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(+) Module 51/Topic 52

SI UNITS

52.1 Introduction
When we take a look at the picture of units, we have on the one hand the FPS
System (British) which being irrational, stands rejected, surprisingly enough, even in
Britain! On the other, we have the metric system (French) which is rational, being
decimal based. Under the latter we first had the CGS System developed (1873) for
science. Since the ‘centimetre’ and ‘gram’ were felt to be too small for the needs of
technology, the MKS System was evolved (1900) to serve the latter. The SI (Le
Systeme International d’Unites, or The International System of Units) is a more
rationalised version of the MKS System and represents the final variant in the evolution
of units. It came into existence in 1960 and is expected to serve as the future universal
system of units suited to the needs of not only science and technology, but also
commerce.

As regards the use of SI Units for science and technology, practically every country
in the world has accepted them, with U.K. taking the lead in the matter, and U.S.A. an
interested but hesitant follower! The use of SI Units in commerce, however, is still a
far cry the world over. In India we had a large number of regional units which gave
way to the British Units with the arrival of the latter. After Independence, however,
with the enactment of the Metric Act (1957), the use of non-metric units of any kind
has become a cognisable offence in the country. (In fact India is one of the few
countries in the world where the use of metric units is protected by law and therefore
enjoys legal status.)

52.2 The components of the SI System

The SI consists of:

1) 7 base units, 2) 2 supplementary units, 3) a series of derived units consistent with

the base and supplementary units, and 4) a number of approved prefixes for the
formation of multiples and submultiples of the various units.

The main base units of the SI System are listed in Table 52.1, which also includes
derived units. (The list includes only those units which are commonly used in
engineering and technology.) Table 52.2 gives the more frequently used prefixes for
the above units.

52.3 Mass and Weight

The SI clearly recognises the difference between the massand weightof an object.
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Mass and weight are entirely different quantities. In the first place, while mass is a
‘base’ (not basic) quantity, weight is a ‘derived’ quantity, involving as it does three of
the four base quantities, viz., length, mass and time. This is because weight is a force
and a force is defined as ‘that which when applied to a mass gives it acceleration
according as

f=mxa (52.1)

Therefore a unit force must be defined as ‘that force which when applied to a unit mass
gives it unit acceleration’. This unit of force is named a “newton” (symbol “N”) and
according to the above definition,

1 N = 1 kg x 1 m/s2 (52.2)

Now, weight of an object is the force with which earth attracts the mass of the object.
Hence we can state

w=mxg (52.3)

where g is the acceleration due to gravity.

(It may be specifically noted that when proper names such as Newton, Watt, Pascal
etc.,are used, the unit is stated in lower case such as ‘newton’, ‘watt’ and ‘pascal’, but
the corresponding symbols are in upper case, like ‘N’, ‘W’ and ‘Pa’.)

The difference between mass and weight is well recognised in defining ‘dyne’ and
‘poundal’ as the units of force, as different from ‘gram’ and ‘pound’ , which are the units
of mass, in the CGS and FPS systems respectively. However, when it came to the
MKS System, a ‘mishap’ occurred, as it were, by taking kg as representing the unit of
both mass and force, which caused unnecessary mix-up and confusion from a
scientific point of view. Therefore when it came to the SI, the above anomaly was
rectified by defining a special unit of force called ‘newton’. This has made the
redefinition of all other derived units involving force in the SI System necessary.

As stated above, the principal departure of the SI System from the MKS System
is in the definition of separate units for mass and force. Thus while a ‘kilogram’ is the
unit of mass, the unit of force is a ‘newton’. As a matter of fact, the base units for
length, mass and time are the same in the MKS and SI Systems; the difference arose
when the need was recognised for defining a separate unit of force in the SI System.
A point of greater interest is the fact that the unit of time, the second (which is a small
time interval), is common to CGS, FPS, MKS and the SI Systems.

52.4 Relationship between a newton and kilogram force

Since a kilogram is the unit of both mass and force in the traditional MKS System,
it will be necessary to establish the relationship between the two in the SI System.
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To distinguish between a kg mass and a kgforce in the MKS System, a kgforce is

denoted by using the symbol f as kgf.

Actually 1 kgf is the weight of 1 kg mass. In other words, it is the force with which
earth attracts a mass of 1 kg.

That is to say,

1 kgf = [1 kg (mass) x g m/s2] N

= g N

Where g is given a standard value of 9.80665 m/s2

Therefore, 1 kgf = 9.80665 N (52.4)

≅10 N.

It follows from the above that a ‘newton’ is a force of small magnitude. It is about
a tenth of a kilogram force, i.e., the weight we feel when we lift a 100 gram weight
used for weighing.

In the same way as a ‘newton’ force, it is important to realise that the unit of
pressure ‘pascal’ (1 Pa = 1 N/m2) is of a very small value. It can be likened to the
pressure produced by an object of weight 100 gram spread over an area of 1 x 1 m !It
may be pointed out in this connection that the atmospheric pressure our system is
made to bear all the time is about 105 Pa !

Further, since 1 dyne = 1 g x 1 cm/s2, in the original CGS System, it follows that 1
N = 105 dyne.

52.5 Prefixes
Multiples in steps of 1000 alone, of the base, supplementary and derived units are
permitted in the SI System. (Table 52.2 states such prefixes only.) This means that
quantities like cm, litre, etc. are not permissible under the SI which makes it imperative
that length should be stated in µm, mm, m, km or Mm, the same applying equally to
all the other quantities. These prefixes are used in order to make the numerical value
of a quantity to lie between 0.1 and 1000. Note that there is no plural (such as 3 Ns)
in stating SI Units.

The importance of using the correct SI symbol cannot be overemphasised. Thus

KM (in place of km) means an absurd ‘kelvin mega’ (!) and gms (for grams) means
‘gram metre second’ (!!) contrary to what is intended. In the same way, since the plural
symbol ‘s’ does not exist, Ns means ‘newton second’ and not newtons!

Kurian (2005: App.G) provides a Table (Table 3) of comparative figures in SI, MKS,
British and American units which users will find useful.
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The greatest advantage of the SI System lies in the fact that it eliminates the
ambiguity that existed in the MKS System with regard to mass and force. This has
also made it possible for it to emerge as a unified system in that theSI units for force,
energy and power are the same regardless of whether the process is mechanical,
electrical, chemical or nuclear. Thus a force of 1 newton applied for a distance of 1 m
can produce i joule of heat, which is identical with what 1 watt of electric power can
produce in 1 second.

The author’s Appendix, cited above, ends with Some Important Notes which users
are keenly exhorted to go through.