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Derived Units

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Time

Unit Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Comment Definition
Second 's absolute time unit with 01.01.1970 as reference time 1 s
Minute minute min 60 s
Hour hour h 60 min
Day day d
da
24 h
Week week wk 7 d
Month mon common month definition in energy economics with 730 hours or 30.42 days 730 h
Year a common yearly definition in energy economics with 8760 = 365·24 hours 8760 h

Angle

Unit Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Comment Definition
Radianradian rad the length of an arc divided by the radius of the circle
Degreedegree deg for example, for geographical longitude/latitudeπ rad/180

Length

The astronomical units of length use the speed of light c for definition.

Unit Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Comment Definition
Micrometer micrometer micron 10-6 m
Picometer picometer bicron 10-12 m
Angström angstrom corresponds approximately to the diameter of an atom 10-10 m
Inch inch in 2,54 cm
Foot foot ft
feet
12 inch
Yard yard yd 3 ft
Mile mile mi 5280 ft
Light year lightyear 365,25 d c
Light minute lightminute 1 c min
Light second lightsecond 1 c s

Area

Unit Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Definition
Square meterm^2 qm 1 m2
Ar are 100 m2

Volume

Unit Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Comment Definition
Cubic centimeter cm^3 cc 1 cm3
Liter liter l The liter was defined in 1901 as the volume which takes up 1 kg of water at maximum density under standard pressure. It was falsely assumed that this is exactly 1000 cm3. The definition was corrected to 1000 cm3 in 1964. 1000 cm3
Cubic meter m^3 cbm 1 m3
Gallon gallon gal 231 in3
Pint pint 0,5 gallon
Quart quart qt 0,25 gallon

Speed and Frequency

Unit Identifier (symbol) Definition
Revolution rev 1
Revolutions per minute rpm 1 rev/min
Revolutions per second rps 1 rev/sec
Kilometers per hour kph 1 km/h
Miles per hour mph 1 mile/h
Miles per gallon mpg 1 mile/gal
Feet per minute fpm 1 ft/min
Feet per second fps 1 ft/s

Temperature

A distinction is made here between absolute temperatures with reference point and relative temperatures without reference point.

Unit Identifier Comment Definition
Kelvin
(absolute)
'K absolute unit without shift at absolute zero (reference temperature)
Degree Celsius (relative) degC 1 K
Degree Celsius (absolute) 'degC absolute unit with shift at absolute zero (reference temperature) 0 'K=-273,15 'degC
Degree Fahrenheit (relative) degF 0.555 K
Degree Fahrenheit (absolute) 'degF absolute unit with shift at absolute zero (reference temperature) 0 'K=-459,67 'degF

Concentration

Unit Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Definition
Percent percent % 10-2
Millionth partspermillion ppm 10-6
Billionth partsperbillion ppb 10-9

Weight

Unit Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Definition
Gram gram g
gm
0,001 kg
Hundredweight quintal 100 kg
Ton tonne t
metricton
1000 kg
Pound pound lb 0,45359237 kg

Force and Pressure

Some of the following units use the Gravitational constant force for definition.

Unit Physical Quantity Identifier Comment Definition
Newton force newton
N
1 kg m/s2
Sthene force sthene
funal
introduced in 1919 within the French MTS system (sthène) 1000 N
Pascal pressure pascal
Pa
1 N/m2
Bar pressure bar 105 Pa
Millibar pressure millibar
vac
100 Pa
Meter of mercury column pressure Hg 13,5951 gram force/cm3
Millimeter of mercury column pressure mmHg
torr
0,001 Hg
Meter water column pressure water
H2O
wc
1 gram force/cm3
Pounds per square inch pressure psi common in the USA 6894,757293168 Pa
Pièze pressure pieze introduced in 1919 within the French MTS system 1 sthene/m2
Torr pressure tor obsolete 1 Pa

Energy and Power

Some of the following units use the Gravitational constant force for definition.

