A unit of measurement, or unit of measure, is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multiple of the unit of measurement, For example, a length is a physical quantity. The metre (symbol: m) is a unit of length that represents a definite predetermined length. For instance, when referencing "10 metres" (or 10 m), what is meant is 10 times the definite predetermined length called "metre". The definition, agreement, and practical use of units of measurement have played a crucial role in human endeavour from early ages up to the present. A multitude of systems of units used to be very common. Now there is a global standard, the International System of Units (SI), which is the modern form of the metric system, replacing the cgs system. In trade, weights and measures are often a subject of governmental regulation, to ensure fairness and transparency. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) is tasked with ensuring worldwide uniformity of measurements and their traceability to the International System of Units (SI). Metrology is the science of developing nationally and internationally accepted units of measurement. In physics and metrology, units are standards for measurement of physical quantities that need clear definitions to be useful. Reproducibility of experimental results is central to the scientific method. A standard system of units facilitates this. Scientific systems of units are a refinement of the concept of weights and measures historically developed for commercial purposes. Science, medicine, and engineering often use larger and smaller units of measurement than those used in everyday life. The judicious selection of the units of measurement can aid researchers in problem solving (see, for example, dimensional analysis).
History
A unit of measurement is a standardized quantity of a physical property, used as a factor to express occurring quantities of that property. Units of measurement were among the earliest tools invented by humans. Primitive societies needed rudimentary measures for many tasks, some of those tasks are: constructing dwellings of an appropriate size and shape, fashioning clothing, or bartering food or raw materials. Before the establishment of the decimal metric system in France during the French Revolution in the late 18th century, many units of length were determined by the size of parts of the human body. The earliest known uniform systems of measurement seem to have all been created sometime in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC among the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley, and perhaps also Elam in Persia as well. Weights and measures are mentioned in the Bible (Leviticus 19:35–36). It is a commandment to be honest and have fair measures. In the Magna Carta of 1215 (The Great Charter) with the seal of King John, put before him by the Barons of England, King John agreed in Clause 35 "There shall be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm, and one measure of ale and one measure of corn—namely, the London quart;—and one width of dyed and russet and hauberk cloths—namely, two ells below the selvage..." As of the 21st century, the International System is predominantly used in the world. There exist other unit systems such as the United States Customary System and the Imperial System. The United States is the only industrialized country that has not yet at least mostly converted to the metric system. The systematic effort to develop a universally acceptable system of units dates back to 1790 when the French National Assembly charged the French Academy of Sciences to come up such a unit system. This system was the precursor to the metric system which was quickly developed in France but did not take on universal acceptance until 1875 when The Metric Convention Treaty was signed by 17 nations. After this treaty was signed, a General Conference of Weights and Measures (CGPM) was established. The CGPM produced the current SI, which was adopted in 1954 at the 10th Conference of Weights and Measures. Currently, the United States is a dual-system society which uses both the SI and the US Customary system.
Definition The formal definition of unit of measurement (or measurement unit) is
real scalar quantity, defined and adopted by convention, with which any other quantity of the same kind can be compared to express the ratio of the two quantities as a number Numerous physical quantity examples, such as length, time, or mass, appear in the List of physical quantities which also serves as a list of units of measurement.
Systems of units
The use of a single unit of measurement for some quantity has obvious drawbacks. For example, it is impractical to use the same unit for the distance between two cities and the length of a needle. Thus, historically they would develop independently. One way to make large numbers or small fractions easier to read, is to use unit prefixes. At some point in time though, the need to relate the two units might arise, and consequently the need to choose one unit as defining the other or vice versa. For example, an inch could be defined in terms of a barleycorn. A system of measurement is a collection of units of measurement and rules relating them to each other. As science progressed, a need arose to relate the measurement systems of different quantities, like length and weight and volume. The effort of attempting to relate different traditional systems between each other exposed many inconsistencies, and brought about the development of new units and systems. Systems of units vary from country to country. Some of the different systems include the centimetre–gram–second, foot–pound–second, metre–kilogram–second systems, and the International System of Units, SI. Among the different systems of units used in the world, the most widely used and internationally accepted one is SI. The base SI units are the second, metre, kilogram, ampere, kelvin, mole and candela; all other SI units are derived from these base units. Systems of measurement in modern use include the metric system, the imperial system, and United States customary units.
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