SI derived units are
units of measurement
A unit of measurement, or unit of measure, is a definite magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other qua ...
derived from the
seven
SI base unit
The SI base units are the standard units of measurement defined by the International System of Units (SI) for the seven base quantities of what is now known as the International System of Quantities: they are notably a basic set from which al ...
s specified by the
International System of Units
The International System of Units, internationally known by the abbreviation SI (from French ), is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. It is the only system of measurement with official s ...
(SI). They can be expressed as a product (or ratio) of one or more of the
base units, possibly scaled by an appropriate
power of exponentiation (see:
Buckingham π theorem). Some are
dimensionless, as when the units cancel out in ratios of like quantities.
SI coherent derived units involve only a trivial
proportionality factor, not requiring
conversion factors.
The SI has special names for 22 of these
coherent derived units (for example,
hertz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...
, the SI unit of measurement of frequency), but the rest merely reflect their derivation: for example, the
square metre
The square metre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square meter ( American spelling) is the unit of area in the International System of Units (SI) with symbol m2. It is the area of a square ...
(m
2), the SI derived unit of area; and the
kilogram per cubic metre (kg/m
3 or kg⋅m
−3), the SI derived unit of
density.
The names of SI coherent derived units, when written in full, are always in lowercase. However, the symbols for units named after persons are written with an uppercase initial letter. For example, the symbol for hertz is "Hz", while the symbol for
metre
The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
is "m".
Special names
The International System of Units assigns special names to 22 derived units, which includes two dimensionless derived units, the
radian
The radian, denoted by the symbol rad, is the unit of angle in the International System of Units (SI) and is the standard unit of angular measure used in many areas of mathematics. It is defined such that one radian is the angle subtended at ...
(rad) and the
steradian
The steradian (symbol: sr) or square radian is the unit of solid angle in the International System of Units (SI). It is used in three-dimensional geometry, and is analogous to the radian, which quantifies planar angles. A solid angle in the fo ...
(sr).
By field of application
Kinematics
Mechanics
Chemistry
Electromagnetics
Photometry
Thermodynamics
Other units used with SI
Some other units such as the
hour,
litre
The litre ( Commonwealth spelling) or liter ( American spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metres (m3). A ...
,
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...
,
bar, and
electronvolt
In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV), also written electron-volt and electron volt, is the measure of an amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron accelerating through an Voltage, electric potential difference of one volt in vacuum ...
are
not SI units, but are widely used in conjunction with SI units.
Supplementary units
Until 1995, the SI classified the
radian
The radian, denoted by the symbol rad, is the unit of angle in the International System of Units (SI) and is the standard unit of angular measure used in many areas of mathematics. It is defined such that one radian is the angle subtended at ...
and the
steradian
The steradian (symbol: sr) or square radian is the unit of solid angle in the International System of Units (SI). It is used in three-dimensional geometry, and is analogous to the radian, which quantifies planar angles. A solid angle in the fo ...
as ''supplementary units'', but this designation was abandoned and the units were grouped as derived units.
See also
*
Coherent derived unit
*
International System of Quantities
The International System of Quantities (ISQ) is a standard system of Quantity, quantities used in physics and in modern science in general. It includes basic quantities such as length and mass and the relationships between those quantities. This ...
(ISQ)
*
International Vocabulary of Metrology
*
List of physical quantities
*
Metric prefix
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. The pr ...
*
Metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Physics
Derived
sv:SI-enhet#Härledda enheter