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UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

SI UNITS:

THE BASE UNITS ( 7 in number) are:
mass. kilogram kg
The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the
international prototype of the kilogram.
length.metrem
The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum
during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
timesecond..s
The second is 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.
temperature .Kelvin.K
The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction
1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of
water.
amount of substancemolemol
The mole is the amount of substance of a system, which contains
as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram
of carbon 12; its symbol is "mol".
ampereampA
The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two
straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular
cross-section, and placed 1 m apart in vacuum, would produce
between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10
7
newton per
metre of length.
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candela.....cd

The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a
source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 x
10
12
hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of
1/683 watt per steradian.


All other units are called derived quantities and are based on these units. Some examples
are given below.
DERIVED UNITS:
Force:
The unit of force is the Newton (N) defined from Newtons second law
Force = mass x acceleration:
F m a =
,
then 1 Newton is the force that will accelerate 1 kg at 1 m/s
2
i.e.
2
kgm
1[N] 1
s
(
=
(

note that the terms in square brackets define the unit newton in terms
of the fundamental units mass, length, time.

Energy:
This is based on the concept that work done is Force x distance = N m
The derived unit is the Joule (J) i.e.
2
2 2
kgm kgm
1[J] 1[Nm] 1 m 1
s s
(
(
= = =
(
(
(


Kinetic energy:
2
2
2 2
1 m kgm
KE mv ........units are kg m Nm J
2
s s
=

Potential Energy:
2
m
KE mgh.......units are kg m Nm J
s
=

Energy rate (e.g. power):
This is based on the rate of energy transfer i.e. Joules per second. The derived unit is the
watt (W)
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2
2 3
J Nm kgm m kgm
1[W] 1[ ] 1[ ] 1 1
s s s
s s
(
( | || |
= = = =
(
|( |
\ \ (


Voltage:
We know power(P) (unit: Watt) = voltage (V) (unit:volt) x current (I) (unit: A)
Now the ampere (A) is a base unit so cannot be reduced further

P W
Then V ...units :
A
=

2
2 3
J Nm kgm m kgm
then from above [W] [ ] [ ]
s s s
s s
(
( | || |
= = = =
(
|( |
\ \ (


2
2 3
W 1 J 1 N m kg m m 1 kg m
so V [ ] [ ]
A A s A s s A
s As
(
( | || || |
= = = = =
(
| |( |
\ \ \ (


References:
http://www.bipm.org/en/si/base_units/
http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter2/2-2/table3.html

Note 1
In frequent use is the metric ton or tonne =1000 kg.
The British ton is very close in value to the tonne = 2240 lb =1016.05 kg =1.016 tonne.

Note 2:
British units are still used in the UK so a few conversions:
1 mile = 1,609.34 m
1 m = 3.2808 feet
1 kg = 2.205 lb
1 UK gallon = 4.546 litres, however 1 US gallon = 3.785 litres [1 UK gallon =1.2 US gallon]
{This causes a lot of problems in comparing data by sources from the UK and US...for
example mpg values}

Note 3.
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There is a lot of confusion in the British (and US) system between the pound mass (lb) and
the pound force (lbf). This is because the weight of one lb mass is one lbf.
This system of units is therefore called gravitational, while SI is an absolute system.
We start with force = mass x acceleration in the form weight = mass x g
2
ft
1[lbf ] 1[lb] 32.2
s
(
=
(


This is rewritten
0
2 2 2
lb.ft lb.ft lbf lb.ft
1[lbf ] 32.2 0r 0r 1 32.2 ....this is sometimes termed g
32.2
s s lbf.s
( ( ( (
= = =
( ( ( (


So for example.calculate the force acting on a 10 lb mass accelerating at 15 m/s
2

Then using force = mass x acceleration
2 2
ft lb.ft
F m a 10[lb] 15 150
s s
( (
= = =
( (


2
lb.ft lbf
Now substitute for which is
32.2
s
( (
( (


2
lb.ft 150
So F 150 [lbf ] 4.65[lbf ]
32.2
s
(
= = =
(


From this you can see one reason why an absolute system of units is preferable!
Note a similar system exists for metric units
Again we start with force = mass x acceleration in the form weight = mass x g
2
m
1[kgf ] 1[kg] 9.81
s
(
=
(


This is rewritten
0
2 2 2
kg.m kg.m kgf kg.m
1[kgf ] 9.81 0r 0r 1 9.81 ....this is also termed g
9.81
s s kgf.s
(
( ( (
= = =
(
( ( (