SECTION 1
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4SECTION 2
part 1
part 2
part 3
SECTION 3
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
SECTION 4
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6
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Units outside the SI
Certain
units are not part of the International System of Units, that is, they are outside the SI,
but are important and widely used. Consistent with the recommendations of the
International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM, Comité International des Poids
et Mesures), the units in this category that are accepted for use with the SI are
given in Table 6.
Table 6. Units outside the SI that are accepted for use with the
SI
|
Name |
Symbol |
Value in SI units |
minute (time) |
min |
1 min = 60 s |
hour |
h |
1 h = 60 min = 3600 s |
day |
d |
1 d = 24 h = 86 400 s |
degree (angle) |
° |
1° = ( /180) rad |
minute (angle) |
!['](../../images/physics/prime.gif) |
1 = (1/60)° = ( /10 800) rad |
second (angle) |
!['](../../images/physics/prime.gif) !['](../../images/physics/prime.gif) |
1!['](../../images/physics/prime.gif) = (1/60) = ( /648 000) rad |
liter |
L |
1 L = 1 dm3 = 10-3 m3 |
metric ton (a) |
t |
1 t = 103 kg |
neper |
Np |
1 Np = 1 |
bel (b) |
B |
1 B = (1/2) ln 10 Np (c) |
electronvolt (d) |
eV |
1 eV = 1.602 18 x 10-19 J, approximately |
unified atomic mass unit (e) |
u |
1 u = 1.660 54 x 10-27 kg, approximately |
astronomical unit (f) |
ua |
1 ua = 1.495 98 x 1011 m, approximately |
(a) In many countries, this unit is called
"tonne.''
(b) The bel is most commonly used with the SI prefix deci: 1 dB = 0.1 B.
(c) Although the neper is coherent with SI units and is accepted by the CIPM,
it has not been adopted by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM, Conférence
Générale des Poids et Mesures) and is thus not an SI unit.
(d) The electronvolt is the kinetic energy acquired by an electron passing
through a potential difference of 1 V in vacuum. The value must be obtained by experiment,
and is therefore not known exactly.
(e) The unified atomic mass unit is equal to 1/12 of the mass of an unbound
atom of the nuclide 12C, at rest and in its ground state. The value must be
obtained by experiment, and is therefore not known exactly.
(f) The astronomical unit is a unit of length. Its value is such that, when used to
describe the motion of bodies in the solar system, the heliocentric gravitation constant
is (0.017 202 098 95)2 ua3·d-2. The value must be
obtained by experiment, and is therefore not known exactly.
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![](../../images/physics/space.gif) |
The liter in Table 6 deserves
comment. This unit and its symbol l were adopted by the CIPM in
1879. The alternative symbol for the liter, L, was adopted by the CGPM in
1979 in order to avoid the risk of confusion between the letter l and the number 1. Thus, although both l
and L are internationally accepted
symbols for the liter, to avoid this risk the preferred symbol for use in the United
States is L.
Neither a lowercase script letter l nor an uppercase script letter L
are approved symbols for
the liter. Other units outside the SI that
are currently accepted for use with the SI by NIST are given in Table 7. These units,
which are subject to future review, should be defined in relation to the SI in every
document in which they are used; their continued use is not encouraged. The CIPM currently accepts the
use of all of the units given in Table 7 with the SI except for the curie, roentgen, rad,
and rem. Because of the continued wide use of these units in the United States, NIST still
accepts their use with the SI.
Table 7. Other units outside the SI that are currently accepted
for use with the SI, subject to further review
|
Name |
Symbol |
Value in SI units |
nautical mile |
|
1 nautical mile = 1852 m |
knot |
|
1 nautical mile per hour = (1852/3600) 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 = 1000 hPa = 105 Pa |
ĺngström |
Ĺ |
1 Ĺ = 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 |
rad |
rad |
1 rad = 1 cGy = 10-2 Gy |
rem |
rem |
1 rem = 1 cSv = 10-2 Sv |
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