platinum-iridium; from 1889 to 2019, the kilogram was by definition equal to the mass of the IPK. Concerns regarding its stability on the one hand, and progress in precise measurements of the Planck constant and the Avogadro constant on the other, led to a revision of the definition of the base units, put into effect on 20 May 2019. [23] This was the biggest change in the SI system since it was first formally defined and established in 1960, and it resulted in the definitions described above. [24]
In the past, there were also various other approaches to the definitions of some of the SI units. One made use of a specific physical state of a specific substance (the triple point of water, which was used in the definition of the kelvin [25] :113–4); others referred to idealised experimental prescriptions [2] :125 (as in the case of the former SI definition of the ampere [25] :113 and the former SI definition (originally enacted in 1979) of the candela [25] :115).
In the future, the set of defining constants used by the SI may be modified as more stable constants are found, or if it turns out that other constants can be more precisely measured. [Note 46]
The original motivation for the development of the SI was the diversity of units that had sprung up within the centimetre–gram–second (CGS) systems (specifically the inconsistency between the systems of electrostatic units and electromagnetic units) and the lack of coordination between the various disciplines that used them. The General Conference on Weights and Measures (French: Conférence générale des poids et mesures – CGPM), which was established by the Metre Convention of 1875, brought together many international organisations to establish the definitions and standards of a new system and to standardise the rules for writing and presenting measurements.
Adopted in 1889, use of the MKS system of units succeeded the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS) in commerce and engineering. The metre and kilogram system served as the basis for the development of the International System of Units (abbreviated SI), which now serves as the international standard. Because of this, the standards of the CGS system were gradually replaced with metric standards incorporated from the MKS system. [26]
In 1901, Giovanni Giorgi proposed to the Associazione elettrotecnica italiana (AEI) that this system, extended with a fourth unit to be taken from the units of electromagnetism, be used as an international system. [27] This system was strongly promoted by electrical engineer George A. Campbell. [28]
The International System was published in 1960, based on the MKS units, as a result of an initiative that began in 1948.
The SI is regulated and continually developed by three international organisations that were established in 1875 under the terms of the Metre Convention. They are the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM [Note 11] ), the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM [Note 12] ), and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM [Note 14] ). The ultimate authority rests with the CGPM, which is a plenary body through which its Member States [Note 48] act together on matters related to measurement science and measurement standards; it usually convenes every four years. [29] The CGPM elects the CIPM, which is an 18-person committee of eminent scientists. The CIPM operates based on the advice of a number of its Consultative Committees, which bring together the world's experts in their specified fields as advisers on scientific and technical matters. [30] [Note 49] One of these committees is the Consultative Committee for Units (CCU), which is responsible for matters related to the development of the International System of Units (SI), preparation of successive editions of the SI brochure, and advice to the CIPM on matters concerning units of measurement. [31] It is the CCU which considers in detail all new scientific and technological developments related to the definition of units and the SI. In practice, when it comes to the definition of the SI, the CGPM simply formally approves the recommendations of the CIPM, which, in turn, follows the advice of the CCU.
The CCU has the following as members: [32] [33] national laboratories of the Member States of the CGPM charged with establishing national standards; [Note 50] relevant intergovernmental organisations and international bodies; [Note 51] international commissions or committees; [Note 52] scientific unions; [Note 53] personal members; [Note 54] and, as an ex officio member of all Consultative Committees, the Director of the BIPM.
All the decisions and recommendations concerning units are collected in a brochure called The International System of Units (SI) [2] [Note 13] , which is published by the BIPM and periodically updated.
The International System of Units consists of a set of base units, derived units, and a set of decimal-based multipliers that are used as prefixes. [25] :103–106 The units, excluding prefixed units, [Note 55] form a coherent system of units, which is based on a system of quantities in such a way that the equations between the numerical values expressed in coherent units have exactly the same form, including numerical factors, as the corresponding equations between the quantities. For example, 1 N = 1 kg × 1 m/s2 says that one newton is the force required to accelerate a mass of one kilogram at one metre per second squared, as related through the principle of coherence to the equation relating the corresponding quantities: F = m × a.
Derived units apply to derived quantities, which may by definition be expressed in terms of base quantities, and thus are not independent; for example, electrical conductance is the inverse of electrical resistance, with the consequence that the siemens is the inverse of the ohm, and similarly, the ohm and siemens can be replaced with a ratio of an ampere and a volt, because those quantities bear a defined relationship to each other. [Note 56] Other useful derived quantities can be specified in terms of the SI base and derived units that have no named units in the SI system, such as acceleration, which is defined in SI units as m/s2.
The SI base units are the building blocks of the system and all the other units are derived from them.
