PHYSICAL

QUANTITIES
AND SI
UNITS
JENKENS BABA
PHYSICAL
QUANTITIES AND
SI UNITS
JENKENS BABA

 Overview

The International System of Units (abbreviated as SI Units

from its French name, Système International d'unites) is an
internationally agreed metric system of units of measurement
that has been in existence since 1960. The history of the meter
and the kilogram, two of the fundamental units on which the
system is based, goes back to the French Revolution. The
system itself is based on the concept of seven fundamental
base units of quantity, from which all other units of quantity
can be derived. Following the end of the Second World War,
it became increasingly apparent that a worldwide system of
measurement was needed to replace the numerous and
diverse systems of measurements in use at that time. In 1954,
th
the 10 General Conference on Weights and Measures, acting
on the ndings of an earlier study, proposed a system
based on six base quantities. The quantities
recommended were the meter, kilogram, second,
ampere, kelvin and candela.

The General Conference on Weights and Measures

(abbreviated as CGPM from its French title, Conférence
Générale des Poids et Mesures), the rst of which took
place in 1889, has taken place every few years since 1897 in
Sèvres, near Paris. Following the 1954 proposals, the
conference of 1960 (the 11th CGPM) introduced the new
system to the world.

A seventh base unit, the mole, was added following the 14th
CGPM, which took place in 1971. An o cial description of the
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 system called the SI Brochure, rst published in 1970 and
currently (as of 2019) in its ninth edition, can be
downloaded free of charge from the website of the B ureau
International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). The brochure is
written and maintained by a subcommittee of the
International Committee for Weights and Measures
(abbreviated as CIPM from its French name - Comité
International des Poids et Mesures). The relevant
international standard is ISO/IEC 80000.
The role of the BIPM includes the establishment of standards
for the principal physical quantities, and the maintenance of
international prototypes. Its work includes metrological
research (metrolo y is the science of measurement),
making comparisons of international prototypes for
veri cation purposes, and the calibration of standards. The
work of the BIPM is supervised by the CIPM, which in turn is
responsible to the CGPM. The General Conference currently
meets every four years to con rm new standards and
resolutions, and to agree on nancial, organizational and
developmental issues.
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 Chapter 1
SI BASE QUANTITIES AND UNITS

he value of a physical quantity is usually expressed as

T the product of a number and a unit. In the past (and in

some cases up until very recently) the unit represented
a speci c example or prototype of the quantity
concerned, which was used as a point of reference. The
number represents the ratio of the value of the quantity to
the unit.

As of 2019, all of the base units are now de ned with

reference to seven "de ning" physical constants that
include fundamental constants of nature such as the Planck
constant and the speed of light. The most recent changes
occurred with the publication of the ninth edition of the SI
brochure in 2019. Four base units - the kilogram, ampere,
kelvin and mole - were rede ned using physical constants.
The second, metre, and candela, already de ned using
physical constants, were subject to corrections.

As a case in point, the kilogram was previously de ned

with reference to a prototype. The prototype in question
was a platinum-iridium cylinder held under tightly
controlled conditions in a vault at the BIPM, identical
copies of which are kept under identical conditions located

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 throughout the world. A quantity of two kilograms (2 kg)
would have been de ned as exactly twice the mass of the
prototype or one of its copies. Now, however, according to
the 2019 version of the SI Brochure:

Also according to the 2019 edition of the SI Brochure, the

seven de ning physical constants used to de ne the SI
units:

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 There are seven base quantities used in the International
System of Units. The seven base quantities and their
corresponding units are:

• time (second)
• length (meter)
• mass (kilogram)
• electric current (ampere)
• thermodynamic temperature (kelvin)
• amount of substance (mole)
• luminous intensity (candela)

These base quantities are assumed to be independent of one

another. In other words, no base quantity needs to be
de ned in terms of any other base quantity (or quantities).
Note however that although the base quantities themselves
are considered to be independent, their respective base
units are in some cases dependent on one another. The
meter, for example, is de ned as the length of the path
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travelled by light in a vacuum in a time interval of 1/299 792

458 of a second.

