SI Units

All reported measurements must include an appropriate unit of measurement. To say that a substance has “a mass of 10” does not tell whether the mass was measured in grams, pounds, tons, or some other unit. For example, a nurse giving morphine to a patient needs to be specific in the unit dosages. A volume of liters would kill a patient quickly while a milliliter amount would provide sufficient pain relief. To establish worldwide standards for the consistent measurement of significant physical and chemical properties, an international body called the General Conference on Weights and Measures devised the Système Internationale d’unités (or SI). The International System of Units is based on metric units and requires that measurements be expressed in decimal form. Table 1.1 lists the seven base units of the SI system; all other SI units of measurement are derived from them.