Units in RP66

RP66 units are character strings obeying certain rules. The strings may be any drawn from a list defined as part of the standard, or they may be expressions involving such units. This section contains a table of units explicitly defined in RP66, followed by some examples of unit expressions. A full description of unit expressions can be found in appendix B.27 of the RP66 standard. Case is significant for all units and unit expressions.

As examples of the use of units, to indicate that an attribute value has units percent, encode its unit characteristic as "%"; to indicate that a measurement has units degrees Celsius, encode the unit as "degC."

Following the example from the previous section, to indicate meters for a DISTANCE-UNIT attribute, encode the attribute value as "m".

Unit Examples

Unit Unit Expression Unit Name
% 0.01 percent
A A ampere
B 10 dB bel
Bq 1/s becquerel
Btu 1055.05585262 J British thermal unit (international)
C A.s coulomb
D 0.9869233 um2 darcy
EJ 1E18 J exajoule
F C/V farad
GBq 1E9 Bq gigabecquerel
GHz 1E9 Hz gigahertz
GJ 1E9 J gigajoule
GPa 1E9 Pa gigapascal
GS 1E9 S gigasiemens
GW 1E9 W gigawatt
Gal cm/s2 galileo
GeV 1E9 eV gigaelectronvolt
Gohm 1E9 ohm gigaohm
Grad 1E9 rad gigaradian
Gy J/kg gray
H Wb/A henry
Hz 1/s hertz
J N.m joule
K K kelvin
L dm3 liter
MA 1E6 A megampere
MBq 1E6 Bq megabecquerel
MHz 1E6 Hz megahertz
MJ 1E6 J megajoule
MN 1E6 N meganewton
MPa 1E6 Pa megapascal
MV 1E6 V megavolt
MW 1E6 W megawatt
Ma 1E6 a million years
MeV 1E6 eV megaelectronvolt
Mg 1000 kg megagram
Mm 1E6 m megameter
Mohm 1E6 ohm megohm
Mpsi 1E6 psi million pounds per square inch
Mrad 1E6 rad megaradian
N kg.m/s2 newton
Oe 79.57747 A/m oersted
P 0.1 Pa.s poise
Pa N/m2 pascal
S A/V siemens
Sv J/kg sievert
T Wb/m2 tesla
TBq 1E12 Bq terabecquerel
TJ 1E12 J terajoule
TW 1E12 W terawatt
TeV 1E12 eV teraelectronvolt
Tohm 1E12 ohm teraohm
V W/A volt
W J/s watt
Wb V.s weber
a 3.155815E7 s annum (sidereal year)
aJ 1E-18 J attojoule
acre 627264E5/15499969 m2 acre
ag 1E-18 g attogram
atm 101.325 kPa standard atmosphere
b 1E-28 m2 barn
bar 100 kPa bar
bbl 0.158987304 m3 barrel
c 360 deg revolution (cycle)
cP 0.01 P centipoise
cal 4.1868 J calorie (international)
cd cd candela
cm 0.01 m centimeter
cu 0.1 1/m capture unit
d 24 h day
dAPI dAPI api density
dB dB decibel
daN 10 N decanewton
deg 0.0174532925198 rad degree (angle)
degC K -273.15 degree Celsius
degF 5/9 degC +32 degree Fahrenheit
degR 5/9 K degree Rankine
dm 0.1 m decimeter
eV 1.60219E-19 J electron volt
fC 1E-15 C femtocoulomb
fm 1E-15 m femtometer
ft 12 in foot
g 0.001 kg gram
gAPI gAPI api gamma ray
gal 1/42 bbl gallon
gf 0.001 kgf gram force
h 60 min hour
hL 100 L hectoliter
ha 1E4 m2 hectare
hbar 100 bar hectobar
hp 745.699871580 W horsepower
in 0.0254 m inch
kA 1000 A kiloampere
kC 1000 C kilocoulomb
kHz 1000 Hz kilohertz
kJ 1000 J kilojoule
kN 1000 N kilonewton
kPa 1000 Pa kilopascal
kS 1000 S kilosiemens
kV 1000 V kilovolt
kW 1000 W kilowatt
kcal 1000 cal kilocalorie
kcd 1000 cd kilocandela
keV 1000 eV kiloelectronvolt
kg kg kilogram
kgf 9.806650 N kilogram force
klx 1000 lx kilolux
km 1000 m kilometer
kmol 1000 mol killomole
