SI derived unit

SI derived units are units of measurement derived from the seven SI base units specified by the International System of Units (SI). They can be expressed as a product (or ratio) of one or more of the base units, possibly scaled by an appropriate power of exponentiation (see: Buckingham π theorem). Some are dimensionless, as when the units cancel out in ratios of like quantities. SI coherent derived units involve only a trivial proportionality factor, not requiring conversion factors.

The SI has special names for 22 of these coherent derived units (for example, hertz, the SI unit of measurement of frequency), but the rest merely reflect their derivation: for example, the square metre (m²), the SI derived unit of area; and the kilogram per cubic metre (kg/m³ or kg⋅m⁻³), the SI derived unit of density.

The names of SI coherent derived units, when written in full, are always in lowercase. However, the symbols for units named after persons are written with an uppercase initial letter. For example, the symbol for hertz is "Hz", while the symbol for metre is "m".

The International System of Units assigns special names to 22 derived units, which includes two dimensionless derived units, the radian (rad) and the steradian (sr).

Some other units such as the hour, litre, tonne, bar, and electronvolt are not SI units, but are widely used in conjunction with SI units.

Until 1995, the SI classified the radian and the steradian as supplementary units, but this designation was abandoned and the units were grouped as derived units.

• Coherent derived unit
• International System of Quantities (ISQ)
• International Vocabulary of Metrology
• List of physical quantities
• Metric prefix
• Metric system

• I. Mills, Tomislav Cvitas, Klaus Homann, Nikola Kallay, IUPAC (June 1993). Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry (2nd ed.). Blackwell Science Inc. p. 72.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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