SI base units
| Name |
Symbol |
Measure |
Definition |
Historical Origin/Justification |
| metre or meter |
m |
length |
The unit of length is equal to the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum during the time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second. Defined by: 17th CGPM (1983) Resolution 1, CR 97 |
1/10 000 000 of the distance from the earth's equator to the North Pole measured through Paris. |
| kilogram |
kg |
mass |
The unit of mass is equal to the mass of the international prototype kilogram (a platinum-iridium cylinder) kept at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Sèvres, Paris (1st CGPM (1889), CR 34-38). Note that the kilogram is the only base unit with a prefix. See the kilogram article for an alternative definition. |
The mass of one litre of water. Kilogram was originally named "grave" and symbolized G. The gram is defined as a derived unit, equal to 1/1000 of a kilogram; prefixes such as mega are applied to the gram, not the kg; e.g. Gg, not Mkg. It is also the only unit still defined by a physical prototype instead of a measurable natural phenomenon. |
| second |
s |
time |
The unit of time is the duration of exactly 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom at a temperature of 0 K. Defined by: 13th CGPM (1967-1968) Resolution 1, CR 103 |
1/86400(24*60*60) of the day |
| ampere |
A |
electrical current |
The unit of electrical current is the constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors, of infinite length and negligible cross-section, placed 1 metre apart in a vacuum, would produce a force between these conductors equal to 2×10 −7 newtons per metre of length. Defined by: 9th CGPM (1948) Resolution 7, CR 70 |
| kelvin |
K |
thermodynamic temperature |
The unit of thermodynamic temperature (or absolute temperature) is the fraction 1/273.16 (exactly) of the thermodynamic temperature at the triple point of water. Defined by: 13th CGPM (1967) Resolution 4, CR 104 |
1/100 of the difference between the boiling and freezing points of water |
| mole |
mol |
quantity of matter (mass/mass) |
A mole is the quantity of substance that contains the same number of elementary entities (atoms, molecules, ions, electrons or particles, depending on the substance) as there are atoms in 0.012 kilograms of pure carbon-12; this number (NA) is approximately equal to 6.0221415(10)×1023 mol-1 (2002 CODATA). |
one gram per atomic mass unit |
| candela |
cd |
luminous intensity |
The unit of luminous intensity is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540×1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian. Defined by: 16th CGPM (1979) Resolution 3, CR 100 |
the candlepower |