Unit name | Unit symbol | Dimension symbol | Quantity name | Definition |
---|---|---|---|---|
second [n 1] | s | T | time | The duration of 9192631770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom. |
metre | m | L | length | The distance travelled by light in vacuum in 1/299792458 second. |
kilogram [n 2] | kg | M | mass | The kilogram is defined by setting the Planck constant h exactly to 6.62607015×10−34 J⋅s (J = kg⋅m2⋅s−2), given the definitions of the metre and the second. [23] |
ampere | A | I | electric current | The flow of exactly 1/1.602176634×10−19 times the elementary charge e per second. Equalling approximately 6.2415090744×1018 elementary charges per second. |
kelvin | K | Θ | thermodynamic temperature | The kelvin is defined by setting the fixed numerical value of the Boltzmann constant k to 1.380649×10−23 J⋅K−1, (J = kg⋅m2⋅s−2), given the definition of the kilogram, the metre, and the second. |
mole | mol | N | amount of substance | The amount of substance of exactly 6.02214076×1023 elementary entities. [n 3] This number is the fixed numerical value of the Avogadro constant, NA, when expressed in the unit mol−1. |
candela | cd | J | luminous intensity | The luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 5.4×1014 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian. |
|
The derived units in the SI are formed by powers, products, or quotients of the base units and are potentially unlimited in number. [25] :103 [36] :14,16 Derived units are associated with derived quantities; for example, velocity is a quantity that is derived from the base quantities of time and length, and thus the SI derived unit is metre per second (symbol m/s). The dimensions of derived units can be expressed in terms of the dimensions of the base units.
Combinations of base and derived units may be used to express other derived units. For example, the SI unit of force is the newton (N), the SI unit of pressure is the pascal (Pa)—and the pascal can be defined as one newton per square metre (N/m2). [39]
Name | Symbol | Quantity | In SI base units | In other SI units |
---|---|---|---|---|
radian [N 1] | rad | plane angle | m/m | 1 |
steradian [N 1] | sr | solid angle | m2/m2 | 1 |
hertz | Hz | frequency | s−1 | |
newton | N | force, weight | kg⋅m⋅s−2 | |
pascal | Pa | pressure, stress | kg⋅m−1⋅s−2 | N/m2 |
joule | J | energy, work, heat | kg⋅m2⋅s−2 | N⋅m = Pa⋅m3 |
watt | W | power, radiant flux | kg⋅m2⋅s−3 | J/s |
coulomb | C | electric charge | s⋅A | |
volt | V | electrical potential difference (voltage), emf | kg⋅m2⋅s−3⋅A−1 | W/A = J/C |
farad | F | capacitance | kg−1⋅m−2⋅s4⋅A2 | C/V |
ohm | Ω | resistance, impedance, reactance | kg⋅m2⋅s−3⋅A−2 | V/A |
siemens | S | electrical conductance | kg−1⋅m−2⋅s3⋅A2 | Ω−1 |
weber | Wb | magnetic flux | kg⋅m2⋅s−2⋅A−1 | V⋅s |
tesla | T | magnetic flux density | kg⋅s−2⋅A−1 | Wb/m2 |
henry | H | inductance | kg⋅m2⋅s−2⋅A−2 | Wb/A |
degree Celsius | °C | temperature relative to 273.15 K | K | |
lumen | lm | luminous flux | cd⋅sr | cd⋅sr |
lux | lx | illuminance | cd⋅sr⋅m−2 | lm/m2 |
becquerel | Bq | radioactivity (decays per unit time) | s−1 | |
gray | Gy | absorbed dose (of ionising radiation) | m2⋅s−2 | J/kg |
sievert | Sv | equivalent dose (of ionising radiation) | m2⋅s−2 | J/kg |
katal | kat | catalytic activity | mol⋅s−1 | |
Notes |
Name | Symbol | Derived quantity | Typical symbol |
---|---|---|---|
square metre | m2 | area | A |
cubic metre | m3 | volume | V |
metre per second | m/s | speed, velocity | v |
metre per second squared | m/s2 | acceleration | a |
reciprocal metre | m−1 | wavenumber | σ, ṽ |
vergence (optics) | V, 1/f | ||
kilogram per cubic metre | kg/m3 | density | ρ |
kilogram per square metre | kg/m2 | surface density | ρA |
cubic metre per kilogram | m3/kg | specific volume | v |
ampere per square metre | A/m2 | current density | j |
ampere per metre | A/m | magnetic field strength | H |
mole per cubic metre | mol/m3 | concentration | c |
kilogram per cubic metre | kg/m3 | mass concentration | ρ, γ |
candela per square metre | cd/m2 | luminance | Lv |
Name | Symbol | Quantity | In SI base units |
---|---|---|---|
pascal-second | Pa⋅s | dynamic viscosity | m−1⋅kg⋅s−1 |
newton-metre | N⋅m | moment of force | m2⋅kg⋅s−2 |
newton per metre | N/m | surface tension | kg⋅s−2 |
radian per second | rad/s | angular velocity, angular frequency | s−1 |
radian per second squared | rad/s2 | angular acceleration | s−2 |
watt per square metre | W/m2 | heat flux density, irradiance | kg⋅s−3 |
joule per kelvin | J/K | entropy, heat capacity | m2⋅kg⋅s−2⋅K−1 |
joule per kilogram-kelvin | J/(kg⋅K) | specific heat capacity, specific entropy | m2⋅s−2⋅K−1 |
joule per kilogram | J/kg | specific energy | m2⋅s−2 |
watt per metre-kelvin | W/(m⋅K) | thermal conductivity | m⋅kg⋅s−3⋅K−1 |
joule per cubic metre | J/m3 | energy density | m−1⋅kg⋅s−2 |
volt per metre | V/m | electric field strength | m⋅kg⋅s−3⋅A−1 |
coulomb per cubic metre | C/m3 | electric charge density | m−3⋅s⋅A |
