02 PHYSICS

51. Standard
international units
The creation of the decimal metric system began during the eighteenth-century French revolution when two
platinum standards, representing the metre and kilogram, were placed in the Archives de la République in Paris.
Eminent scientists like Gauss and Weber then went on to promote the universal application of a standard system
of measurement in the early nineteenth century. By the 1960s, the International System of Units (abbreviated to
SI units from the French Le Système International d’Unités) was developed which incorporated six base units
(the mole was added later) along with rules for the use of derived units and prefixes. The advantage of this unified
system is that equations and calculations will produce answers in the appropriate SI unit. Unfortunately, they are
not used universally.
A question concerning the SI units is a popular opening to the physics SOE and candidates should understand the
relationship between derived and base units and be comfortable in manipulating them from one to the other.

What are the fundamental There are seven base units, which are considered to be dimensionally
(base) units? independent
Table 51.1  Base units

Base unit Name Symbol

Length metre m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Current ampere A
Temperature kelvin K
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd

What are the two The plane angle (radian) and solid angle (steradian) were supplementary units
supplementary units? but this category was abolished in 1995. These units are considered named
derived units.
List some of the derived units. Derived units are formed by combination of various base units according to
mathematical relationships which link these quantities.

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 STANDARD INTERNATIONAL UNITS

Table 51.2  Derived units

Derived units Name Symbol

Area square metre m2
Volume cubic metre m3
Density kilogram per cubic metre kg/m3
Velocity metre per second m/s
Acceleration metre per second squared m/s2

List some named derived units. These are derived units that have been given specific names.
Table 51.3  Named derived units

Named derived Expression in terms of Expression in terms

unit Name (symbol) other SI units of base SI units
Force newton (N) – kg·m·s–2
Pressure pascal (Pa) N/m2 kg·m–1·s–2
Energy joule (K) N·m kg·m2·s–2
Power watt (W) J/s kg·m2·s–3
Electric charge coulomb (C) – A·s
Electric potential volt (V) W/A kg·m2·s–3·A–1
difference
Capacitance farad (F) C/V kg–1·m–2·s4·A2
Electrical ohm (Ω) V/A kg·m2·s–3·A–2
resistance
Magnetic flux weber (Wb) V·s kg·m2·s–2·A–1
2
Magnetic flux tesla (T) Wb/m kg·s–2·A–1
density
Inductance henry (H) Wb/A kg·m2·s–2·A–2
Temperature degree celsius (°C) – K

What are the common prefixes Prefixes are decimal (base 10) multiples and submultiples of the quantity.
used for SI units?
Table 51.4  Prefixes used for SI units

Prefix name Prefix name

(symbol) Multiple (symbol) Multiple
deca (da) 101 deci (d) 10–1
2
hecto (h) 10 centi (c) 10–2
3
kilo (k) 10 milli (m) 10–3
mega (M) 106 micro (µ) 10–6
9
giga (G) 10 nano (η) 10–9
12
tera (T) 10 pico (p) 10–12
peta (P) 1015 femto (f) 10–15
18
exa (E) 10 atto (a) 10–18
21
zetta (Z) 10 zepto (z) 10–21
24
yotta (Y) 10 yocto (y) 10–24

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