Unit Physical Quantity Identifier Comment Definition
Joule energy joule
J
1 N m
Watt power watt
W
1 J/s
Watt-secondenergy Ws 1 W s
Watt-hour energy Wh typical unit for electrical work 1 W h
International steam table calorie energy calorie
cal_IT
cal
determined by the 5th International Conference on Properties of Steam in London 1956 4,1868 J
Thermochemical calorie energy thermcalorie
cal_th
calorie_th
based on the value formerly usual in thermochemical works in the USA 4,1840 J
15 °C calorie energy cal_fifteen the amount of energy required to warm one gram of air-free water from 14.5 to 15.5 °C at standard atmospheric pressure 4,1858 J
20 °C calorie energy cal_twenty the amount of energy required to warm one gram of air-free water from 19.5 to 20.5 °C at standard atmospheric pressure 4,1819 J
Mean calorie energy cal_mean 1⁄100 of the amount of energy required to warm one gram of air-free water from 0 to 100 °C at standard atmospheric pressure 4,19002 J
Kilocalorie energy Calorie used in food-related contexts, the "food calorie" 1000 calorie
Frigorie energy fr the amount of energy required to warm one kilogram of air-free water from 14.5 to 15.5 °C at standard atmospheric pressure 1000 cal_fifteen
Thermie energy thermie the amount of energy required to warm one ton of air-free water from 14.5 to 15.5 °C at standard atmospheric pressure 106 cal_fifteen
Coal equivalent (German: Steinkohleeinheit) energy kg_SKE calorific value of one kilogram of hard coal: 1 SKE=29.307 MJ 29,3076 MJ
Kilogram of oil equivalent energy kg_OEE 41,868 MJ
Ton of oil equivalent energy toe 1000 kg OEE
Barrel of oil equivalent energy boe 6,1178632 GJ
British thermal unit energy britishthermalunit
btu
btu_IT
1 cal pound degF/gram K
Thermochemical British thermal unit energy btu_th 1 cal_th pound degF/gram K
Mean British thermal unit energy btu_mean 1 cal_mean pound degF/gram K
British thermal units per hour power mbh 1000 btu/hour
Horsepower power horsepower
hp
bhp
invented by James Watt 550 foot pound force/sec
Metric horsepower power metrichorsepower used in Germany 75 kg force meter/sec
Ton of refrigeration power TR rate of heat transfer that results in the melting of 1 short ton (907 kg) of pure ice at an initial temperature of 0 °C (32 °F) in 24 hours1 TR = 3,51685 kW

Electricity

Unit Physical Quantitiy Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Definition
Coulomb charge coulomb C 1 A s
Volt voltage volt V 1 W/A
Ohm resistance ohm 1 V/A
Siemens conductance siemens S 1 A/V
Farad capacitance farad F 1 C/V
Weber magnetic flux weber Wb 1 V s
Henry inductance henry H 1 Wb/A
Tesla magnetic flux density tesla T 1 Wb/m2
Hertz frequency hertz Hz 1/s

Money

The monetary units Euro and Cent are used to represent one large and one small monetary unit.

Unit Identifier (name) Identifier (symbol) Comment Definition
Euro euro EURO as a further alternative to the base unit 1 EUR
Thousand Euro TEUR 1000 EUR
Cent cent ct
Cent
0,01 EUR

 

The units are replaced as follows if a currency other than Euro is selected.

Currency Small Monetary Unit
(ct, cent, Cent)
Large Monetary Unit
(euro, Euro, EUR, EURO)
Thousand
Large Monetary Unit
(TEUR)
Australian dollar ct AUD k AUD
Pound sterling Pence GBP k GBP
Chinese yuan renminbi Fen CNY CNY'000
Japanese yen Sen YEN YEN'000
New Zealand dollar ct NZD k NZD
Russian ruble Kop RUB T.RUB
Swedish crown Öre SEK kSEK
Swiss franc Rp. CHF TFr.
South African randCentZARkZAR
US dollar ct $ $'000

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