NET, IAS, State-SET (KSET, WBSET, MPSET, etc.), GATE, CUET, Olympiads etc.: SI Derived Units
Doorsteptutor material for competitive exams is prepared by world's top subject experts: get questions, notes, tests, video lectures and more- for all subjects of your exam.
Examples of SI derived units whose names and symbols include SI derived units with special names and symbols
Derived quantity | Name | Symbol |
dynamic viscosity | pascal second | Pa x s |
moment of force | newton meter | N x m |
surface tension | newton per meter | N⟋m |
angular velocity | radian per second | rad⟋s |
angular acceleration | radian per second squared | rad⟋s2 |
heat flux density, irradiance | watt per square meter | W⟋m2 |
heat capacity, entropy | joule per kelvin | J⟋K |
specific heat capacity, specific entropy | joule per kilogram kelvin | J⟋ (kg x K) |
specific energy | joule per kilogram | J⟋kg |
thermal conductivity | watt per meter kelvin | W⟋ (m x K) |
energy density | joule per cubic meter | J⟋m3 |
electric field strength | volt per meter | V⟋m |
electric charge density | coulomb per cubic meter | C⟋m3 |
electric flux density | coulomb per square meter | C⟋m2 |
permittivity | farad per meter | F⟋m |
permeability | henry per meter | H⟋m |
molar energy | joule per mole | J⟋mol |
molar entropy, molar heat capacity | joule per mole kelvin | J⟋ (mol x K) |
exposure (x and rays) | coulomb per kilogram | C⟋kg |
absorbed dose rate | gray per second | Gy⟋s |
radiant intensity | watt per steradian | W⟋sr |
radiance | watt per square meter steradian | W⟋ (m2 x sr) |
catalytic (activity) concentration | katal per cubic meter | kat⟋m3 |
Examples of SI derived units whose names and symbols include SI derived units with special names and symbols
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° = (i⟋180) rad |
minute (angle) | 1 = ° = i⟋10 800 | rad |
second (angle) | 1inch = = i⟋648 000 rad | inch |
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 = ln 10 Np c |
electronvolt (d) | eV | 1 eV = 1.602 18 × 10 − 19 J, approximately |
unified atomic mass unit (e) | u | 1 u = 1.660 54 × 10 − 27 kg, approximately |
astronomical unit (f) | ua | 1 ua = 1.495 98 × 1011 m, approximately |
- In many countries, this unit is called tonne.
- The bel is most commonly used with the SI prefix deci: 1 dB = 0.1 B.
- 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, Conference Generale des Poids et Mesures) and is thus not an SI unit.
- 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.
- The unified atomic mass unit is equal to 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.
- 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.
The liter in Table given in the previous page 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.
Other units outside the SI that are currently accepted for use with the SI, subject to further review
Name | Symbol | Value in SI units |
1 nautical mile = 1852 m | knot | 1 nautical mile per hour = 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 |
Angstrom | Å | 1 Å = 0.1 nm = 10 − 10 m |
barn | b | 1 b = 100 fm2 = 10 − 28 m2 |
curie | Ci | 1 Ci = 3.7 × 1010 Bq |
roentgen | R | 1 R = 2.58 × 10 − 4 C⟋kg |
rad | rad | 1 rad = 1 cGy = 10 − 2 Gy |
rem | rem | 1 rem = 1 cSv = 10 − 2 Sv |