B16: Units Of Measurement

1 Cubic metres (M3)

A measure of volume- relative to the volume of a cube with edges one metre in length.

2 Barrels

A count of entities- the number of barrels.

3 US gallons

A measure of volume- equivalent to 231 cubic inches (a cube with edges one inch in length).

4 Imperial gallons

A measure of volume- equivalent to 1.2 US gallons or 4.54 litres.

5 Litres

A measure of volume- equivalent to 1000 cubic centimetres (a cube with edges one centimetre in length).

6 Tonnes

A measure of mass- equivalent to 1000 Kilograms or 2205 pounds. This is also known as a “metric ton”.

7 US tons

A measure of mass- equivalent to 2000 pounds. This is also known as the “short ton”.

8 Years

A measure of time- equivalent to 365 days (or 366 in a leap year). This is defined by the time taken for the earth to make one revolution around the sun.

9 Quarters

A measure of time- equivalent to one quarter of a year.

10 Months

A measure of time- one of the twelve parts into which a year is divided. This is defined by the amount of time taken by the moon to complete a revolution around the earth.

11 Weeks

A measure of time- equivalent to 7 days.

12 Days

A measure of time- equivalent to 24 hours. This is defined by the amount of time taken by the earth to complete a rotation on its axis.

13 Hours

A measure of time- equivalent to one twenty fourth of a day.

14 Minutes

A measure of time- equivalent to one sixtieth of an hour.

15 Seconds

A measure of time- equivalent to one sixtieth of a minute.

16 Milliseconds

A measure of time- equivalent to one thousandth of a second.

17 Metres (m)

A measure of distance- equivalent to 100 centimetres. This is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds.

18 Centimetres (cm)

A measure of distance- equivalent to a hundredth of a metre.

19 Millimetres (mm)

A measure of distance- equivalent to one thousandth of a metre.

20 Feet

A measure of distance- equivalent to 12 inches.

21 Inches

A measure of distance- equivalent to 25.4 millimetres.

22 Yards

A measure of distance- equivalent to 3 feet or 0.9144 metres.

23 Miles

A measure of distance- equivalent to 1600 metres.

24 Kilometres (km)

A measure of distance- equivalent to 1000 metres.

25 Watts

A measure of power- equivalent to one joule per second.

26 Kilowatts

A measure of power- equivalent to 1000 watts.

27 Brake horse power

A measure of power- equivalent to 7475.7 Kilowatts.

28 Cubic metres per hour

A rate of volume transfer- equivalent to the number of cubic metres transferred within an hour.

29 Kilograms per hour

A rate of weight transfer- equivalent to the number of kilograms transferred within an hour.

30 Tonnes per day

A rate of weight transfer- equivalent to the number of tonnes transferred within a day.

31 Barrels per hour

A rate of entity transfer-equivalent to the number of barrels transferred within an hour.

32 Bar

A measure of pressure- equivalent to 100 kilopascals. This is approximately equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level.

33 Millimetres, water gauge (mmH2O)

A measure of pressure- equivalent to 9.80665 pascals. It is defined by the pressure exerted by a column of water of 1 millimetre in height at 4 degrees Celsius under the standard acceleration of gravity (9.8 ms-2).

34 Metres liquid column

A measure of pressure- equivalent to 1000 millimetres, water gauge.

35 Milli bar

A measure of pressure- equivalent to one thousandth of a bar.

36 Kilopascals

A measure of pressure- equivalent to one thousand pascals.

37 Kilograms (kg)

A measure of mass. This is defined to be the weight of a platinum alloy cylinder (the International Prototype Kilogram) that was manufactured in 1889 and is stored in Saint-Cloud, Paris.

38 Pounds (lb)

A unit of mass- equivalent to 0.45359237 kilograms.

39 Degrees Celsius (◦C)

A measure of temperature. This is defined by the states of water. 0 degrees Celsius is the freezing point of water and 100 degrees Celsius the boiling point. The Celsius scale is built around these two concepts.

40 Degrees Fahrenheit (◦f)

A measure of temperature- equivalent to 1.8 degrees Celsius plus 32.

41 Metres per minute

A measure of speed- the number of metres travelled in one minute.

42 Knots

A measure of speed- equivalent to 1.852 kilometres travelled in an hour.

43 Square metres (m2)

A measure of area- equal to a square with edges of length one metre.

44 Square feet

A measure of area- equal to an equal with edges of length one foot.

45 Calories

A measure of energy- equivalent to 4.1868 joules. This is defined as the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 degree Celsius.

46 Kilograms per cubic metre (kgm-3)

A rate of weight- the number of kilograms in one cubic metre of volume.

47 Radians

A measure of angle- a circle has 2 pi radians within it.

48 Degrees

A measure of angle- defined as one 360th of a circle.

49 Joules

A measure of work or energy. This is defined as the work done by a force of one newton when its point of application moves one metre in the direction of action of the force.

50 Pascals

A measure of pressure- equal to the pressure applied by one newton over an area of one square metre.

51 Undefined

The units are unknown or do not match the descriptions of any previously defined units.