# International System of Units (SI)

The International System of Units universally abbreviated SI (from the French Le Système International d’Unités), is the modern metric system of measurement, used prevalently in science and international commerce.

There are seven base units and symbols for the seven base quantities, which are assumed to be independent. These seven base units are essential for the construction of derived units. See: Physical quantity (definition) for base and derived units.

## How to write unit symbols and names, expressing the values of quantities

Unit symbols are printed in roman (upright) type regardless of the type used in the surrounding text. They are printed in lower-case letters unless they are derived from a proper name, in which case the first letter is a capital letter. It is not permissible to use abbreviations for unit symbols or unit names.

A multiple or sub-multiple prefix, if used, is part of the unit and precedes the unit symbol without a separator. A prefix is never used in isolation, and compound prefixes are never used.

Unit symbols are mathematical entities and not abbreviations. Therefore, they are not followed by a period except at the end of a sentence, and one must neither use the plural nor mix unit symbols and unit names within one expression since names are not mathematical entities.

Forming products and quotients of unit symbols the normal rules of algebraic multiplication or division apply. Multiplication must be indicated by one space or a half-high (centered) dot “$$·$$” since otherwise some prefixes could be misinterpreted as a unit symbol. The division is indicated by a horizontal line, by a solidus (oblique stroke, /) or by negative exponents. When several unit symbols are combined, care should be taken to avoid ambiguities, for example by using brackets or negative exponents. A solidus must not be used more than once in a given expression without brackets to remove ambiguities.

Unit names are normally printed in roman (upright) type, and they are treated like ordinary nouns. In English, the names of units start with a lower-case letter (even when the symbol for the unit begins with a capital letter), except at the beginning of a sentence or in capitalized material such as a title. In keeping with this rule, the correct spelling of the name of the unit with the symbol °C is “degree Celsius” (the unit degree begins with a lower-case d and the modifier Celsius begins with an upper-case C because it is a proper name).

Although the values of quantities are normally expressed using symbols for numbers and symbols for units, if for some reason the unit name is more appropriate than the unit symbol, the unit name should be spelled out in full.

When the name of a unit is combined with the name of a multiple or sub-multiple prefix, no space or hyphen is used between the prefix name and the unit name. The combination of prefix name plus the unit name is a single word.

In both English and in French, however, when the name of a derived unit is formed from the names of individual units by multiplication, then either a space or a hyphen is used to separate the names of the individual units.

In both English and in French modifiers such as “squared” or “cubed” are used in the names of units raised to powers, and they are placed after the unit name. However, in the case of area or volume, as an alternative, the modifiers “square” or “cubic” may be used, and these modifiers are placed before the unit name, but this applies only in English.

## Rules and style conventions for expressing values of quantities

The value of a quantity is expressed as the product of a number and a unit, and the number multiplying the unit is the numerical value of the quantity expressed in that unit. The numerical value of a quantity depends on the choice of unit. Thus the value of a particular quantity is independent of the choice of unit, although the numerical value will be different for different units.

Symbols for quantities are generally single letters set in italic font, although they may be qualified by further information in subscripts or superscripts or in brackets.

Symbols for units are treated as mathematical entities. In expressing the value of a quantity as the product of a numerical value and a unit, both the numerical value and the unit may be treated by the ordinary rules of algebra. This procedure is described as the use of quantity calculus or the algebra of quantities.

Just as the quantity symbol should not imply any particular choice of unit, the unit symbol should not be used to provide specific information about the quantity, and should never be the sole source of information on the quantity. Units are never qualified by further information about the nature of the quantity; any extra information on the nature of the quantity should be attached to the quantity symbol and not to the unit symbol.

The numerical value always precedes the unit, and a space is always used to separate the unit from the number. Thus the value of the quantity is the product of the number and the unit, the space being regarded as a multiplication sign (just as a space between units implies multiplication). The only exceptions to this rule are for the unit symbols for degree, minute, and second, for plane angle, °, ′, and ′′, respectively, for which no space is left between the numerical value and the unit symbol.

Even when the value of a quantity is used as an adjective, a space is left between the numerical value and the unit symbol. Only when the name of the unit is spelled out would the ordinary rules of grammar apply, so that in English a hyphen would be used to separate the number from the unit.

The symbol used to separate the integral part of a number from its decimal part is called the decimal marker.

## Decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units

These SI prefixes refer strictly to powers of 10. They should not be used to indicate powers of 2 (for example, one kilobit represents 1000 bits and not 1024 bits).

Prefix symbols are printed in roman (upright) type, as are unit symbols, regardless of the type used in the surrounding text, and are attached to unit symbols without a space between the prefix symbol and the unit symbol. With the exception of da (deka), h (hecto), and k (kilo), all multiple prefix symbols are capital (upper case) letters, and all submultiple prefix symbols are lower case letters. All prefix names are printed in lower case letters, except at the beginning of a sentence.

The grouping formed by a prefix symbol attached to a unit symbol constitutes a new inseparable unit symbol (forming a multiple or submultiple of the unit concerned) that can be raised to positive or negative power and that can be combined with other unit symbols to form compound unit symbols.