Definitions of the Seven Basic SI Units

meter [m]

The meter is the basic unit of length. It is the distance light travels, in a vacuum, in 1/299,792,458th of a second.

kilogram [kg]

The kilogram is the basic unit of mass. It is the mass of an international prototype in the form of a platinum-iridium cylinder kept at Sevres in France. It is now the only basic unit still defined in terms of a material object, and also the only one with a prefix[kilo] already in place.

second [s]

The second is the basic unit of time. It is the length of time taken for 9,192,631,770 periods of vibration of the caesium-133 atom to occur.

ampere [A]

The ampere is the basic unit of electric current. It is that current which produces a specified force between two parallel wires which are 1 meter apart in a vacuum.It is named after the French physicist Andre Ampere (1775-1836).

kelvin [K]

The kelvin is the basic unit of temperature. It is 1/273.16th of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water. It is named after the Scottish mathematician and physicist William Thomson 1st Lord Kelvin (1824-1907).

mole [mol]

The mole is the basic unit of substance. It is the amount of substance that contains as many elementary units as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12.

candela [cd]

The candela is the basic unit of luminous intensity. It is the intensity of a source of light of a specified frequency, which gives a specified amount of power in a given direction.

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