Article
Article
Measure
Article By:
Williams, Dudley Formerly, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.411300
A reference sample used in comparing lengths, areas, volumes, masses, and the like. The measures employed in scientific work are based on the international units of length, mass, and time—the meter, the kilogram, and the second—but decimal multiples and submultiples are commonly employed. Prior to the development of the international metric system, many special-purpose systems of measures had evolved and many still survive, especially in Great Britain and the United States, where metric units have not come into common use. Multiples and submultiples in these systems are usually nondecimal; some are based on successive doubling or halving; others involve subdivision of 60 or 12; still others have multiples and submultiples of unknown origin. A few common systems are listed here; others can be found in engineering hand-books.
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