The table on the next page summarizes the base quantities

and their units. You may have noticed that an anomaly
arises with respect to the kilogram (the unit of mass). The
kilogram is the only SI base unit whose name and symbol
include a pre x. You should be aware that multiples and
submultiples of this unit are formed by attaching the
appropriate pre x name to the unit name gram, and the
appropriate pre x symbol to the unit symbol g. For
example, one millionth of a kilogram is one milligram (1
mg), and not one micro-kilogram (1μkg).
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 DIMENSION OF QUANTITIES
As stated earlier, each of the derived units of quantity
identi ed by the International System of Units is de ned as
the product of powers of base units. Each base quantity is
considered as having its own dimension, which is
represented using an upper-case character printed in a sans
serif roman font. Derived quantities are considered to have
dimensions that can be expressed as products of powers of
the dimensions of the base quantities from which they are
derived. The dimension of any quantity Q is thus written as:
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time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature, amount of substance

and luminous intensity respectively. The superscripted characters are the
first seven lower-case characters from the Greek alphabet (alpha, beta,
lambda, delta, epsilon, zeta and eta), and represent integer values called
the dimensional exponents. The dimensional exponents values can be
positive, negative or zero. The dimension of a derived quantity
essentially conveys the same information about the relationship between
derived quantities and the base quantities from which they are derived as
the SI unit symbol for the derived quantity.

In some cases, all of the dimensional exponents are zero

(as is the case, for example, where a quantity is de ned as
the ratio of two quantities of the same kind). Such
quantities are said to be dimensionless, or of dimension one.
The coherent derived unit for such a quantity (as the ratio
of two identical units) is the number one. The same
principle applies to quantities that cannot be expressed in
terms of base units, such as number of molecules, which is
essentially simply the result of a count. These quantities are
also regarded as being dimensionless, or of dimension one.
Most dimensionless quantities are simply expressed as
numbers. Exceptions include the radian and the steradian,
used to express values of plane angles and solid angles
respectively. Another notable exception is the decibel,
which is described above.

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 CHAPTER 2
DERIVED QUANTITIES
The derived units of quantity identi ed by the International
System of Units are all de ned as products of powers of base
units. A derived quantity can therefore be expressed in
terms of one or more base quantity in the form of an
algebraic expression. Derived units that are products of
powers of base units that include no numerical factor other
than one are said to be coherent derived units. This means
that they are derived purely using products or quotients of
integer powers of base quantities, and that no numerical
factor other than one is involved.

The seven base units and twenty-two coherent derived

units of the SI form a coherent set of twenty-nine uinits
which is referred to as the set of coherent SI units. All other
SI units are combinations of some of these twenty-nine
units.The word "coherent" in this context means that
equations between the numerical values of quantities are in
exactly the same form as the corresponding equations
between the quantities themselves.

The twenty-two coherent derived units have special names

and symbols. Often, the name chosen acknowledges the
contribution of a particular scientist. The unit of force (the
newton) is named after Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest
contributors in the eld of classical mechanics. The unit of
pressure (the pascal) is named after Blaise Pascal for his
work in the elds of hydrodynamics and hydrostatics. The
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 table below lists the coherent derived units. Note that each
unit named in the table below has its own symbol, but can
be de ned in terms of other derived units or in terms of the
SI base units, as shown in the last two columns.
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Note that the units for the plane angle and the solid angle
(the radian and steradian respectively) are both derived as
the quotient of two identical SI base units. They are thus
said to have the unit one (1). They are described as
dimensionless units or units of dimension one (the concept of
dimension was described above).

Note that a temperature di erence of one degree Celsius has

exactly the same value as a temperature di erence of one
kelvin. The Celsius temperature scale tends to be used for
day-to-day non-scienti c purposes such as reporting the
weather, or for specifying the temperature at which
foodstu s and medicines should be stored. In this kind of
context it is somewhat more meaningful to a member of the
public than the Kelvin temperature scale.

