SI Units in Physics

SI Units in Physics

The answer to what is SI unit is that it is an abbreviation of the French word Système International. The
International System Of Units (SI) is the metric system that is used universally as a standard for
measurements. SI units play a vital role in scientific and technological research and development. It is made
up of 7 base units which are used for defining 22 derived units. The SI units can be expressed either as
standard multiple or as fractional quantities. These quantities are defined with the help of prefix multipliers
with powers of 10 that range from 10-24 to 1024.

What is the SI Unit?

SI unit is an international system of measurements that are used universally in technical and scientific
research to avoid the confusion with the units. Having a standard unit system is important because it helps
the entire world to understand the measurements in one set of unit systems. Following is the table with base
SI units:

Sl. No. Name of the Quantity SI Unit SI Unit Symbol

1. Length (l) Meter m

2. Mass (M) Kilogram kg

3. Time (T) Second s

4. Electric current (I) Ampere A

5. Thermodynamic temperature (Θ) Kelvin K

6. Amount of substance (N) Mole mol

7. Luminous intensity (J) Candela cd

What is SI Units List?
There are several SI units used in physics that are used to express the different quantities. The quantities can
be classified into two groups i.e. base units and derived units.

SI Base Units
These are the fundamental units and are considered as the building blocks of the system. All the other units
are derived from the SI Base units. One of the examples is that the SI unit of mass is kilogram. This is often
confused with grams.

SI Base Units List

There are 7 SI base units. The seven units along with their SI unit and symbol are given below:

1. Unit of length, meter (m): Meter is the SI unit of length and is defined by taking the fixed value of
the speed of light in vacuum. It is expressed as m.s-1.
2. Unit of mass, kilogram (kg): Kilogram is the SI unit of mass and is defined by taking the fixed value
of the Planck constant. It is expressed as kg.m2.s-1.
3. Unit of time, second (s): Second is the SI unit of time and is defined by taking the fixed value of
Cesium frequency. It is expressed as s1.
4. Unit of electric current, ampere (A): Ampere is the SI unit of electric current and is defined by taking
the fixed value of the elementary charge.
5. Unit of thermodynamic temperature, Kelvin (K): Kelvin is the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature
and is defined by taking the fixed value of Boltzmann constant k = 1.380649×10-23.
6. Unit of the amount of substance, mole (mol): Mole is the SI unit of the amount of substance and is
defined by the fixed value of Avogadro constant NA. One mole contains 6.02214076×1023 elementary
entities and is expressed as mol-1.
7. Unit of luminous intensity, candela (cd): Candela is the SI unit of luminous intensity and is defined
by the fixed value of the luminous efficacy.
It should be noted that these 7 units are assumed to be mutually independent and hence are called base units.

SI Derived Units
The derived units are unlimited as they are formed by different operations on the base units. For derived
units, the dimensions are expressed in terms of the dimensions of the base units. The derived units might
also be expressed with the combination of base and derived units.

SI Derived Units List

There are several derived units in physics. Some of the most widely used SI derived units in physics are
given below.

Sl. Unit(s) Name SI Unit SI Unit Expressed in SI Expressed in other

No Symbol Base Unit SI units
1. Force, Weight Newton N kg⋅m⋅s-2 –

2. Frequency Hertz Hz s-1 –

3. Electric charge Coulomb C s⋅A –

4. Electric potential Volt V kg.m2.s-3.A-1 W/A

(Voltage)

5. Inductance Henry H kg.m2.s-2.A-2 Wb/A

6. Capacitance Farad F kg−1.m−2.s4.A2 C/V

7. Resistance, Impedance, Ohm Ω kg.m2.s−3.A−2 V/A

Reactance

8. Electrical conductance Siemens S kg−1.m−2.s3.A2 Ω−1

9. Magnetic flux Weber Wb kg.m2.s−2.A−1 V⋅s

10. Magnetic flux density Tesla T kg.s−2.A−1 Wb/m2

11. Energy, Work, Heat Joule J kg.m2.s−2 N⋅m = Pa⋅m3

12. Power, Radiant flux Watt W kg.m2.s−3 J/s

13. Angle Radian rad m.m−1 –

14. Radioactivity Becquerel Bq s-1 –

15. Luminous flux Lumen lm cd cd⋅sr

These were a few widely used units along with their SI units. Apart from these units, there are certain
additional units that are commonly seen in physics. Some of such units are:

Measuring Length

Measuring Volume
Measuring Densitiy
Measuring time