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SI base units

The core of the SI system is a short list of base units defined in an absolute way without
referring to any other units. The base units are consistent with the part of the metric system
called the MKS system. The International System of Units (SI) is founded on seven base units.
Quantity Name of Unit Symbol
Length Meter m
Mass Kilogram kg
Time Second s
Electrical current Ampere A
Thermodynamic temperature Kelvin K
Luminous intensity Candela cd
Amount of substance Mole mol

SI derived units with special names and symbols acceptable in SI


Derived units are algebraic combinations of the seven base units and the two supplementary
units with some of the combinations being assigned special names and symbols.

Expression in terms of Expression in terms of


Quantity Name of Unit Symbol
SI base units other units
Plane angle radian Rad
Solid angle steradian Sr
Adsorbed radiation gray Gy m2 s-2 J/kg
Electrical capacitance farad F m kg-1 s4 A2
-2
C/V
Electrical charge coulomb C As
Electrical
siemens S m-2 kg-1s3A2 A/V
conductance
Electrical inductance Henry H m2 kg s-2 A-2
Electrical potential volt V m2 kg s-3 A-1 W/A
2 -3 -2
Electrical resistance ohm W m kg s A V/A
-2
Force Newton N kg ms
Frequency hertz Hz s-1
Luminance lux Lx m-2cd sr lm/m2
Luminous flux lumen Lm cd sr
Magnetic flux weber Wb m2 kg s-2 A-1 Vs
Magnetic flux
tesla T kg s-2 A-1 Wb/m2
density
Power or radiant flux watt W kg m2 s-3 J/s
2 2
Pressure pascal Pa kg/(m s ) = (N/m )
Radioactivity bequerel Bq s-1
Work, energy, heat joule J m2 kg s-2 Nm

SI derived units described in terms of acceptable SI units


Derived units are algebraic combinations of the seven base units and the two supplementary
units with some of the combinations being assigned special names and symbols.
Expression in terms of SI
Quantity Description Symbol
base units
acceleration meter per second squared m/s2 m s-2
area square meter m2 m2
coefficient of heat transfer watt per square meter
W/(m2 K) kg s-3K-1
(often used symbol h or U) Kelvin
concentration (of amount
mole per cubic meter mol/m3 mol m-3
of substance)
current density (often used
ampere per square meter A/m2 A m-2
symbol r)
density (mass density) kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3 kg m-3
electrical charge density columb per cubic meter C/m3 m-3 s A
electric field strength volt per meter V/m m kg s-3 A-1
2
electric flux density columb per square meter C/m m-2 s A
energy density joule per cubic meter J/m3 m-1 kg s-2
force Newton N or J/M m kg s-2
heat capacity joule per Kelvin J/K m2 kg s-2 K-1
heat flow rate (often used
watt W or J/s m2 kg s-3
symbol Q or q)
heat flux density or
watt per square meter W/m2 kg s-3
irradiance
luminance candela per square meter cd/m2 cd m-2
magnetic field strength ampere per meter A/m A m-1
modulus of elasticity (or
giga Pascal GPa 10-9 m-1 kg s-1
Young?s modulus)
molar energy joule per mole J/mol m-2 kg s-2 mol-1
molar entropy (or molar
joule per mole Kelvin J/(mol K) m-2 kg s-2 K-1 mol-1
heat capacity)
moment of force (or
Newton meter Nm m2 kg s-2
torque)
moment of inertia kilogram meter squared kg m2 kg m2
momentum kilogram meter per second kg m/s kg m s-1
permeability Henry per meter H/m m kg s-2 A-2
permitivity farad per meter F/m m-3 kg-1 s4 A2
power kilowatt kW 10-3 m2 kg s-3
pressure (often used
kilopascal kPa 10-3 m-1 kg s-2
symbol P or p)
specific energy joule per kilogram J/kg m2 s-2
specific heat capacity (or
specific entropy, often joule per kilogram Kelvin J/(kg K) m2 s-2 K-1
used symbolc,p,cv or s)
specific volume cubic meter per kilogram m3/kg m3 kg-1
stress mega Pascal MPa 10-6 m-1 kg s-2
surface tension Newton per meter N/m kg s-2
thermal conductivity (often
watt per meter Kelvin W/(m K) m kg s-3 K-1
used symbol k)
torque Newton meter Nm m2 kg s-2
velocity (or speed) meters per second m/s m s-1
viscosity, absolute or
dynamic (often used Pascal second Pa s m-1 kg s-1
symbol m)
viscosity, kinematic (often
square meter per second m2/s m2 s-1
used symbol n)
Volume cubic meter m3 m3
wave number 1 per meter 1/m m-1
work (or energy heat, often
joule J or N m m2 kg s-2
used symbol W)

SI UNITS

The SI is founded on seven SI base units for seven base quantities assumed to be
mutually independent, as given in Table 1.

