physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rela ...

, natural units are physical units of

measurement Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared ...

in which only universal

physical constants A physical constant, sometimes fundamental physical constant or universal constant, is a physical quantity that is generally believed to be both universal in nature and have constant value in time. It is contrasted with a mathematical constant, ...

are used as defining constants, such that each of these constants acts as a coherent unit of a quantity. For example, the

elementary charge The elementary charge, usually denoted by is the electric charge carried by a single proton or, equivalently, the magnitude of the negative electric charge carried by a single electron, which has charge −1 . This elementary charge is a fundame ...

may be used as a natural unit of

electric charge Electric charge is the physical property of matter that causes charged matter to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. Electric charge can be ''positive'' or ''negative'' (commonly carried by protons and electrons respec ...

, and the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit f ...

may be used as a natural unit of

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

. A purely natural system of units has all of its units defined such that each of these can be expressed as a product of powers of defining physical constants. Through

nondimensionalization Nondimensionalization is the partial or full removal of physical dimensions from an equation involving physical quantities by a suitable substitution of variables. This technique can simplify and parameterize problems where measured units ar ...

, physical quantities may then redefined so that the defining constants can be omitted from mathematical expressions of physical laws, and while this has the apparent advantage of simplicity, it may entail a loss of clarity due to the loss of information for

dimensional analysis In engineering and science, dimensional analysis is the analysis of the relationships between different physical quantities by identifying their base quantities (such as length, mass, time, and electric current) and units of measure (such as ...

. It precludes the interpretation of an expression in terms of constants, such as and , unless it is ''known'' which units (in dimensionful units) the expression is supposed to have. In this case, the reinsertion of the correct powers of , , etc., can be uniquely determined.

Systems of natural units

Planck units

The Planck unit system uses the following defining constants: :, , , , where is the

, is the

reduced Planck constant The Planck constant, or Planck's constant, is a fundamental physical constant of foundational importance in quantum mechanics. The constant gives the relationship between the energy of a photon and its frequency, and by the mass-energy equivalen ...

, is the

gravitational constant The gravitational constant (also known as the universal gravitational constant, the Newtonian constant of gravitation, or the Cavendish gravitational constant), denoted by the capital letter , is an empirical physical constant involved in th ...

, and is the

Boltzmann constant The Boltzmann constant ( or ) is the proportionality factor that relates the average relative kinetic energy of particles in a gas with the thermodynamic temperature of the gas. It occurs in the definitions of the kelvin and the gas constan ...

. Planck units form a system of natural units that is not defined in terms of properties of any prototype, physical object, or even

elementary particle In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. Particles currently thought to be elementary include electrons, the fundamental fermions (quarks, leptons, ant ...

. They only refer to the basic structure of the laws of physics: and are part of the structure of

spacetime In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize relativistic effects, such as why differen ...

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

, and is at the foundation of

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

. This makes Planck units particularly convenient and common in theories of

quantum gravity Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics; it deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the v ...

, including

string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and inter ...

. Planck considered only the units based on the universal constants , , , and _B to arrive at natural units for

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Inte ...

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

, and

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

, but no electromagnetic units. The Planck system of units is now understood to use the reduced Planck constant, , in place of the Planck constant, .Tomilin, K. A., 1999,
Natural Systems of Units: To the Centenary Anniversary of the Planck System
", 287–296.

Stoney units

The Stoney unit system uses the following defining constants: :, , , , where is the

, is the

Coulomb constant The Coulomb constant, the electric force constant, or the electrostatic constant (denoted , or ) is a proportionality constant in electrostatics equations. In SI base units it is equal to .Derived from ''k''e = 1/(4''πε''0) – It was named ...

, and is the

. George Johnstone Stoney's unit system preceded that of Planck. He presented the idea in a lecture entitled "On the Physical Units of Nature" delivered to the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

in 1874. Stoney units did not consider the

Planck constant The Planck constant, or Planck's constant, is a fundamental physical constant of foundational importance in quantum mechanics. The constant gives the relationship between the energy of a photon and its frequency, and by the mass-energy equiva ...

, which was discovered only after Stoney's proposal. Stoney units are rarely used in modern physics for calculations, but they are of historical interest.

