Basic Measurement Units

Unit

A unit is a particular physical quantity, defined

and adopted by convention, with which other
particular quantities of the same kind are
compared to express their value.
Bureau International des Piods et Mesures, France (International
Bureau of Weights and Measures), 1875
 Unit Systems

• The International System of Units (SI) or MKS

• Centimeter-gram-second System (CGS)

Countries not following SI System

US, Liberia and Myanmar

 Type of Units

• Base Units
• Derived Units
Base Units

Source: http://www.bipm.org/en/si/
Length
 Historical Standards
Inch: At first an inch was the width of a man's thumb. In the 14th century, King
Edward II of England ruled that 1 inch equalled 3 grains of barley placed end to
end lengthwise.

Foot: The length of the average man's foot. In ancient times, the foot was
111/42 inches. Today it is 12 inches.

Yard: A yard was originally the length of a man's belt or girdle, as it was
called. In the 12th century, King Henry I of England fixed the yard as the
distance from his nose to the thumb of his out-stretched arm. Today it is 36
inches.

Cubit: In ancient Egypt, a cubit was

the distance from the elbow to the
fingertips. Today a cubit is about 18
inches.
Historical Standards
 Present Standard

Fig. Stabilized laser at the National Institute of Standards

and Technology, Boulder, Colorado

The meter (1m) is the length traveled by light wave in

vacuum in a time interval of 1/299792458 second.
Time
 Historical Standards

Sundial Hourglass
Stars

Candle Clocks

Mechanical Clocks
 Present Standard

Fig. Cesium atomic clock at the National Institute of Standards

and Technology, Boulder, Colorado

The second is defined as the time needed for

9192631770 vibrations of a cesium-133 atom
Weight
 Historical Standards

• In 18th century cubic decimeter of water was used as 1

kg.

• Other units using grain amount.

 Present Standard

Fig: Platinum(90%)-iridium(10%) international prototype, as kept at the

International Bureau of Weights and Measures

The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of

the international prototype of the kilogram.
 A second Mass Standerd

Mass of carbon-12 atom, which by International agreement,

has been assigned a mass of 12 atomic mass units (u)

1 u = 1.665402 * 10-27 kg
Derived Units
 SI Prefixes
Factor Name Symbol
1
10 deka da
2
10 hecto h
103 kilo k
6
10 mega M
109 giga G
12
10 tera T
15
10 peta P
 SI Prefixes
Factor Name Symbol
10-1 deci d
-2
10 centi c
10-3 milli m
-6
10 micro µ
-9
10 nano n
10-12 pico p
-15
10 femto f
 Other Important Units

Length:
1 inch = 0.0245 m
1 foot = 0.3048 m
1 yard = 0.9144 m
1 mile = 1609.34 m
1 nautical mile = 1852 m
1 AU (astronomical unit) = 1.49 * 1011 m
1 LY (light year) = 9.46 * 1015 m
Mass:
1 oz (Ounce) = 0.028 kg
1 lbs (Pound) = 0.45 kg
1 Quintal = 100 kg
1 Metric Ton = 1000 kg

Volume:
1 l (Liter) = 0.001 m3 (cubic meter)
1 US Gallon = 3.785 l
Flow Rate:
1 cusec (cubic feet per sec) = 28.317 ls-1
1 sv (Sverdrup) = 1 *106 m3s-1

Pressure:
1 pa (Pascal) = 1 Nm-2
1 atm (Atmosphere) = 101325 Pa ≈ 105 Nm-2
= 1013.25 mb (millibar)
= 760 mm of Hg
 References
 Fundamentals of Physics(Ch1):
Halliday/Resnick/Walker

Physics for Engineers and Scientists(Ch1):

Ohanian and Markert

http://www.bipm.org/en/si/