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Introduction to SI Units
What is the International System of Units?
The International System of Units, or SI for short, is a set of measurement units used
for communicating measurements worldwide.
All nations that use SI units have agreed on exactly what each unit means and on
exactly how measurements using them should be written. This makes it easy for a
person in one nation to communicate a measurement to a person in another nation.
For example, suppose a fisherman in Australia wants to e-mail a customer in Greece
how much a container of frozen fish weighs. Since Australia and Greece both use the
SI, the fisherman can give the weight in kilograms, the SI unit of mass, and be quite
certain that his customer will understand.
Science and engineering measurements are almost always made using SI units, in part
because SI units are very easy to use with scientific notation.
People in the United States are more familiar with certain traditional English units, such
as the pound, foot, mile, and gallon. People in other parts of the world use other
traditional units, such as the Thai wah (a unit of distance), the British stone (a unit of
mass), and the Australian seven (a unit of volume). Nowadays, almost all of these
traditional units are defined in terms of SI units.
When people do not use the same unit for the same type of measurement, they
sometimes have to convert a measurement from one unit to another.
What are the base SI units?
There are 6 base SI units in the International System for the 6 basic dimensions of
science and engineering measurements that are most frequently used. (The 7th base
SI unit, the candela, is used to measure amounts of light. You don't usually use this
unit in introductory science and engineering classes.)
Here are the 6 common base SI units, along with each unit's symbol, official definition,
and a fact to give you a feel for the size of the unit.
Base SI
Symbol Dimension Fact Official definition
unit
The average The distance light
man's belt buckle 1
meter m length goes in
is about 1 m off 299792458
the ground. of a second.
The mass of a certain
A quart of milk block of metal kept at
kilogram kg mass weighs about the International
1 kg . Bureau of Weights
and Measures.
The time between 9192631770 cycles of
an average
second s time a certain kind of radio
adult's heartbeats wave emitted by a
is about 1 s. cesium-133 atom.
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kelvin K temperature If it's freezing 1
outside, the of the
temperature 278.16
difference temperature of a
between indoors mixture of ice, water,
and outdoors is and steam in which
about 20 K. the water neither
freezes nor
evaporates.
If the earth were
made of bricks, The number of atoms
mole mol number there would be in 12 grams of
about 1 mol of carbon-12.
them.
The electric
current flowing in The amount of
electric a normal desk current that produces
ampere A
current light bulb is about a certain magnetic
field strength.
1 A.
What are prefixed SI units?
You can make units of difference size out of the base SI units by putting on a prefix.
Think of the prefix as standing for a hidden power of 10.
3
2.6 kilometers = 2.6 × 10 meters
−6
13.85 micrograms = 13.85 × 10 grams
Here are the 20 official SI prefixes. Prefixes that are rarely used in science and
engineering have lighter colored backgrounds.
Prefix Example using meter
Spelled out Symbol Meaning Spelled out Symbol Meaning
yotta 24 yottameter 24
Y 10 Ym 1 Ym = 10 m
zetta 21 zettameter 21
Z 10 Zm 1 Zm = 10 m
exa 18 exameter 18
E 10 Em 1 Em = 10 m
peta 15 petameter 15
P 10 Pm 1 Pm = 10 m
12 12
tera T 10 terameter Tm 1 Tm = 10 m
9 9
giga G 10 gigameter Gm 1 Gm = 10 m
6 6
mega M 10 megameter Mm 1 Mm = 10 m
kilo 3 kilometer 3
k 10 km 1 km = 10 m
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hecto h 2 hectometer hm 2
10 1 hm = 10 m
1 1
deca da 10 decameter dam 1 dam = 10 m
−1 −1
deci d 10 decimeter dm 1 dm = 10 m
−2 −2
centi c 10 centimeter cm 1 cm = 10 m
milli −3 millimeter −3
m 10 mm 1 mm = 10 m
micro −6 micrometer −6
μ 10 μm 1 μm = 10 m
nano −9 nanometer −9
n 10 nm 1 nm = 10 m
pico − 12 picometer − 12
p 10 pm 1 pm = 10 m
femto − 15 femtometer − 15
f 10 fm 1 fm = 10 m
atto − 18 attometer − 18
a 10 am 1 am = 10 m
− 21 − 21
zepto z 10 zeptometer zm 1 zm = 10 m
− 24 − 24
yocto y 10 yoctometer ym 1 ym = 10 m
You can use the SI prefixes with any base SI unit. For example, 1 Ms (one
6 − 12
megasecond) equals 10 seconds, and 1 pg (one picogram) equals 10 grams, and
so forth. You can also use the SI prefixes with any named derived SI unit. For example,
3
1 kPa (one kilopascal) equals 10 Pa.
Sometimes the SI prefixes are used "unofficially" with non-SI units. For example, 64
megabytes of computer memory is (approximately) 64 million bytes, and a 50
megaton nuclear bomb has the power of 50 million tons of TNT.
Sometimes the SI prefixes are used in everyday speech just to give a general feeling of
size. For example, mega (one million) is used to mean simply really big, and nano (one
billionth) is used to mean simply really small. You might refer to an enormous food
store as a "megamart," and you have probably heard of "nanotechnology," the
technology of building very small machines.
What are the named derived SI units?
Combinations of base SI units which have been given their own name and symbol.
Here are the SI named derived units used most often in science and engineering work.
Definition (1st line)
Unit Symbol Dimension Comments
and equivalents
newton N force −2 Isaac Newton
1 N = 1 kg ·m·s (1642-1727) first
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wrote down the
laws of
mechanical force
and motion.
2 −2 James Joule
1 J = 1 kg ·m s (1818-1889) first
= 1 N·m showed that
joule J energy mechanical work
3
= 1 Pa·m could be turned
into heat, and
= 1 W·s vice versa.
2 −3 James Watt
1 W = 1 kg ·m ·s (1736-1819)
watt W power −1 designed the first
= 1 J ·s
practical steam
= 1 V·A engines.
Heinrich Hertz
(1857-1894)
Hz −1
hertz frequency 1 Hz = 1 s proved that radio
waves transmit
energy.
−1 −2 Blaise Pascal
1 Pa = 1 kg ·m s (1623-1662) first
−2 used a barometer
pascal Pa pressure = 1 N·m (pressure meter)
−3 to measure
= 1 J ·m altitude.
Charles-Augustin
de Coulomb
(1736-1806) first
electric
coulomb C 1 C = 1 A·s measured the
charge
force between
electric charges
accurately.
2 −3 − 1 Alessandro Volta
electric 1 V = 1 kg ·m ·s ·A (1745-1827)
volt V
potential −1 invented the first
= 1 W·A battery.
Georg Ohm
(1787-1854)
2 − 3 − 2 described how
electric 1Ω = 1 kg ·m ·s ·A
ohm Ω resistance −1
electric current
=1 V·A varies with
electric
resistance.
In addition, the liter (symbol L) is very often used in science and engineering work to
measure volume.
1 3
1L= m
1000
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Strictly speaking, the liter is not a member of the family of named derived SI units
because you cannot write a liter as some combination of the base SI units--you always
1
need to include a numerical factor, like the above.
1000
Don't forget that you can use any of the SI prefixes with these units.
− 12
For example, 1 pN (one piconewton) equals 10 newtons, and 1 mW (one milliwatt)
−3
equals 10 watts.
See Also:
Introduction to Units of Measurement
Introduction to Measurement
Introduction to Scientific Notation
Introduction to Unit Algebra
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