X1ANNEX

Annotations:

CHAPTER ILEGAL UNITS OF MEASUREMENT REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 1 (a)

1.SI UNITS AND THEIR DECIMAL MULTIPLES AND SUBMULTIPLES

F11.1.SI base units

Quantity

Unit

Name

Symbol

Time

second

s

Length

metre

m

Mass

kilogram

kg

Electric current

ampere

A

Thermodynamic temperature

kelvin

K

Amount of substance

mole

mol

Luminous intensity

candela

cd

Definitions of SI base units:

  • Unit of time

    The second, symbol s, is the SI unit of time. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the caesium frequency ΔνCs, the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium 133 atom, to be 9 192 631 770 when expressed in the unit Hz, which is equal to s–1.

  • Unit of length

    The metre, symbol m, is the SI unit of length. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the speed of light in vacuum c to be 299 792 458 when expressed in the unit m/s, where the second is defined in terms of ΔνCs.

  • Unit of mass

    The kilogram, symbol kg, is the SI unit of mass. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the Planck constant h to be 6,626 070 15 × 10–34 when expressed in the unit J s, which is equal to kg m2 s–1, where the metre and the second are defined in terms of c and ΔνCs.

  • Unit of electric current

    The ampere, symbol A, is the SI unit of electric current. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the elementary charge e to be 1,602 176 634 × 10–19 when expressed in the unit C, which is equal to A s, where the second is defined in terms of ΔνCs.

  • Unit of thermodynamic temperature

    The kelvin, symbol K, is the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the Boltzmann constant k to be 1,380 649 × 10–23 when expressed in the unit J K–1, which is equal to kg m2 s–2 K–1, where the kilogram, metre and second are defined in terms of h, c and ΔνCs.

  • Unit of amount of substance

    The mole, symbol mol, is the SI unit of amount of substance. One mole contains exactly 6,022 140 76 × 1023 elementary entities. This number is the fixed numerical value of the Avogadro constant, NA, when expressed in the unit mol–1 and is called the Avogadro number.

    The amount of substance, symbol n, of a system is a measure of the number of specified elementary entities. An elementary entity may be an atom, a molecule, an ion, an electron, any other particle or specified group of particles.

  • Unit of luminous intensity

    The candela, symbol cd, is the SI unit of luminous intensity in a given direction. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the luminous efficacy of monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 × 1012 Hz, Kcd, to be 683 when expressed in the unit lm W–1, which is equal to cd sr W–1, or cd sr kg–1 m–2 s3, where the kilogram, metre and second are defined in terms of h, c and ΔνCs.

1.1.1.Special name and symbol of the SI derived unit of temperature for expressing Celsius temperature

Quantity

Unit

Name

Symbol

Celsius temperature

degree Celsius

°C

Celsius temperature t is defined as the difference t = T – T0 between the two thermodynamic temperatures T and T0 where T0 = 273,15 K. An interval or difference of temperature may be expressed either in kelvins or in degrees Celsius. The unit degree Celsius is equal to the unit kelvin.