kohm 1000 ohm kilohm
krad 1000 rad kiloradian
lbf 4.4482216152605 N pound force
lbm 0.45359237 kg pound mass (avoirdupois)
lm cd.sr lumen
lx cd.sr/m2 lux
m m meter
mA 0.001 A milliampere
mC 0.001 C millicoulomb
mD 0.9869233E-3 um2 millidarcy
mGal 0.001 Gal milligal
mGy 0.001 Gy milligray
mH 0.001 H millihenry
mHz 0.001 Hz millihertz
mJ 0.001 J millijoule
mL 0.001 L milliliter
mN 0.001 N millinewton
mPa 0.001 Pa millipascal
mS 0.001 S millisiemens
mSv 0.001 Sv millisievert
mT 0.001 T millitesla
mV 0.001 V millivolt
mW 0.001 W milliwatt
mWb 0.001 Wb milliweber
mbar 0.001 bar millibar
mg 0.001 g milligram
mi 5280 ft mile
min 60 s minute
minarc 1/60 deg minute of arc
mm 0.001 m millimeter
mmol 0.001 mol millimole
mohm 0.001 ohm milliohm
mol mol mole
mrad 0.001 rad milliradian
ms 0.001 s millisecond
nA 1E-9 A nanoampere
nAPI nAPI api neutron
nC 1E-9 C nanocoulomb
nH 1E-9 H nanohenry
nJ 1E-9 J nanojoule
nT 1E-9 T nanotesla
nW 1E-9 W nanowatt
nm 1E-9 m nanometer
nohm 1E-9 ohm nanohm
ns 1E-9 s nanosecond
ohm V/A ohm
ozf 1/16 lbf ounce force
ozm 1/16 lbm ounce mass
pA 1E-12 A picoampere
pC 1E-12 C picocoulomb
pF 1E-12 F picofarad
pPa 1E-12 Pa picopascal
pS 1E-12 S picosiemens
pm 1E-12 m picometer
ppdk 1E-4 part per ten thousand
ppk 0.001 part per thousand
ppm 1E-6 part per million
ps 1E-12 s picosecond
psi lbf/in2 pound per square inch
pu 0.01 m3/m3 porosity unit
rad rad radian
s s second
secarc 1/3600 deg second of arc
sr sr steradian
t 1000 kg metric ton (1000 kilograms)
ton 2000 lbm U.S. short ton
uA 1E-6 A microampere
uC 1E-6 C microcoulomb
uF 1E-6 F microfarad
uH 1E-6 H microhenry
uHz 1E-6 Hz microhertz
uJ 1E-6 J microjoule
uN 1E-6 N micronewton
uPa 1E-6 Pa micropascal
uS 1E-6 S microsiemens
uT 1E-6 T microtesla
uV 1E-6 V microvolt
uW 1E-6 W microwatt
uWb 1E-6 Wb microweber
ubar 1E-6 bar microbar
ug 1E-6 g microgram
um 1E-6 m micrometer
umol 1E-6 mol micromole
uohm 1E-6 ohm microhm
upsi 1E-6 psi micropound per square inch
urad 1E-6 rad microradian
us 1E-6 s microsecond

The following are some examples of units expressed in terms of other units:

Composite Units

Unit Unit Expression Unit Name
0.001 c/ft 0.001 c/ft revolution per thousand feet
0.01 gal/ft2 0.01 gal/ft2 gallon per hundred square feet
1.12 ton 1.12 ton U.K. long ton
1/N 1/N inverse newton
1000 bbl.ft/d 1000 bbl.ft/d thousand (barrel per day)-foot
1E-5 N 1E-5 N dyne
1E-5 N/cm 1E-5 N/cm dyne per centimeter
1E-5 Oe 1E-5 Oe gamma
A/cm2 A/cm2 ampere per square centimeter
MPa2 MPa2 megapascal squared
N.m N.m newton-meter
s/kg s/kg second per kilogram

Part of the RP66 appendix (B.27) on unit expressions states "The units expression is either a multiplicative combination of distinct units factors, or a numerator and denominator, each of which is a multiplicative combination of distinct units factors". Since the "distinct" requirement appears, exponents should be used to show higher powers of a unit rather than repeating the unit name in the expression.

Unit Preferences

Use In Preference to
m2 m.m
m3 m.m.m
m3 m2.m


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Last modified: 2002/12/19 11:04:22 CST.
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