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Metric units are units based on the metre, gram or second and decimal (power of ten) multiples or sub-multiples of these. According to Schadow and McDonald, [ 1 ] metric units, in general, are those units "defined 'in the spirit' of the metric system, that emerged in late 18th century France and was rapidly adopted by scientists and engineers.
In the SI system and generally in older metric systems, multiples and fractions of a unit can be described via a prefix on a unit name that implies a decimal (base-10), multiplicative factor. The only exceptions are for the SI-accepted units of time (minute and hour) and angle (degree, arcminute, arcsecond) which, based on ancient convention ...
The kilogram is the only coherent SI unit whose name and symbol include a prefix. For historical reasons, the names and symbols for multiples and sub-multiples of the unit of mass are formed as if the gram were the base unit. Prefix names and symbols are attached to the unit name gram and the unit symbol g
In the early metric system there were two base units, the metre for length and the gram for mass. The other units of length and mass, and all units of area, volume, and derived units such as density were derived from these two base units. Mesures usuelles (French for customary measures) were a system of measurement introduced as a compromise ...
The names and symbols of SI base units are written in lowercase, except the symbols of those named after a person, which are written with an initial capital letter. For example, the metre has the symbol m, but the kelvin has symbol K, because it is named after Lord Kelvin and the ampere with symbol A is named after André-Marie Ampère .
The most common units in modern use are the metric units, used in every country globally. In the United States the U.S. customary units are also in use. British Imperial units are still used for some purposes in the United Kingdom and some other countries. The metric system is sub-divided into SI and non-SI units. [1] [2] [3]
A metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or submultiple of the unit. All metric prefixes used today are decadic . Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol.
Unit system Domain Derivation Unit name Unit symbol Dimension symbol Quantity name Definition In SI base units In other SI units SI: Physics: Basic: second [n 1] s: T: time: The duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom. s: SI ...