coulomb per square metre | C/m2 | surface charge density, electric flux density, electric displacement | m−2⋅s⋅A |
farad per metre | F/m | permittivity | m−3⋅kg−1⋅s4⋅A2 |
henry per metre | H/m | permeability | m⋅kg⋅s−2⋅A−2 |
joule per mole | J/mol | molar energy | m2⋅kg⋅s−2⋅mol−1 |
joule per mole-kelvin | J/(mol⋅K) | molar entropy, molar heat capacity | m2⋅kg⋅s−2⋅K−1⋅mol−1 |
coulomb per kilogram | C/kg | exposure (x- and γ-rays) | kg−1⋅s⋅A |
gray per second | Gy/s | absorbed dose rate | m2⋅s−3 |
watt per steradian | W/sr | radiant intensity | m2⋅kg⋅s−3 |
watt per square metre-steradian | W/(m2⋅sr) | radiance | kg⋅s−3 |
katal per cubic metre | kat/m3 | catalytic activity concentration | m−3⋅s−1⋅mol |
Prefixes are added to unit names to produce multiples and submultiples of the original unit. All of these are integer powers of ten, and above a hundred or below a hundredth all are integer powers of a thousand. For example, kilo- denotes a multiple of a thousand and milli- denotes a multiple of a thousandth, so there are one thousand millimetres to the metre and one thousand metres to the kilometre. The prefixes are never combined, so for example a millionth of a metre is a micrometre, not a millimillimetre. Multiples of the kilogram are named as if the gram were the base unit, so a millionth of a kilogram is a milligram, not a microkilogram. [25] :122 [40] :14 When prefixes are used to form multiples and submultiples of SI base and derived units, the resulting units are no longer coherent. [25] :7
The BIPM specifies 20 prefixes for the International System of Units (SI):
Prefix | Base 10 | Decimal | English word | Adoption [nb 1] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Symbol | Short scale | Long scale | ||||
yotta | Y | 1024 | 1000000000000000000000000 | septillion | quadrillion | 1991 | |
zetta | Z | 1021 | 1000000000000000000000 | sextillion | trilliard | 1991 | |
exa | E | 1018 | 1000000000000000000 | quintillion | trillion | 1975 | |
peta | P | 1015 | 1000000000000000 | quadrillion | billiard | 1975 | |
tera | T | 1012 | 1000000000000 | trillion | billion | 1960 | |
giga | G | 109 | 1000000000 | billion | milliard | 1960 | |
mega | M | 106 | 1000000 | million | 1873 | ||
kilo | k | 103 | 1000 | thousand | 1795 | ||
hecto | h | 102 | 100 | hundred | 1795 | ||
deca | da | 101 | 10 | ten | 1795 | ||
100 | 1 | one | – | ||||
deci | d | 10−1 | 0.1 | tenth | 1795 | ||
centi | c | 10−2 | 0.01 | hundredth | 1795 | ||
milli | m | 10−3 | 0.001 | thousandth | 1795 | ||
micro | μ | 10−6 | 0.000001 | millionth | 1873 | ||
nano | n | 10−9 | 0.000000001 | billionth | milliardth | 1960 | |
pico | p | 10−12 | 0.000000000001 | trillionth | billionth | 1960 | |
femto | f | 10−15 | 0.000000000000001 | quadrillionth | billiardth | 1964 | |
atto | a | 10−18 | 0.000000000000000001 | quintillionth | trillionth | 1964 | |
zepto | z | 10−21 | 0.000000000000000000001 | sextillionth | trilliardth | 1991 | |
yocto | y | 10−24 | 0.000000000000000000000001 | septillionth | quadrillionth | 1991 | |
|
Many non-SI units continue to be used in the scientific, technical, and commercial literature. Some units are deeply embedded in history and culture, and their use has not been entirely replaced by their SI alternatives. The CIPM recognised and acknowledged such traditions by compiling a list of non-SI units accepted for use with SI: [25]
Some units of time, angle, and legacy non-SI units have a long history of use. Most societies have used the solar day and its non-decimal subdivisions as a basis of time and, unlike the foot or the pound, these were the same regardless of where they were being measured. The radian, being 1/2π of a revolution, has mathematical advantages but is rarely used for navigation. Further, the units used in navigation around the world are similar. The tonne, litre, and hectare were adopted by the CGPM in 1879 and have been retained as units that may be used alongside SI units, having been given unique symbols. The catalogued units are given below:
Quantity | Name | Symbol | Value in SI units |
---|---|---|---|
time | minute | min | 1 min = 60 s |
hour | h | 1 h = 60 min = 3600 s | |
day | d | 1 d = 24 h = 86400 s | |
length | astronomical unit | au | 1 au = 149597870700 m |
plane and phase angle | degree | ° | 1° = (π/180) rad |
minute | ′ | 1′ = (1/60)° = (π/10800) rad | |
second | ″ | 1″ = (1/60)′ = (π/648000) rad | |
area | hectare | ha | 1 ha = 1 hm2 = 104 m2 |
volume | litre | l, L | 1 l = 1 L = 1 dm3 = 103 cm3 = 10−3 m3 |
mass | tonne (metric ton) | t | 1 t = 1 000 kg |
dalton | Da | 1 Da = 1.660539040(20)×10−27 kg | |
energy | electronvolt | eV | 1 eV = 1.602176634×10−19 J |
logarithmic ratio quantities | neper | Np | In using these units it is important that the nature of the quantity be specified and that any reference value used be specified. |
bel | B | ||
decibel | dB |
These units are used in combination with SI units in common units such as the kilowatt-hour (1 kW⋅h = 3.6 MJ).
