Units of Measurement Do you know the story of the facetious unit of beauty called the 'millihelen'? Since it is that the astonishingly beautiful Helen of Troy had 'a face that launched a thousand ships', a millihelen is a unit of beauty equal to the ability to launch one ship. None of the 153 units of measurement below is as interesting as that, but they just might be more useful, often in scientific and technical contexts. The proper unit is a tool to allow us to measure and organize the world - by length, volume, energy, or some other aspect of reality. And hey, we all love reality, don't we? I've avoided the simplest metric and imperial measures (gram, foot, metre, inch, etc.), but almost all the rest should be there.

Word Definition aam archaic unit of liquid measure ranging from 37 to 41 gallons of wine abampere unit equivalent to 10 amperes abvolt unit of electrical potential equal to one hundred millionth of a volt acre-breadth old unit of length of 22 yards ampere unit for measuring amount of electrical current angstrom unit of one ten-billionth of a meter arpent unit of land area slightly smaller than an acre astronomical unit unit of distance equal to the distance from the earth to the sun bar unit of pressure of one million dynes per square centimeter barleycorn old unit of length equal to one-third inch barn unit of area measurement of particles equal to 100 square femtometres baud unit of data transmission speed of one signal event per second bel unit of noise intensity equal to ten decibels butt unit of volume equal to two hogsheads or 126 gallons calorie unit of heat or heat-producing value candela unit of luminous intensity carat unit of weight of precious stones equal to 200 milligrams centner old unit of weight equal to about 110 pounds chain unit of length equal to 22 yards chaldron old unit of dry volume equal to between 32 and 72 bushels clove old weight of seven to ten pounds for wool or cheese cord unit of wood equal to 128 cubic feet coulomb unit of electrical charge of one ampere over period of one second cubit unit of length equal to 18 inches curie unit of radioactive decay and intensity cusec unit of liquid flow equal to one cubic foot per second dalton unit of atomic mass darcy unit of permeability of rock to various substances dash non-specific very small unit of measurement used in cooking decibel unit for measuring sound intensity denier unit of yarn fineness digit unit of length equal to 3/4 of an inch dioptre unit of measurement of power of lens or eye dol unit for measuring intensity of pain dram unit of weight equal to 1/16 of an ounce dyne unit of force to accelerate 1 gram to 1 cm per second per second elephant large unit of paper measurement equal to 28 by 23 inches ell old unit of length equal to 45 inches em unit of measuring width of typeface where width of letters equals height erg unit of work measuring force of one dyne applied over one centimeter face-cord unit of wood measurement equal to a stack four by eight feet in volume farad unit measuring electrical capacitance fathom unit of length equal to six feet used to measure depth of water fermi unit of length equal to one quadrillionth of a metre fifth unit of measure of liquor equal to one fifth of a gallon firkin old unit of capacity equal to one quarter of a barrel footlambert unit of luminance of a surface emitting one lumen per square foot fresnel unit of optical frequency equal to one terahertz furlong unit of distance equal to 220 yards gal unit of acceleration of one centimeter per second per second gamma unit of magnetic flux density equal to one nanotesla gauss unit of magnetic flux density equal to 1/10000 tesla gilbert unit of magnetomotive force gill unit of liquid volume equal to one-quarter pint grain unit of weight equal to 1/7000 of a pound gray unit of absorbed dose of ionizing radiation equal to 100 rads hand unit for measuring height of horses equal to 4 inches henry unit of electrical inductance hertz unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second hide old unit of land area equal to 120 acres hobbet measure of two and a half bushels hogshead unit of capacity equal to 63 gallons horsepower unit of power equal to 550 foot-pounds of work per second hundredweight unit of weight of 100 pounds (112 pounds in UK) jansky unit of strength of radio wave emission jiffy unit of time used in computing equal to 1/100 second; any small unit of time joule unit of work done by force of one newton over distance of one meter karat unit of fineness of gold equal to 1/24 part of pure gold kelvin unit of temperature based on absolute zero, equal to 1 degree Celsius kilderkin old unit of capacity equal to 1/2 barrel