How Many?

A Dictionary of Units of Measurement

Answers to the three most frequently asked questions:

How many micrograms (µg, ug or mcg) in a milligram (mg)?

1000 micrograms = 1 milligram, and 1000 milligrams = 1 gram.

How can I convert from international units (IU) to milligrams or micrograms?

Generally speaking, you can't. IU's measure the potency of a drug, not its mass or weight.

What countries besides the U.S. have not adopted the metric system?
Many U.S. teachers think the answer is "Liberia and Burma" (make that Myanmar). Let's give
Liberia and Myanmar a break! All countries have adopted the metric system, including the U.S.,
and most countries (but not the U.S.) have taken steps to eliminate most uses of traditional
measurements. However, in nearly all countries people still use traditional units sometimes, at
least in colloquial expressions. Becoming metric is not a one-time event that has either happened
or not. It is a process that happens over time. Every country is somewhere in this process of
going metric, some much further along than others.

 What's New
Commentary and Explanation
 Using the Dictionary
o Using Numbers and Units
o Roman and Arabic Numerals
o Names of Large Numbers
o Symbols and Abbreviations
 The International System (SI)
o SI Base (Fundamental) Units
o SI Derived Units
o Metric Prefixes
o SI Units for Clinical Data in
Medicine
 The English Customary Systems
 The Metric System
o CGS and MKS Units
o Spelling of Metric Units
o The Metric System in the United
States
 ISO and IOC country codes
 Links to Related Sites
 the French encablure, 120 brasses
 a cent of land in southern India
 the fibrin unit for nattokinase
 the Pfiff, a small unit for beer
 the French brasse, a nautical unit
like the fathom
 measuring erosion in Bubnoff units
 the tithing, an old English land area
unit
 stock tank barrels in the oil industry
 Enhanced Fujita scale for tornado
intensity
 photosynthetic radiation in
microeinsteins
  Bibliography

Index of Tables and Scales

 Apgar scoring  Hat sizes  Shotgun gauges

(newborns)
 Beaufort scales (wind
velocity)
 Bushel weights (U.S.)
 Cotton bale weights
 Danjon scale (lunar
eclipse brightness)
 Drought severity (U.S.)
 Fujita scale (tornados,
U.S.)
 Glasgow coma scale
 Grit sizes
 Mercalli scale
(earthquakes)
 Nutritional daily values
(U.S.)
 Paper sheet sizes (ISO)
 Paper sheet sizes
(traditional)
 Paper sheet sizes (U.S.
basic sizes)
 Radiocarbon year
conversion
 Saffir-Simpson scale
(hurricanes, U.S.)
 Sheet metal gauges
 Shot pellet sizes
 SI units for medical
data
 Solar flare intensity
 Tennis racquet gauges
 Torino impact hazard
scale
 Tropical cyclone
categories (Australia)
 Viscosity grades (ISO)
 Volcanic Explosivity
Index
 Wind chill chart (U.S.)
 Wire gauge table
(U.S./U.K.)

Introduction

Americans probably use a greater variety of units of measurement than anyone else in the world.
Caught in a slow-moving transition from customary to metric units, we employ a fascinating and
sometimes frustrating mixture of units in talking about the same things. We measure the length
of a race in meters, but the length of the long jump event in feet and inches. We speak of an
engine's power in horsepower and its displacement in liters. In the same dispatch, we describe a
hurricane's wind speed in knots and its central pressure in millibars.

Furthermore, our English customary units do not form a consistent system. Reflecting their
diverse roots in Celtic, Roman, Saxon, and Norse cultures, they are often confusing and
contradictory. There are two systems for land measurement (one based on the yard and the other
on the rod) and a third system for distances at sea. There are two systems (avoirdupois and troy)
for small weights and two more (based on the long and short tons) for large weights. Americans
use two systems for volumes (one for dry commodities and one for liquids) and the British use a
third (British Imperial Measure).

Meanwhile, only a few Americans know that the legal definitions of the English customary units
are actually based on metric units. The U. S. and British governments have agreed that a yard
equals exactly 0.9144 meter and an avoirdupois pound equals exactly 0.453 592 37 kilograms. In
this way, all the units of measurement Americans use every day are based on the standards of the
metric system. Since 1875, in fact, the United States has subscribed to the International System
of Weights and Measures, the official version of the metric system.

This dictionary began as a collection of notes describing the relationship between various
English and metric units. It gradually grew until it finally became too large a word-processing
document; I couldn't find my way around in it any more. So I turned it into a folder of html
documents and added it to my Internet site. For many months, no one looked at the site except
me and my students. Then, gradually, the dictionary began to attract users from around the
world. Many users were kind enough to point out errors; others suggested additions and
improvements. Questions about units began to appear in my email inbox. Sometimes I could
answer the questions, sometimes not.

Today the dictionary has become a kind of interactive resource. It grows slowly and steadily,
mostly through suggestions from readers and my efforts to answer questions posed by readers.
You can participate in this process! Please let me know if you find any errors on the site, or if
you can't find what you wanted to know, or if you know of units used in your field of study or in
your part of the world that aren't included.

I hope you find the dictionary useful and informative.

Formalities

Written by:

Russ Rowlett, Director,

Center for Mathematics and Science Education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

You are welcome to email the author (rowlett@email.unc.edu) with comments and suggestions.

All material in this folder is copyright © 2005 by Russ Rowlett and the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. Permission is granted for personal use and for use by individual teachers
in conducting their own classes. All other rights reserved. You are welcome to make links to this
or any page of the dictionary. Please do not copy the contents of any page of the dictionary to
another site. The material at this site is updated frequently as new information is added, so
linking to the site rather than copying it is in the best interests of everyone.

The information contained in the dictionary is as accurate as I can make it; please notify me if
you find any errors. Neither the author nor the University of North Carolina assumes any
liability for uses made of the information presented by this web site. The dictionary is not
designed to promote any system of measurement. Its only purpose is to present information
useful to anyone interested in the subject.

July 11, 2005