The basic units of the metric system, as originally defined, represented common quantities or relationships in nature. They still do – the modern precisely defined quantities are refinements of definition and methodology, but still with the same magnitudes. In cases where laboratory precision may not be required or available, or where approximations are good enough, the original definitions may suffice. [Note 57]
The symbols for the SI units are intended to be identical, regardless of the language used, [25] :130–135 but names are ordinary nouns and use the character set and follow the grammatical rules of the language concerned. Names of units follow the grammatical rules associated with common nouns: in English and in French they start with a lowercase letter (e.g., newton, hertz, pascal), even when the unit is named after a person and its symbol begins with a capital letter. [25] :148 This also applies to "degrees Celsius", since "degree" is the beginning of the unit. [49] [50] The only exceptions are in the beginning of sentences and in headings and publication titles. [25] :148 The English spelling for certain SI units differs: US English uses the spelling deka-, meter, and liter, whilst International English uses deca-, metre, and litre.
Although the writing of unit names is language-specific, the writing of unit symbols and the values of quantities is consistent across all languages and therefore the SI Brochure has specific rules in respect of writing them. [25] :130–135 The guideline produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) [51] clarifies language-specific areas in respect of American English that were left open by the SI Brochure, but is otherwise identical to the SI Brochure. [52]
General rules [Note 62] for writing SI units and quantities apply to text that is either handwritten or produced using an automated process:
The rules covering printing of quantities and units are part of ISO 80000-1:2009. [54]
Further rules [Note 62] are specified in respect of production of text using printing presses, word processors, typewriters, and the like.
The CGPM publishes a brochure that defines and presents the SI. [25] Its official version is in French, in line with the Metre Convention. [25] :102 It leaves some scope for local variations, particularly regarding unit names and terms in different languages. [Note 63] [36]
The writing and maintenance of the CGPM brochure is carried out by one of the committees of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM). The definitions of the terms "quantity", "unit", "dimension" etc. that are used in the SI Brochure are those given in the International vocabulary of metrology. [55]
The quantities and equations that provide the context in which the SI units are defined are now referred to as the International System of Quantities (ISQ). The ISQ is based on the quantities underlying each of the seven base units of the SI. Other quantities, such as area, pressure, and electrical resistance, are derived from these base quantities by clear non-contradictory equations. The ISQ defines the quantities that are measured with the SI units. [56] The ISQ is formalised, in part, in the international standard ISO/IEC 80000, which was completed in 2009 with the publication of ISO 80000-1, [57] and has largely been revised in 2019–2020 with the remainder being under review.
Metrologists carefully distinguish between the definition of a unit and its realisation. The definition of each base unit of the SI is drawn up so that it is unique and provides a sound theoretical basis on which the most accurate and reproducible measurements can be made. The realisation of the definition of a unit is the procedure by which the definition may be used to establish the value and associated uncertainty of a quantity of the same kind as the unit. A description of the mise en pratique [Note 64] of the base units is given in an electronic appendix to the SI Brochure. [59] [25] :168–169
The published mise en pratique is not the only way in which a base unit can be determined: the SI Brochure states that "any method consistent with the laws of physics could be used to realise any SI unit." [25] :111 In the current (2016) exercise to overhaul the definitions of the base units, various consultative committees of the CIPM have required that more than one mise en pratique shall be developed for determining the value of each unit. [60] In particular:
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) has described SI as "the modern form of metric system". [25] :95 Changing technology has led to an evolution of the definitions and standards that has followed two principal strands – changes to SI itself, and clarification of how to use units of measure that are not part of SI but are still nevertheless used on a worldwide basis.
Since 1960 the CGPM has made a number of changes to the SI to meet the needs of specific fields, notably chemistry and radiometry. These are mostly additions to the list of named derived units, and include the mole (symbol mol) for an amount of substance, the pascal (symbol Pa) for pressure, the siemens (symbol S) for electrical conductance, the becquerel (symbol Bq) for "activity referred to a radionuclide", the gray (symbol Gy) for ionising radiation, the sievert (symbol Sv) as the unit of dose equivalent radiation, and the katal (symbol kat) for catalytic activity. [25] :156 [64] [25] :156 [25] :158 [25] :159 [25] :165
The range of defined prefixes pico- (10−12) to tera- (1012) was extended to 10−24 to 1024. [25] :152 [25] :158 [25] :164
The 1960 definition of the standard metre in terms of wavelengths of a specific emission of the krypton 86 atom was replaced with the distance that light travels in vacuum in exactly 1/299792458 second, so that the speed of light is now an exactly specified constant of nature.
A few changes to notation conventions have also been made to alleviate lexicographic ambiguities. An analysis under the aegis of CSIRO, published in 2009 by the Royal Society, has pointed out the opportunities to finish the realisation of that goal, to the point of universal zero-ambiguity machine readability. [65]
After the metre was redefined in 1960, the International Prototype of the Kilogram (IPK) was the only physical artefact upon which base units (directly the kilogram and indirectly the ampere, mole and candela) depended for their definition, making these units subject to periodic comparisons of national standard kilograms with the IPK. [66] During the 2nd and 3rd Periodic Verification of National Prototypes of the Kilogram, a significant divergence had occurred between the mass of the IPK and all of its official copies stored around the world: the copies had all noticeably increased in mass with respect to the IPK. During extraordinary verifications carried out in 2014 preparatory to redefinition of metric standards, continuing divergence was not confirmed. Nonetheless, the residual and irreducible instability of a physical IPK undermined the reliability of the entire metric system to precision measurement from small (atomic) to large (astrophysical) scales.