The units in the coherent set can be combined to express

the units of other derived quantities. Since this allows a
potentially unlimited number of combinations, it is not
possible to list them all here. The table below lists some
examples of derived quantities, together with the
corresponding coherent derived units expressed in terms
of base units.
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The example coherent SI derived units shown in the table

below are based on a combination of derived units with
special names and the SI base units. The names and
symbols for these units re ects the hybrid nature of these
units. As with the units in the previous table, each unit has
its own symbol but can be de ned in terms of the SI base
units, as shown in the nal column. The value of being able
to use both special and hybrid symbols in equations can be
appreciated when we look at the length of some of the base
unit expressions.

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 Other set of list of SI Derived units with Hybrid Names

 NON-SI UNITS ACCEPTED FOR USE

WITH THE SI
The units detailed in the nal table are accepted for use
with the International System of Units for a variety of
reasons. Many are still in use, some are required for the
interpretation of scienti c texts of historical importance,
and some are used in specialised areas such as medicine.
The hectare, for example, is still commonly used to express
land area. The use of the equivalent SI units is preferred for
modern scienti c texts. Wherever reference is made to
non-SI units, they should be cross referenced with their
equivalent SI units. For the units shown in the following
table, the equivalent de nition in terms of SI units is also
shown. Most of the units listed that are in widespread daily
use, and likely to be so for the foreseeable future.

Note that for most purposes, it is recommended that

fractional values for plane angles expressed in degrees
should be expressed using decimal fractions rather than
minutes and seconds. Exceptions include navigation and
surveying (due to the fact that one minute of latitude on the
Earth's surface corresponds to approximately one nautical
mile), and astronomy. In the eld of astronomy, very small
angles are signi cant due to the enormous distances
involved. It is therefore convenient for astronomers to use a
unit of measurement that can represent very small
di erences in angle in a meaningful way. Very small angles
can be represented in terms of arcseconds, microarcseconds
and picoarcseconds.
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 CHAPTER 3
PRESENTATIONAL CONVENTIONS
There are a number of widely accepted conventions for the
expression of quantities in hand-written or printed
documents and texts. These conventions have been in
place with relatively little modi cation since the General
Conference on Weights and Measures rst introduced the
System of International Units in 1960. They are primarily
intended to ensure a uniform approach to the presentation
of hand written or printed information, and to ensure the
readability of scienti c journals, textbooks, academic
papers, data sheets, reports, and other related documents.
The presentational requirements will vary to some extent
according to the norms of the language in which the work is
written. We are concerned here only with the conventions
as they apply to the English language. The following list
represents some of the more important requirements.

• Unit symbols - these appear in roman (upright) type.

They are printed in lower case letters unless derived
from a proper name, in which case the rst letter is
capitalized (e.g. "Pa" for pascal). The exception to the
rule is the symbol for the litre, which may be written
either as "l" or "L". The latter is allowed in order to
distinguish the symbol used for the litre from the
number one (1). Any multiple or sub-multiple pre x is
considered to be part of the unit symbol, to which it is
prepended without an intervening space (e.g. "km" for
kilometer, "mm" for millimeter, or "μm" for micrometer).

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• Unit names - these appear in roman (upright) type. All

unit names are printed in lower case characters,
including the rst letter, regardless of whether or not
they are named after a person, or whether or not the
unit symbol begins with an upper-case character (i.e.
"newton", not "Newton"). If a pre x is used with the unit
name it becomes part of the unit name and is formed as
a single word (e.g. "micropascal", not "micro pascal" or
"micro- pascal"). If a derived unit is the product of two or
more separate units, either a space or a hyphen can be
used to separate the names (e.g. "newton metre" or
"newton-metre"). For units raised to a power, the
appropriate modi er may precede or follow the unit
name (e.g. "square metre" or "metre cubed”)

• Compound units - units expressed as the product or

quotient of other units are written in the same way as
standard algebraic expressions. Multiplication is
represented either by a space, or by the use of the dot
operator (also called a middle dot). For example the
symbol for "newton metre" is written as "N m" or "N·m".
Division is represented using a solidus (forward stroke)
or using negative exponents. The symbol for "newton
-1
per meter" is written either as "N/m" or as "N m ").

