S. I.

SYMBOLS AND UNITS EXPLAINED

The S. I. system is not the same as the metric system but it is based on the metric system. The
correct name is Systme International d'Units and it was created in 1960. The standard provides
the names, units and symbols of physical properties. It also provides a standard for multiples and
sub-multiples of units and recommends the preferred method for writing down units.
There are only seven (7) fundamental units and only five (5) are commonly used in Engineering.
All other units are compounds of these. The only base unit that has the kilo prefix is the unit of
mass (kilogramme kg). It follows from this that the kmol is also a base unit rather than the mol.
THE SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL UNITS
Quantity

Unit Symbol and Name

Quantity symbol

Length

metre

l and various others

Mass

kg

kilogramme

Time

second

Temperature

Kelvin

Electric Current

Ampere

I and i

Candela

I or Iv

Luminous Intensity Cd
Amount of matter kmol

MULTIPLES OF UNITS
S. I. units are often much too big or much to small to be written in sensible numbers so we use
multiples as follows.
NAME

SYMBOL

EXPONENT FORM DECIMAL FORM

Exa

1018

Peta

1015

Tera

1012

1 000 000 000 000

Giga

109

1 000 000 000

Mega

10

1 000 000

Kilo

103

1 000

Basic
milli

10-3
-6

micro (Greek letter mu) 10

-9

nano

10

pico

10-12
-15

femto f

10

atto

10-18

0.001
0.000 001
0.000 000 001
0.000 000 000 001

PRESENTATION OF UNITS
The names of units are written in lower case letters (e.g. m for metre) except when they are named
after a person in which case the capital letter is used (e.g. J for Joule).
The S. I. standards recommend that the divisor / be used in preference to negative indices hence
m/s is preferred to ms-1.
The individual units should be separated by a single space in compound expressions (e.g. N m for
Newton metre and not Nm).
The decimal point should be on the line and not in the middle hence 3.142 is correct but 3142 is
incorrect.
We should not write numbers larger than 1000 or smaller than 0.1 but use the appropriate
multiples (e.g. 1 mm rather than 0.001 m and 1 km rather 1000 m).
Long numbers should be spaced in groups of 3 (e.g. 20.275 681).
Multiples of 1000 are preferred throughout but this produces some anomalies. For example the
preferred units of length are km, m and mm. The use of decimetres (dm) and centimetres (cm) are
not recommended but dm3 and cm3 are acceptable as units of volume. In some cases alternative
names exist for such multiples such as the units of capacity and volume.
VOLUME

CAPACITY

The base unit is the cubic metre m3

10-3 m3 is a cubic decimetre dm3

This is also called a litre

10-6 m3 is a cubic centimetre cm3

This is also called a millilitre

10-9 m3 is a cubic millimetre mm3

NAMES AND SYMBOLS

UNITS USED IN BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Quantity

Unit
Name

Unit
Symbol

Base Compound
Units

Quantity symbol

Acceleration :- Linear

m/s2

Acceleration : -Angular

rad/s2

(Greek letter alpha)

Area

m2

Angle

radian

rad

,, and

Coefficient of Friction

(Greek letter mu)

Efficiency

(Greek letter eta)

Energy

Joule

N m or kg m2/s2

Force

Newton

kg m/s2

Force:- Resisting

Newton

kg m/s2

Modulus:-section

m3

Modulus :- Elasticity

Pa or N/m2 or kg/m s2 E

Modulus :- Rigidity
(Torsion)

Pa or N/m2 or kg/m s2 G

Moment of Force

Nm or kg m2/s2
2

Moment of Inertia

kg m

Momentum :- Linear

kg m/s

Momentum :- Angular

kg m2/s

M
I and J

J/s or N m/s or kg
m2/s3

Poisson's Ratio

Ratio

(Greek Letter nu)

Second Moment of Area

m4

Second Moment of Area :

Polar

m4

Strain : Direct

Ratio

(Greek Letter epsilon)

Strain :- Shear

Ratio

(Greek Letter gamma)

Power

Watt

Stress :- Direct

Pascal

Pa

Pa or N/m2 or kg/m s2 (Greek letter sigma)

Stress : - Shear

Pascal

Pa

Pa or N/m2 or kg/m s2 (Greek letter tau)

Torque

N m or kg m2/s2

Velocity :- Linear

m/s

v and various others

Velocity :-Angular

rad/s

(Greek letter omega)

m3

V or Q

kg m/s2

Volume

None

Weight

Newton

UNITS USED IN THERMODYNAMICS AND FLUID MECHANICS

Quantity
Altitude

Unit
Name
metre

Unit
Symbol

Base Compound
Units

Quantity symbol

Coefficient of expansion :linear

1/K or 1/oC

(Greek letter alpha)

Coefficient of expansion :area

1/K or 1/oC

(Greek letter gamma)

Coefficient of expansion :cubical

1/K or 1/oC

(Greek letter beta)

Coefficient of Heat Transfer

W/m2 K

kg/m3

(Greek letter rho)

N m or kg m2/s2

Enthalpy :- Specific

J/kg or N m/kg or
m2/s2

Entropy

J/K or N m/K or kg
m2/s2 K

Entropy : -Specific

J/kg K or N m/kg K
or m2/s2 K

Gas Constant
:-Characteristic

J/kg K or N m/kg K
or m2/s2 K

Gas Constant :- Universal

J/kmol K

Ro

Density

None

Enthalpy

Joule

Heat Transfer

Joule

Nm or kg m2/s2

Heat Transfer Rate

Watt

J/s or Nm/s or kg
m2/s3

(Greek letter Phi)

Index of
expansion/compression :Adiabatic

(Greek letter gamma)

Index of
expansion/compression :Polytropic

Ratio of the specific

heats

Internal Energy

J or N m or kg m2/s2

Internal Energy : -Specific

J/kg or N m/kg or
m2/s2

Mass flow rate

kg/s

Pressure

Pascal

Pressure Head

metre

Specific Volume

None

Pa

N/m2 or kg/m s2

h
3

m /kg

Specific Heat Capacity

Joule/kg K or N m/kg
c
K or m2/s2 K

Surface Tension

N/m or kg/s2

(Greek letter gamma)

Temperature :-Celcius

(Greek letter theta)

Thermal Conductivity

W/m K or kg m/s3 K

(Greek letter lambda)

Velocity

m/s

v and others

Velocity :- sonic

m/s

(Greek letter alpha)

Velocity :- of Vapour

m/s

Viscosity :-Dynamic

centiPoise cP

Pa s or N s/m2 (Note
(Greek letter eta)
103 cP = 1 N s/m2)

Viscosity :- Kinematic

centiStoke cSt

(Note 106 cSt = 1

m2/s)

(Greek letter nu)

Work

Joule

Nm or kg m2/s

J/s or N m/s or kg
m2/s3

Work Transfer Rate (Power) Watt

Greek Symbols [Upper and Lower Case]

A alpha, B beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta,
iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron , pi, rho,
sigma, tau, upsilon, phi , chi, psi, omega,