A proposal was made that:
The new definitions were adopted at the 26th CGPM on 16 November 2018, and came into effect on 20 May 2019. [67] The change was adopted by the European Union through Directive (EU) 2019/1258. [68]
The units and unit magnitudes of the metric system which became the SI were improvised piecemeal from everyday physical quantities starting in the mid-18th century. Only later were they moulded into an orthogonal coherent decimal system of measurement.
The degree centigrade as a unit of temperature resulted from the scale devised by Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius in 1742. His scale counter-intuitively designated 100 as the freezing point of water and 0 as the boiling point. Independently, in 1743, the French physicist Jean-Pierre Christin described a scale with 0 as the freezing point of water and 100 the boiling point. The scale became known as the centi-grade, or 100 gradations of temperature, scale.
The metric system was developed from 1791 onwards by a committee of the French Academy of Sciences, commissioned to create a unified and rational system of measures. [70] The group, which included preeminent French men of science, [71] :89 used the same principles for relating length, volume, and mass that had been proposed by the English clergyman John Wilkins in 1668 [72] [73] and the concept of using the Earth's meridian as the basis of the definition of length, originally proposed in 1670 by the French abbot Mouton. [74] [75]
In March 1791, the Assembly adopted the committee's proposed principles for the new decimal system of measure including the metre defined to be 1/10,000,000 of the length of the quadrant of Earth's meridian passing through Paris, and authorised a survey to precisely establish the length of the meridian. In July 1792, the committee proposed the names metre , are , litre and grave for the units of length, area, capacity, and mass, respectively. The committee also proposed that multiples and submultiples of these units were to be denoted by decimal-based prefixes such as centi for a hundredth and kilo for a thousand. [76] :82
Later, during the process of adoption of the metric system, the Latin gramme and kilogramme , replaced the former provincial terms gravet (1/1000 grave) and grave. In June 1799, based on the results of the meridian survey, the standard mètre des Archives and kilogramme des Archives were deposited in the French National Archives. Subsequently, that year, the metric system was adopted by law in France. [82] [83] The French system was short-lived due to its unpopularity. Napoleon ridiculed it, and in 1812, introduced a replacement system, the mesures usuelles or "customary measures" which restored many of the old units, but redefined in terms of the metric system.
During the first half of the 19th century there was little consistency in the choice of preferred multiples of the base units: typically the myriametre (10000 metres) was in widespread use in both France and parts of Germany, while the kilogram (1000 grams) rather than the myriagram was used for mass. [69]
In 1832, the German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, assisted by Wilhelm Weber, implicitly defined the second as a base unit when he quoted the Earth's magnetic field in terms of millimetres, grams, and seconds. [77] Prior to this, the strength of the Earth's magnetic field had only been described in relative terms. The technique used by Gauss was to equate the torque induced on a suspended magnet of known mass by the Earth's magnetic field with the torque induced on an equivalent system under gravity. The resultant calculations enabled him to assign dimensions based on mass, length and time to the magnetic field. [Note 65] [84]
A candlepower as a unit of illuminance was originally defined by an 1860 English law as the light produced by a pure spermaceti candle weighing 1⁄6 pound (76 grams) and burning at a specified rate. Spermaceti, a waxy substance found in the heads of sperm whales, was once used to make high-quality candles. At this time the French standard of light was based upon the illumination from a Carcel oil lamp. The unit was defined as that illumination emanating from a lamp burning pure rapeseed oil at a defined rate. It was accepted that ten standard candles were about equal to one Carcel lamp.
A French-inspired initiative for international cooperation in metrology led to the signing in 1875 of the Metre Convention, also called Treaty of the Metre, by 17 nations. [Note 66] [71] :353–354 Initially the convention only covered standards for the metre and the kilogram. In 1921, the Metre Convention was extended to include all physical units, including the ampere and others thereby enabling the CGPM to address inconsistencies in the way that the metric system had been used. [78] [25] :96
A set of 30 prototypes of the metre and 40 prototypes of the kilogram, [Note 67] in each case made of a 90% platinum-10% iridium alloy, were manufactured by British metallurgy specialty firm(who?) and accepted by the CGPM in 1889. One of each was selected at random to become the International prototype metre and International prototype kilogram that replaced the mètre des Archives and kilogramme des Archives respectively. Each member state was entitled to one of each of the remaining prototypes to serve as the national prototype for that country. [85]
The treaty also established a number of international organisations to oversee the keeping of international standards of measurement: [86] [87]
In the 1860s, James Clerk Maxwell, William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) and others working under the auspices of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, built on Gauss's work and formalised the concept of a coherent system of units with base units and derived units christened the centimetre–gram–second system of units in 1874. The principle of coherence was successfully used to define a number of units of measure based on the CGS, including the erg for energy, the dyne for force, the barye for pressure, the poise for dynamic viscosity and the stokes for kinematic viscosity. [80]
In 1879, the CIPM published recommendations for writing the symbols for length, area, volume and mass, but it was outside its domain to publish recommendations for other quantities. Beginning in about 1900, physicists who had been using the symbol "μ" (mu) for "micrometre" or "micron", "λ" (lambda) for "microlitre", and "γ" (gamma) for "microgram" started to use the symbols "μm", "μL" and "μg". [88]
At the close of the 19th century three different systems of units of measure existed for electrical measurements: a CGS-based system for electrostatic units, also known as the Gaussian or ESU system, a CGS-based system for electromechanical units (EMU) and an International system based on units defined by the Metre Convention. [89] for electrical distribution systems. Attempts to resolve the electrical units in terms of length, mass, and time using dimensional analysis was beset with difficulties—the dimensions depended on whether one used the ESU or EMU systems. [81] This anomaly was resolved in 1901 when Giovanni Giorgi published a paper in which he advocated using a fourth base unit alongside the existing three base units. The fourth unit could be chosen to be electric current, voltage, or electrical resistance. [90] Electric current with named unit 'ampere' was chosen as the base unit, and the other electrical quantities derived from it according to the laws of physics. This became the foundation of the MKS system of units.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of non-coherent units of measure based on the gram/kilogram, centimetre/metre, and second, such as the Pferdestärke (metric horsepower) for power, [91] [Note 68] the darcy for permeability [92] and "millimetres of mercury" for barometric and blood pressure were developed or propagated, some of which incorporated standard gravity in their definitions. [Note 69]
At the end of the Second World War, a number of different systems of measurement were in use throughout the world. Some of these systems were metric system variations; others were based on customary systems of measure, like the U.S customary system and Imperial system of the UK and British Empire.