• Variables - unknown quantities in equations are usually

represented using a single character in an italic font, e.g.
"m" for mass or "I" for electric current. The quantity
symbol may be further quali ed, typically by using a
subscripted number or label, e.g. "RLOAD " for an
unknown load resistance, or "I1 " for the unknown
current in a speci c branch of an electrical circuit (note,
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 incidentally, that although serif fonts are often used for

equations, this is not speci cally mandated by the
BIPM).

• Quantities - a quantity of known value is expressed as a

number, followed by a space, and then the unit symbol.
The space represents the multiplication operator. The
exception to the rule is for a plane angle expressed in
degrees, minutes and seconds. The degree, minute and
second symbols always follow their respective numbers
without an intervening space. For example, a value of
thirty- ve degrees is written as "35°". Numbers always
appear as roman (upright) text.

• Combining units - di erent units should only be

combined when expressing a quantity using non-SI units
that is either a time or an angle. For example, time is
commonly expressed in hours, minutes, and seconds. In
elds such as navigation or astronomy, it is still
customary to express plane angles in terms of degrees,
minutes, and seconds. Note however that for other uses,
angles given in degrees may alternatively be written as
decimal fractions, e.g. "21.255°" rather than "21° 15′ 18′′ ".
• Decimal markers - for any number that has a fractional
part, the decimal marker (sometimes called the decimal
point) is the symbol that separates the integral part of
the number from its fractional part. This is usually either
a period or a comma. For values of between minus one
and one, the decimal marker is preceded by a zero, e.g.
"0.123".

• The thousand separator - numbers consisting of long

sequences of digits are often split into groups of three
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 digits to make them easier to read. The preferred

method of separating these groups is to use a space,
since the use of dots or commas can be interpreted in
di erent ways in di erent parts of the world. For
example, the speed of light is expressed as "299 792 458
m/s". Note that if there are only four digits before or after
the decimal marker, a separator is not generally
considered to be necessary.
• Multiplication and division - various methods can be
used to indicate multiplication. The names of the
variables to be multiplied might be juxtaposed (placed
next to one another), e.g. "xy". They may be placed
within brackets, e.g. "(x)(y)". The multiplication sign can
be used to indicate multiplication by placing it between
the variables to be multiplied, e.g. "x × y". Note that the
multiplication sign should always be used where
numbers only are being multiplied together, but is best
avoided if variables names are involved (in order to
avoid confusion with the common variable name x). Use
of the middle dot ("·") is discouraged. Division is
indicated using a solidus, e.g. "x/y" or negative index, e.g.
-1
"x y ".
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 MULTIPLES AND SUBMULTIPLES OF
SI UNITS
Multiples and submultiples of SI units are signi ed by
attaching the appropriate pre x to the unit symbol.
Pre xes are printed as roman (upright) characters
prepended to the unit symbol with no intervening space.
Most unit multiple pre xes are upper case characters (the
exceptions are deca (da), hecto (h) and kilo (k). All unit
submultiple pre xes are lower case characters. Pre x
names are always printed in lower case characters, except
where they appear at the beginning of a sentence, and
pre xed units appear as single words (e.g. millimeter,
micropascal and so on). All multiples and submultiples are
integer powers of ten. Beyond one hundred (or one
hundredth) multiples and submultiples are integer powers of
one thousand, although they are still expressed as powers of
ten. The following table lists the most commonly
encountered multiple and submultiple pre xes.
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 References:

https://www.technolo yuk.net/science/measurement-and-
units/ph





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