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system unit unit-code symbol or abbrev. notes sample default conversion combination output units the system(s) to which the unit belongs units listed by name unit-code to use in template symbols shown in output other notes about the units sample of the default conversion for the unit output codes for multiple conversions
James Clerk Maxwell played a major role in developing the concept of a coherent CGS system and in extending the metric system to include electrical units. Each variant of the metric system has a degree of coherence—the derived units are directly related to the base units without the need for intermediate conversion factors. [18]
See Weight for detail of mass/weight distinction and conversion. Avoirdupois is a system of mass based on a pound of 16 ounces, while Troy weight is the system of mass where 12 troy ounces equals one troy pound. The symbol g 0 is used to denote standard gravity in order to avoid confusion with the (upright) g symbol for gram.
When using "hand in" to convert to hands and inches, the rounded hands and inches values are equivalent, and use the same fraction, if any. Special rounding of the inches value only occurs when "hand in" is the output.
Before the establishment of the decimal metric system in France during the French Revolution in the late 18th century, [4] many units of length were based on parts of the human body. [5] [6] The Nippur cubit was one of the oldest known units of length. The oldest known metal standard for length corresponds to this Sumerian unit and dates from ...
The United States adopted the conversion factor 1 metre = 39.37 inches by an act in 1866. [30] In 1893, Mendenhall ordered the physical realization of the inch to be based on the international prototype metres numbers 21 and 27, which had been received from the CGPM, together with the previously adopted conversion factor. [31]
Conversion of units is the conversion of the unit of measurement in which a quantity is expressed, typically through a multiplicative conversion factor that changes the unit without changing the quantity. This is also often loosely taken to include replacement of a quantity with a corresponding quantity that describes the same physical property.
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.