In 1948, the 9th CGPM commissioned a study to assess the measurement needs of the scientific, technical, and educational communities and "to make recommendations for a single practical system of units of measurement, suitable for adoption by all countries adhering to the Metre Convention". [93] This working document was Practical system of units of measurement. Based on this study, the 10th CGPM in 1954 defined an international system derived from six base units including units of temperature and optical radiation in addition to those for the MKS system mass, length, and time units and Giorgi's current unit. Six base units were recommended: the metre, kilogram, second, ampere, degree Kelvin, and candela.
The 9th CGPM also approved the first formal recommendation for the writing of symbols in the metric system when the basis of the rules as they are now known was laid down. [94] These rules were subsequently extended and now cover unit symbols and names, prefix symbols and names, how quantity symbols should be written and used, and how the values of quantities should be expressed. [25] :104,130
In 1960, the 11th CGPM synthesised the results of the 12-year study into a set of 16 resolutions. The system was named the International System of Units, abbreviated SI from the French name, Le Système International d'Unités. [25] :110 [95]
When Maxwell first introduced the concept of a coherent system, he identified three quantities that could be used as base units: mass, length, and time. Giorgi later identified the need for an electrical base unit, for which the unit of electric current was chosen for SI. Another three base units (for temperature, amount of substance, and luminous intensity) were added later.
The early metric systems defined a unit of weight as a base unit, while the SI defines an analogous unit of mass. In everyday use, these are mostly interchangeable, but in scientific contexts the difference matters. Mass, strictly the inertial mass, represents a quantity of matter. It relates the acceleration of a body to the applied force via Newton's law, F = m × a: force equals mass times acceleration. A force of 1 N (newton) applied to a mass of 1 kg will accelerate it at 1 m/s2. This is true whether the object is floating in space or in a gravity field e.g. at the Earth's surface. Weight is the force exerted on a body by a gravitational field, and hence its weight depends on the strength of the gravitational field. Weight of a 1 kg mass at the Earth's surface is m × g; mass times the acceleration due to gravity, which is 9.81 newtons at the Earth's surface and is about 3.5 newtons at the surface of Mars. Since the acceleration due to gravity is local and varies by location and altitude on the Earth, weight is unsuitable for precision measurements of a property of a body, and this makes a unit of weight unsuitable as a base unit.
Unit name | Definition [n 1] |
---|---|
second |
|
metre |
|
kilogram |
|
ampere |
|
kelvin |
|
mole |
|
candela |
|
The Prior definitions of the various base units in the above table were made by the following authors and authorities:
All other definitions result from resolutions by either CGPM or the CIPM and are catalogued in the SI Brochure. |
Although the term metric system is often used as an informal alternative name for the International System of Units, [99] other metric systems exist, some of which were in widespread use in the past or are even still used in particular areas. There are also individual metric units such as the sverdrup that exist outside of any system of units. Most of the units of the other metric systems are not recognised by the SI. [Note 72] [Note 74]
Here are some examples. The centimetre–gram–second (CGS) system was the dominant metric system in the physical sciences and electrical engineering from the 1860s until at least the 1960s, and is still in use in some fields. It includes such SI-unrecognised units as the gal, dyne, erg, barye, etc. in its mechanical sector, as well as the poise and stokes in fluid dynamics. When it comes to the units for quantities in electricity and magnetism, there are several versions of the CGS system. Two of these are obsolete: the CGS electrostatic ('CGS-ESU', with the SI-unrecognised units of statcoulomb, statvolt, statampere, etc.) and the CGS electromagnetic system ('CGS-EMU', with abampere, abcoulomb, oersted, maxwell, abhenry, gilbert, etc.). [Note 75] A 'blend' of these two systems is still popular and is known as the Gaussian system (which includes the gauss as a special name for the CGS-EMU unit maxwell per square centimetre). [Note 76]
In engineering (other than electrical engineering), there was formerly a long tradition of using the gravitational metric system, whose SI-unrecognised units include the kilogram-force (kilopond), technical atmosphere, metric horsepower, etc. The metre–tonne–second (mts) system, used in the Soviet Union from 1933 to 1955, had such SI-unrecognised units as the sthène, pièze, etc. Other groups of SI-unrecognised metric units are the various legacy and CGS units related to ionising radiation (rutherford, curie, roentgen, rad, rem, etc.), radiometry (langley, jansky), photometry (phot, nox, stilb, nit, metre-candle, [103] :17 lambert, apostilb, skot, brill, troland, talbot, candlepower, candle), thermodynamics (calorie), and spectroscopy (reciprocal centimetre).
