SI UNITS

Basic Components of SI Units

Seven base units,

A set of prefixes, and
Several derived units
 The SI Base Units

Quantity Name Symbol

Length meter m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Electric current ampere A
Thermodynamic kelvin K
temperature
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd
 The SI Prefixes

Name yotta- zetta- exa- peta- tera- giga- mega- kilo- hecto- deca-
Symbol Y Z E P T G M k h da
Factor
1024 1021 1018 1015 1012 109 106 103 102 101

Name deci- centi- milli- micro- nano- pico- femto- atto- zepta- yacto-
Symbol d c m μ n p f a z y
Factor 10-1 10-2 10-3 10-6 10-9 10-12 10-15 10-18 10-21 10-24
 The SI Derived Units
A system of equations involving the seven base quantities
defines the derived quantities.

The symbol 1 for quantities of dimension 1 is generally omitted.

Derived quantity Name Symbol

Area square meter m2

Volume cubic meter m3

wave number reciprocal meter m-1
mass density kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3

specific volume cubic meter per kilogram m3/kg

kilogram per kilogram, which may
mass fraction kg/kg = 1
be represented by the number 1
speed, velocity meter per second m/s

Acceleration meter per second squared m/s2

current density ampere per square meter A/m2

Magnetic field strength ampere per meter A/m

amt-of-substance concentrn mole per cubic meter mol/m3

Luminance candela per square meter cd/m2

 SI Derived Units with Special Names and Symbols
Expression
(other SI Expression
Derived quantity Name Symbol units) (SI base units)
plane angle radian rad - m·m-1 = 1
solid angle steradian sr - m2·m-2 = 1
frequency hertz Hz - s-1
force newton N - m·kg·s-2
pressure, stress pascal Pa N/m2 m-1·kg·s-2

energy, work, quantity of heat joule J N·m m2·kg·s-2

power, radiant flux watt W J/s m2·kg·s-3

electric charge, qty of electricity coulomb C - s·A

electric potential difference,

volt V W/A m2·kg·s-3·A-1
electromotive force

capacitance farad F C/V m-2·kg-1·s4·A2

electric resistance ohm Ω V/A m2·kg·s-3·A-2
 m-2·kg-1·
electric conductance siemens S A/V
s3·A2
magnetic flux weber Wb V·s m2·kg·s-2·A-1
magnetic flux density tesla T Wb/m2 kg·s-2·A-1
inductance henry H Wb/A m2·kg·s-2·A-2
Celsius temperature degree Celsius °C - K
m2·m-2·cd =
luminous flux lumen lm cd·sr (c)
cd
m2·m-4·cd =
Illuminance lux lx lm/m2
m-2·cd
activity (of a radionuclide) becquerel Bq - s-1

Absorbed dose, specific

gray Gy J/kg m2·s-2
energy (imparted), kerma

dose equivalent sievert Sv J/kg m2·s-2

 The SI Writing Style
• Names of units are always written in lower case.

• Their symbols are also written in lower case unless they are
derived from names of specific persons.

Example:

Quantity Name Symbol Explanation

mass kilogram kg -

Thermodynamic tempkelvin K Named after

Lord Kelvin

pressure pascal Pa Named after

Blaise Pascal
Exception to the rule:

The Celsius temperature has the accepted name “degree Celsius”

although it is named after the scientist Celsius, not “degree celsius”.

• A space separates the number and its symbol.

Examples: 25 kg, 3.2x10-2 m3, 100 °C, and 300 K

Exception:

No space separates the symbols for plane angular degrees (°),

minutes (’), and seconds (”) from the numbers they follow.

Examples: 10°, 5’ , and 10”.

• A symbol is not followed by a period unless it appears at the end of
a sentence.

Example: Incorrect Correct

25 kg. 25 kg

• Symbols are not pluralized.

Example: Incorrect Correct

25 kgs 25 kg

• Names of units are pluralized, whenever needed.

