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Historian generally agree that Gabriel Mouton, the Vicar
of St.Paul's Church in Lyon, founded the metric system in 1670. He
proposed a decimal system, using for the first time, a base unit
from the physical universe rather than the human body. He chose a
minute of arc of a great circle of the earth e.g. the Equator as his
base unit. He used successive factors of 10 to arrive at subunits,
selecting one such unit to take the French foot.
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It
took over 100 years and the impetus of the French Revolution to gain
political support for this reform. Charles Maurice d' Talleyrand,
the bishop of Autun sponsored the idea and in 1790 a Commission for
Weights and Measures was appointed. Successive reforms and
refinements, international support from scientists who recognised
its precision and advantages, saw the metric system gain popularity.
Increasing trade, commerce and communications : and the need for a
global system of standardised weights and measures were the
clinchers in the decision to switch to the metric system.
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The metric system here is the modern version referred to
as the International system of Units (System International d'Units
of SI) Established prefixes denotes multiples and submultiples of
the base units. These prefixes are the same whichever unit you
use-as in "kilo for kilometre, kilowatt and kilogram. Only one
multiplying prefix is applied at a time to given Unit. So, one
thousandth of a milligram or microgram - not a milli milligram. In
the case of abbreviations, the plural form is the same as the
singular, as in km. on kms.
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METRIC STANDARD
ABBREVIATION
|
| A |
= |
ampere |
| C |
= |
coulomb |
| °C |
= |
Celsius |
| cg |
= |
centigram |
| cL |
= |
centilitre |
| cm |
= |
centimetre |
| cm² |
= |
square centimetre |
| cm³ |
= |
cubic centimetre |
| CM |
= |
metric carat |
| cP |
= |
centipoise |
| cSt |
= |
centistokes |
| dB |
= |
decibel |
| dL |
= |
decilitre |
| dm |
= |
decimetre |
| dm² |
= |
square decimetre |
dm³ |
= |
cubic decimetre |
| Ehz |
= |
exahertz |
| F |
= |
farad |
| g |
= |
gram |
GHz |
= |
gigahertz |
| GJ |
= |
gigajoule |
| GΩ |
= |
gigohm |
| Gpa |
= |
gigapascal |
| GW |
= |
pipawatt |
| h |
= |
hour |
| H |
= |
henry |
| ha |
= |
hectare |
hL |
= |
hectolitre |
| Hz |
= |
hertz |
| J |
= |
joule |
| kA |
= |
kiloampere |
| kC |
= |
kilocoulomb |
| kg |
= |
kilogram |
| kHz |
= |
kilohertz |
| kJ |
= |
kilojoule |
| kL |
= |
kilolitre |
| km |
= |
kilometre |
| km² |
= |
square kilometre |
| km³ |
= |
cubic kilometre |
| km/h |
= |
kilometre per hour |
| km/s |
= |
kilometre per second |
| kN |
= |
kilonewton |
| kW |
= |
kilohm |
| kPa |
= |
kilopascal |
| ks |
= |
kilosecond |
| kS |
= |
kilosiemens |
| kV |
= |
kilovolt |
| kW |
= |
kilowatt |
| kW.h |
= |
kilowatt hour |
| L |
= |
litre |
| m |
= |
metre |
| m/s |
= |
square metre persecond |
| m² |
= |
square metre |
| m² /s |
= |
square metre per second |
| m³ |
= |
cubic metre |
| mA |
= |
milliampere |
| mb |
= |
millibar |
| mC |
= |
millicoulomb |
| MC |
= |
megacoulomb |
| mg |
= |
milligram |
| Mg |
= |
megagram |
| mH |
= |
millihenry |
| MHz |
= |
megahertz |
| mJ |
= |
millijoule |
| MJ |
= |
megajoule |
|
|
| mL |
= |
millilitre |
| Mm |
= |
megametre |
| mm |
= |
millimetre |
| mm² |
= |
square millimetre |
| mm²/s |
= |
square millimetre per second |
| mm³ |
= |
cubic millimetre |
| ML |
= |
megalitre |
| mN |
= |
millinewton |
| MN |
= |
meganewton |
| mΩ |
= |
milliohm |
| MΩ |
= |
megaohm |
| mPa |
= |
millipascal |
| MPa |
= |
megapascal |
mPa.s |
= |
millipascal second |
| ms |
= |
millisecond |
| m/s |
= |
metre per second |
| mS |
= |
millisiemens |
mT |
= |
millitelsa |
| mV |
= |
millivolt |
| MV |
= |
megavolt |
| min |
= |
minute |
| µA |
= |
microampere |
| µbar |
= |
microbar |
| µC |
= |
microcoulomb |
| µF |
= |
microfarad |
µg |
= |
microgram |
| µH |
= |
microhenry |
| µL |
= |
microlitre |
| µm |
= |
micrometre |
| µN |
= |
micronewton |
| µΩ |
= |
microhm |
| µPa |
= |
micropascal |
| µs |
= |
microsecond |
| µS |
= |
microsiemens |
| µT |
= |
microtesla |
| µV |
= |
microvolt |
| µW |
= |
microwatt |
| N |
= |
newton |
| nA |
= |
nanoampere |
| nC |
= |
nanocoulomb |
| ng |
= |
nanogram |
| nH |
= |
nanohenry |
| nm |
= |
nanometre |
| ns |
= |
nanosecond |
| nT |
= |
nanotesla |
| Ω |
= |
ohm |
| pA |
= |
picoampere |
| Pa |
= |
pascal |
| Pa.s |
= |
pascal second |
| pC |
= |
picocoulomb |
| pF |
= |
picofarad |
| pH |
= |
picohenry |
| PHz |
= |
petahertz |
| pm |
= |
picometre |
| s |
= |
second |
| S |
= |
siemens |
| t |
= |
tonne |
| T |
= |
tesla |
| THz |
= |
terahertz |
| TJ |
= |
terajoule |
| TW |
= |
terawatt |
| V |
= |
volt |
| W |
= |
watt |
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