The angstrom is still used in various fields. Some other SI-unrecognised metric units that don't fit into any of the already mentioned categories include the are, bar, barn, fermi, gradian (gon, grad, or grade), metric carat, micron, millimetre of mercury, torr, millimetre (or centimetre, or metre) of water, millimicron, mho, stere, x unit, γ (unit of mass), γ (unit of magnetic flux density), and λ (unit of volume). [104] :20–21 In some cases, the SI-unrecognised metric units have equivalent SI units formed by combining a metric prefix with a coherent SI unit. For example, 1 γ (unit of magnetic flux density)=1 nT, 1 Gal=1 cm⋅s−2, 1 barye=1 deci pascal , etc. (a related group are the correspondences [Note 75] such as 1 abampere ≘ 1 deca ampere , 1 abhenry ≘ 1 nano henry , etc. [Note 77] ). Sometimes it is not even a matter of a metric prefix: the SI-nonrecognised unit may be exactly the same as an SI coherent unit, except for the fact that the SI does not recognise the special name and symbol. For example, the nit is just an SI-unrecognised name for the SI unit candela per square metre and the talbot is an SI-unrecognised name for the SI unit lumen second. Frequently, a non-SI metric unit is related to an SI unit through a power of ten factor, but not one that has a metric prefix, e.g. 1 dyn = 10−5 newton, 1 Å = 10−10 m, etc. (and correspondences [Note 75] like 1 gauss ≘ 10−4 tesla ). Finally, there are metric units whose conversion factors to SI units are not powers of ten, e.g. 1 calorie=4.184 joules and 1 kilogram-force=9.806650 newtons . Some SI-unrecognised metric units are still frequently used, e.g. the calorie (in nutrition), the rem (in the U.S.), the jansky (in radio astronomy), the reciprocal centimetre (in spectroscopy), the gauss (in industry) and the CGS-Gaussian units [Note 76] more generally (in some subfields of physics), the metric horsepower (for engine power, in Europe), the kilogram-force (for rocket engine thrust, in China and sometimes in Europe), etc. Others are now rarely used, such as the sthène and the rutherford.
Organisations
Standards and conventions
It is therefore the declared policy of the United States- (1) to designate the metric system of measurement as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce; (2) to require that each Federal agency, by a date certain and to the extent economically feasible by the end of the fiscal year 1992, use the metric system of measurement in its procurements, grants, and other business-related activities, except to the extent that such use is impractical or is likely to cause significant inefficiencies or loss of markets to United States firms, such as when foreign competitors are producing competing products in non-metric units; (3) to seek out ways to increase understanding of the metric system of measurement through educational information and guidance and in Government publications; and (4) to permit the continued use of traditional systems of weights and measures in non-business activities.
The unit of length is the metre, defined by the distance, at 0°, between the axes of the two central lines marked on the bar of platinum-iridium kept at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures and declared Prototype of the metre by the 1st Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures, this bar being subject to standard atmospheric pressure and supported on two cylinders of at least one centimetre diameter, symmetrically placed in the same horizontal plane at a distance of 571 mm from each other.The '0°' refers to the temperature of 0 °C. The support requirements represent the Airy points of the prototype—the points, separated by 4/7 of the total length of the bar, at which the bending or droop of the bar is minimised. [20]
[t]he bronze yard No. 11, which was an exact copy of the British imperial yard both in form and material, had shown changes when compared with the imperial yard in 1876 and 1888 which could not reasonably be said to be entirely due to changes in No. 11. Suspicion as to the constancy of the length of the British standard was therefore aroused.In the above, the bronze yard No. 11 is one of two copies of the new British standard yard that were sent to the US in 1856, after Britain completed the manufacture of new imperial standards to replace those lost in the fire of 1834 (see [Note 44] ). As standards of length, the new yards, especially bronze No. 11, were far superior to the standard the US had been using up to that point, the so-called Troughton scale. They were therefore accepted by the Office of Weights and Measures (a predecessor of NIST) as the standards of the United States. They were twice taken to England and recompared with the imperial yard, in 1876 and in 1888, and, as mentioned above, measurable discrepancies were found. [22] :381
The kilogram is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), the current metric system, having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo in everyday speech.
The litre or liter is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). A cubic decimetre occupies a volume of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm and is thus equal to one-thousandth of a cubic metre.
The Metre Convention, also known as the Treaty of the Metre, is an international treaty that was signed in Paris on 20 May 1875 by representatives of 17 nations. The treaty created the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), an intergovernmental organization under the authority of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) and the supervision of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM), that coordinates international metrology and the development of the metric system.