Table 1. SI base units


SI base unit
Base quantity Name Symbol
Length meter m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
electric current ampere A
thermodynamic temperature kelvin K
amount of substance mole mol
luminous intensity candela cd
Table 3. SI derived units with special names and symbols
SI derived unit
Expression Expression
Derived in terms of in terms of
quantity Name Symbol other SI units SI base units
plane angle radian (a) rad - m·m-1 = 1 (b)
solid angle steradian (a) sr (c) - m2·m-2 = 1 (b)
frequency hertz Hz - s-1
force newton N - m·kg·s-2
pressure, stress pascal Pa N/m2 m-1·kg·s-2
energy, work,
joule J N·m m2·kg·s-2
quantity of heat
power, radiant
watt W J/s m2·kg·s-3
flux
SI derived
electric charge, units
quantity of coulomb C - s·A
Other quantities, called derived quantities, are defined in terms of the seven base
electricity
quantities via a system of quantity equations. The SI derived units for these derived
electric potential
quantities
difference,are obtained from these equations and the seven SI base units.
Examples of such voltderived unitsVare given in
SI W/ATable 2, wheremit2·kg·s -3
should ·A-1be noted
electromotive
that the symbol 1 for quantities of dimension 1 such as mass fraction is generally
force
omitted.
capacitance farad F C/V m-2·kg-1·s4·A2
electric resistance ohm
Table 2. Examples of V/A
SI derived unitsm2·kg·s-3·A-2
electric
siemens S A/V m-2unit
SI derived ·kg-1·s3·A2
conductance
Derived weber
magnetic flux quantity Wb V·s Name m2·kg·s-2·A-1 Symbol
Area
magnetic flux square meter m2
Volume tesla T Wb/m2
cubic meter kg·s-2·A-1 m3
density
speed, velocity
inductance henry H meter per second
Wb/A m2·kg·s-2·A-2m/s
Acceleration
Celsius meter per second squared m/s2
degree Celsius °C - K
temperature
wave number reciprocal meter m-1
(c) 2 -2
luminous
mass flux
density lumen lm kilogramcd·sr
per cubic meter m ·m ·cd =kg/m
cd 3
2 2 -4 -2
illuminance
specific volume lux lx lm/mper
cubic meter kilogram m ·m ·cd =mm3/kg
·cd
activitydensity
current (of a ampere per A/m2
becquerel Bq - square meter s-1
radionuclide)
magnetic field strength ampere per meter A/m
absorbed dose,
amount-of-substance
specific energy concentration Gy
gray mole perJ/kg
cubic meter m2·s-2 mol/m3
Luminance
(imparted), kerma candela per square meter cd/m2
mass
dose fraction
equivalent (d) sievert Sv kilogram per kilogram, which
J/kg m2·s-2may kg/kg = 1
catalytic activity katal kat be represented by the number 1
s-1·mol
(a)
The radian and steradian may be used advantageously in expressions for derived units to distinguish
between quantities of a different nature but of the same dimension; some examples are given in Table 4.
(b)
In practice, the symbols rad and sr are used where appropriate, but the derived unit "1" is generally omitted.
(c)
In photometry, the unit name steradian and the unit symbol sr are usually retained in expressions for
derived units.
(d)
Other quantities expressed in sieverts are ambient dose equivalent, directional dose equivalent, personal
dose equivalent, and organ equivalent dose.

Note on degree Celsius. The derived unit in Table 3 with the special name degree
Fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics deals with the study of all fluids under static and dynamic situations. Fluid
mechanics is a branch of continuous mechanics which deals with a relationship between
forces, motions, and statical conditions in continuous material.

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