Atomic units

The Hartree atomic unit system uses the following defining constants: :, , , . The Coulomb constant, , is generally expressed as when working with this system. These units are designed to simplify atomic and molecular physics and chemistry, especially the

hydrogen atom A hydrogen atom is an atom of the chemical element hydrogen. The electrically neutral atom contains a single positively charged proton and a single negatively charged electron bound to the nucleus by the Coulomb force. Atomic hydrogen const ...

, and are widely used in these fields. The Hartree units were first proposed by Douglas Hartree. The units are designed especially to characterize the behavior of an electron in the ground state of a hydrogen atom. For example, in Hartree atomic units, in the

Bohr model In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model, presented by Niels Bohr and Ernest Rutherford in 1913, is a system consisting of a small, dense nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons—similar to the structure of the Solar Syste ...

of the hydrogen atom an electron in the ground state has orbital radius (the Bohr radius) ₀ = 1 , orbital velocity = 1 ⋅, angular momentum = 1 ⋅⋅,

ionization energy Ionization, or Ionisation is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons, often in conjunction with other chemical changes. The resulting electrically charged atom or molecule ...

= ⋅⋅, etc. The unit of

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat ...

is called the Hartree energy in the Hartree system. The

is relatively large in Hartree atomic units ( = ⋅ ≈ 137 ⋅) since an electron in hydrogen tends to move much more slowly than the speed of light. The

is extremely small in atomic units ( ≈ 10⁻⁴⁵ ⋅⋅), which is due to the gravitational force between two electrons being far weaker than the

Coulomb force Coulomb's inverse-square law, or simply Coulomb's law, is an experimental law of physics that quantifies the amount of force between two stationary, electrically charged particles. The electric force between charged bodies at rest is convention ...

between them. A less commonly used closely related system is the system of Rydberg atomic units, in which are used as the defining constants, with resulting units = = , = , = 2, = .

Natural units (particle and atomic physics)

This natural unit system, used only in the fields of particle and atomic physics, uses the following defining constants: :, , , , where is the

, _e is the electron mass, is the

, and ₀ is the

vacuum permittivity Vacuum permittivity, commonly denoted (pronounced "epsilon nought" or "epsilon zero"), is the value of the absolute dielectric permittivity of classical vacuum. It may also be referred to as the permittivity of free space, the electric const ...

. The vacuum permittivity ₀ is implicitly used as a

constant, as is evident from the physicists' expression for the fine-structure constant, written , which may be compared to the same expression in SI: .

Quantum chromodynamics units

Defining constants: :, , , . Here, is the

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

rest mass. ''Strong units'', also called

quantum chromodynamics In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory of the strong interaction between quarks mediated by gluons. Quarks are fundamental particles that make up composite hadrons such as the proton, neutron and pion. QCD is a typ ...

(QCD) units, are "convenient for work in QCD and nuclear physics, where quantum mechanics and relativity are omnipresent and the proton is an object of central interest".

Geometrized units

Defining constants: :, . The geometrized unit system, used in

, is an incompletely defined system. In this system, the base physical units are chosen so that the

and the

are coherent units and often used for nondimensionalization. Other units may be treated however desired. Planck units and Stoney units are examples of geometrized unit systems.

Summary table

where: * is the fine-structure constant ( ≈ 0.007297) * ≈ * ≈ *A dash (–) indicates where the system is not sufficient to express the quantity.

Notes and references

External links

The NIST website
(

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...

) is a convenient source of data on the commonly recognized constants.
K.A. Tomilin: ''NATURAL SYSTEMS OF UNITS; To the Centenary Anniversary of the Planck System''
A comparative overview/tutorial of various systems of natural units having historical use.
Pedagogic Aides to Quantum Field Theory
Click on the link for Chap. 2 to find an extensive, simplified introduction to natural units.
Natural System Of Units In General Relativity (PDF)
by Alan L. Myers (University of Pennsylvania). Equations for conversions from natural to SI units. {{DEFAULTSORT:Natural Units Metrology bs:Prirodne jedinice sr:Природне јединице sh:Prirodne jedinice

Systems of natural units

Planck units

Stoney units

Atomic units

Natural units (particle and atomic physics)

Quantum chromodynamics units

Geometrized units

Summary table

See also

Notes and references

External links