The SI base units are the standard units of measurement defined by the International System of Units (SI) for the seven base quantities of what is now known as the International System of Quantities: they are notably a basic set from which all other SI units can be derived. The units and their physical quantities are the second for time, the metre for measurement of length, the kilogram for mass, the ampere for electric current, the kelvin for temperature, the mole for amount of substance, and the candela for luminous intensity. The SI base units are a fundamental part of modern metrology, and thus part of the foundation of modern science and technology.
A metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or submultiple of the unit. All metric prefixes used today are decadic. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol. The prefix kilo-, for example, may be added to gram to indicate multiplication by one thousand: one kilogram is equal to one thousand grams. The prefix milli-, likewise, may be added to metre to indicate division by one thousand; one millimetre is equal to one thousandth of a metre.
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity.
The mole (symbol: mol) is the unit of measurement for amount of substance in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as exactly 6.02214076×1023 particles, which may be atoms, molecules, ions, or electrons.
A metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the International System of Units (SI), under the oversight of an international standards body.
Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in France, when a length standard taken from a natural source was proposed. This led to the creation of the decimal-based metric system in 1795, establishing a set of standards for other types of measurements. Several other countries adopted the metric system between 1795 and 1875; to ensure conformity between the countries, the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) was established by the Metre Convention. This has evolved into the International System of Units (SI) as a result of a resolution at the 11th Conference Generale des Poids et Mesures (CGPM) in 1960.
The gray is a derived unit of ionizing radiation dose in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as the absorption of one joule of radiation energy per kilogram of matter.
The standard acceleration due to gravity, sometimes abbreviated as standard gravity, usually denoted by ɡ0 or ɡn, is the nominal gravitational acceleration of an object in a vacuum near the surface of the Earth. It is defined by standard as 9.80665 m/s2. This value was established by the 3rd CGPM and used to define the standard weight of an object as the product of its mass and this nominal acceleration. The acceleration of a body near the surface of the Earth is due to the combined effects of gravity and centrifugal acceleration from the rotation of the Earth ; the total is about 0.5% greater at the poles than at the Equator.
The ohm is the SI derived unit of electrical resistance, named after German physicist Georg Ohm. Various empirically derived standard units for electrical resistance were developed in connection with early telegraphy practice, and the British Association for the Advancement of Science proposed a unit derived from existing units of mass, length and time, and of a convenient scale for practical work as early as 1861. As of 2020, the definition of the ohm is expressed in terms of the quantum Hall effect.
The kelvin is the base unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol K. It is named after the Belfast-born Glasgow University engineer and physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907).
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multiple of the unit of measurement. For example, a length is a physical quantity. The metre is a unit of length that represents a definite predetermined length. When we say 10 metres, we actually mean 10 times the definite predetermined length called "metre". Measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared to a basic reference quantity of the same kind.
In metrology, a standard is an object, system, or experiment that bears a defined relationship to a unit of measurement of a physical quantity. Standards are the fundamental reference for a system of weights and measures, against which all other measuring devices are compared. Historical standards for length, volume, and mass were defined by many different authorities, which resulted in confusion and inaccuracy of measurements. Modern measurements are defined in relationship to internationally standardized reference objects, which are used under carefully controlled laboratory conditions to define the units of length, mass, electrical potential, and other physical quantities.
In 2019, the SI base units were redefined in agreement with the International System of Quantities, effective on the 144th anniversary of the Metre Convention, 20 May 2019. In the redefinition, four of the seven SI base units – the kilogram, ampere, kelvin, and mole – were redefined by setting exact numerical values for the Planck constant, the elementary electric charge, the Boltzmann constant, and the Avogadro constant, respectively. The second, metre, and candela were already defined by physical constants and were not subject to correction to their definitions. The new definitions aimed to improve the SI without changing the value of any units, ensuring continuity with existing measurements. In November 2018, the 26th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) unanimously approved these changes, which the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) had proposed earlier that year after determining that previously agreed conditions for the change had been met. These conditions were satisfied by a series of experiments that measured the constants to high accuracy relative to the old SI definitions, and were the culmination of decades of research.
The history of the metric system began during the Age of Enlightenment with measures of length and weight derived from nature, along with their decimal multiples and fractions. The system became the standard of France and Europe within half a century. Other dimensions with unity ratios were added, and the system went on to be adopted across the world.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the metric system – various loosely related systems of measurement that trace their origin to the decimal system of measurement introduced in France during the French Revolution.
A coherent system of units is a system of units, used to measure physical quantities, which are defined in such a way that the equations relating the numerical values expressed in the units of the system have exactly the same form, including numerical factors, as the corresponding equations directly relating the quantities. Equivalently, it is a system in which every quantity has a unique unit, or one that does not use conversion factors.
ISO 80000-1:2009 is a standard describing scientific and mathematical quantities and their units. The standard, whose full name is Quantities and units Part 1: General was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), superseding ISO 31-0. It provides general information concerning quantities and units and their symbols, especially the International System of Quantities and the International System of Units, and defines these quantities and units. It is a part of a group of standards called ISO/IEC 80000.
is a set of instructions that allows the definition to be realised in practice at the highest level.
[BIPM director Martin] Milton responded to a question about what would happen if ... the CIPM or the CGPM voted not to move forward with the redefinition of the SI. He responded that he felt that by that time the decision to move forward should be seen as a foregone conclusion.
he [Wilkins] proposed essentially what became ... the French decimal metric system
Special names, if short and suitable, would ... be better than the provisional designation 'C.G.S. unit of ...'.
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(help)... the International System of Units (SI), popularly known as the metric system.
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