or 18 gallons kilobase unit of measure of length of nucleic acid chain equal to 1000 base pairs kip unit of weight equivalent to 1000 pounds lambert unit of brightness of light langley unit of solar radiation league unit of distance of between 2.4 and 4.6 miles link unit of length used by surveyors, equal to 7.92 inches lumen unit of luminous flux lux unit of illumination equal to one lumen per square meter magneton unit of the quantized magnetic moment of a particle maxwell unit of magnetic flux mecate old Mexican measure of about one-tenth of an acre megadeath unit of fatality equal to one million deaths mho unit of electrical conductance mil unit of 1/1000 inch used for measuring thickness of wire minim unit of liquid volume equal to 1/480 fluid ounces mnemon unit of memory, largely hypothetical mole unit of substance equal to number of atoms as 12 grams of carbon-12 morgan unit of inferred distance between genes on a chromosome morgen unit of land area slightly more than two acres mutchkin old unit of liquid measurement equal to 3/4 of an imperial pint nail old measure of two and a quarter inches neper unit for expressing ratio of two currents or voltages newton unit of force that accelerates 1 kilogram to 1 meter / second / second oersted unit of magnetic field strength ohm unit of electrical resistance of circuits osmol unit of osmotic pressure palm unit of length equivalent to width or length of the hand parsec unit of interstellar distance equal to 3.26 light-years pascal unit of pressure equal to one newton per square meter peck unit of dry measure equal to 8 quarts pennyweight unit of troy weight equal to 24 grains phon unit of loudness of sound as heard by listeners photon unit of brightness of light as received at the retina pica unit of typeface equal to about 1/6 of an inch pipe unit of liquid capacity equal to two hogsheads pitch unit of typeface equal to number of characters per inch point unit of typeface equal to 1/72 of an inch poise unit of viscosity of liquids pole unit of area equal to a square rod pottle unit of liquid measurement of two quarts, or one-half gallon poundal unit of force that accelerates 1 pound to 1 foot / second / second probit unit of measurement of statistical probability quad unit of energy equal to one quadrillion British thermal units quarter unit of weight equal to 28 pounds quintal unit of weight equal to 100 kilograms quire unit of 24 sheets of paper rad unit of absorbed dose of ionizing radiation radian unit of plane angular measurement, approximately 57.3 degrees rod unit of length equal to 1/320 of a mile roentgen unit of x-radiation or gamma radiation rood old unit of land area equal to 1/4 acre rundlet old liquid measure equal to about 15 gallons rutherford unit of radioactive decay equal to 1 million disintegrations per second sabin unit of acoustic absorption of one square foot of a perfect absorber scruple unit of weight used by apothecaries equal to 1/24 of an ounce shake unit of one hundred millionth of a second used to measure nuclear processes siemens unit of electrical conductance equivalent to one ampere per volt slug unit of gravitational mass of approximately 32.174 pounds sone unit of loudness on a scale based on subjective or perceived loudness span unit of distance equal to handspread or nine inches stack old unit of measure for firewood equal to 108 cubic feet stone unit of weight equal to 14 pounds svedberg unit of time used to measure sedimentation velocity tesla unit of magnetic flux density equal to one weber per square meter tex unit of measurement of fineness of fibres and yarn therblig unit of work for quantifying industrial operations therm unit of quantity of heat equal to 100,000 British thermal units thirdendeal old liquid measure of three pints; one-third of anything tod old unit of weight of wool equal to 28 pounds tog unit of measurement for insulation properties of fabric ton unit of cooling power equal to 12,000 BTU per hour torr unit of pressure equal to 1/760 of standard atmospheric pressure tun unit of liquid capacity of 252 gallons vara unit of linear measure of between 33 and 43 inches verst unit of distance equal to approximately 2/3 of a mile virgate old unit of land area usually equal to 30 acres or 1/4 hide volt unit of electrical potential difference and electromotive force watt unit of power equal to one joule per second weber unit of magnetic flux equal to 100 million maxwells wey old measure for dry goods usually equal to 40 bushels yardland unit of land area equal to 30 acres yrneh unit of reciprocal inductance zolotnik old Russian unit of weight equal to 1/6 of an ounce



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