Examples: 25 kilograms and five millimeters

Exceptions: The units lux, hertz, and siemens do not change their
form in plural.
• A symbol is not italicized; it is written in upright Roman letters
(such as “m” for meter and “s” for second)

Example: Incorrect Correct

25 kg 25 kg

• Symbols for derived units formed by the product of multiple units

are followed by either a space or a center dot (also called raised
dot) separating individual unit symbols.

Note: The center dot has to be selected from the list of symbols.

Examples: N m or N·m, kg s or kg·s

• Symbols for derived units formed by division of two units are
separated by a solidus (/) or indicated by a negative exponent or
are represented by a fraction.

Examples: m/s2, m s-2, or m·s-2

• While using both multiplication and division, use the above rules
and ensure that there is no ambiguity in its interpretation.

Examples: kg·s-2·A-1 not kg/s2·A

kg·m-1·s-2 or kg/(m·s2) not kg/m·s2

• SI derived units may be used in conjunction with other derived

units to denote other SI derived units.
 Derived quantity Name Symbol
dynamic viscosity pascal second Pa·s
moment of force newton meter N·m
surface tension newton per meter N/m
angular velocity radian per second rad/s
angular acceleration radian per second squared rad/s2
heat flux density, irradiance watt per square meter W/m2
heat capacity, entropy joule per kelvin J/K
specific heat capacity,
joule per kilogram kelvin J/(kg·K)
specific entropy
specific energy joule per kilogram J/kg
thermal conductivity watt per meter kelvin W/(m·K)
energy density joule per cubic meter J/m3
electric field strength volt per meter V/m
electric charge density coulomb per cubic meter C/m3
electric flux density coulomb per square meter C/m2
permittivity farad per meter F/m
permeability henry per meter H/m
molar energy joule per mole J/mol
molar entropy, molar heat
joule per mole Kelvin J/(mol·K)
capacity
exposure (x and γ rays) coulomb per kilogram C/kg
absorbed dose rate gray per second Gy/s
radiant intensity watt per steradian W/sr
watt per square meter
radiance W/(m2·sr)
steradian
catalytic (activity)
katal per cubic meter kat/m3
concentration
 Non-SI Units Accepted for Use with the SI Units
Name Symbol Value in SI units
minute (time) min 1 min = 60 s
hour h 1 h = 60 min = 3 600 s
day d 1 d = 24 h = 86 400 s
degree (angle) ° 1° = ( π/180) rad
minute (angle) ’ 1 = (1/60)° = (π /10 800) rad
second (angle) ” 1 = (1/60) = (π /648 000) rad
liter L 1 L = 1 dm3 = 10-3 m3
metric ton t 1 t = 103 kg
neper Np 1 Np = 1
bel B 1 B = (1/2) ln 10 Np
electronvolt eV 1 eV = 1.602 18 x 10-19 J, approximately
unified atomic mass unit u 1 u = 1.660 54 x 10-27 kg, approximately
astronomical unit ua 1 ua = 1.495 98 x 1011 m, approximately
 Non-SI Units Accepted For Use with SI Units
(Subject to Further Review)

Name Symbol Value in SI units

nautical mile No symbol 1 nautical mile = 1 852 m
knot No symbol 1 nautical mile per hour = (1 852/3 600) m/s
are a 1 a = 1 dam2 = 102 m2
hectare ha 1 ha = 1 hm2 = 104 m2
bar bar 1 bar = 0.1 MPa = 100 kPa = 1 000 hPa = 105 Pa
angstrom Å 1 Å = 0.1 nm = 10-10 m
barn b 1 b = 100 fm2 = 10-28 m2
curie Ci 1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 Bq
roentgen R 1 R = 2.58 x 10-4 C/kg
radian rad 1 rad = 1 cGy = 10-2 Gy
rem rem 1 rem = 1 cSv = 10-2 Sv