Units of Measurement Used in Mathematics

Concept sheet | Mathematics

Secondary

1-3

Top of page
The Main Units Used in Mathematics

Definition

A unit of measurement is a reference measurement used to measure other quantities of the same nature.

There are, for example, units of measurement for length, volume, mass, area, capacity, temperature, etc. For each quantity measured, there are basic units which have been grouped together under the name: The International System of Units (SI).

The SI defines an international convention for the various units of measurement. The table below lists the main units of measurement used in mathematics. The units that are part of the SI are indicated in blue.

The Main Units Used in Mathematics

Measure	Unit	Symbol
Temperature	Degrees Celsius Degrees Fahrenheit Kelvin	°C °F K
Time	Second Minute Hour	s min hr
Length	Millimetre Centimetre Decimetre Metre Kilometre	mm cm dm m km
Area	Square centimetre Square metre Hectare	cm² m² ha
Volume	Cubic centimetre Cubic metre Millilitre litre	cm³ m³ mL L
Mass	Milligram Gram Kilogram Tonne	mg g kg t
Angles	Radian Degree	rad °

Definition

Conversion is the act of transforming one unit of measurement to another. For example, conversion is useful when changing from metres to centimetres.

It is possible to convert certain units by adding prefixes to the base unit of the SI.

Factor by which the unit is multiplied	Number	Prefix Name	Symbol
\|10^{12}\|	1 000 000,000 000	tera	T
\|10^9\|	1,000 000 000	giga	G
\|10^6\|	1,000 000	mega	M
\|10^3\|	1000	kilo	k
\|10^2\|	100	hecto	h
\|10^1\|	10	deca	da
\|10^{-1}\|	0.1	deci	d
\|10^{-2}\|	0.01	centi	c
\|10^{-3}\|	0.001	milli	m
\|10^{-6}\|	0.000 001	micro	μ
\|10^{-9}\|	0.000 000 001	nano	n
\|10^{-12}\|	0.000 000 000 001	pico	p
\|10^{-15}\|	0.000 000 000 000 001	femto	f
\|10^{-18}\|	0.000 000 000 000 000 001	atto	a

Other units of measurement can be converted using particular conversion formulas. For example, this is the case for measuring temperature.