DERIVED S.I. UNITS
Although S.I. units form the base of all measurements, sometimes it is vital to use other units of measurements. For example, it is not practical to measure the distance between the Earth and Moon in meters (the S.I. unit for distance.) In this case, then, scientists have developed an S.I. derived unit defined in terms of the base S.I. unit. The derived S.I. unit to measure the distance between the Earth and the Moon is Kilometers (km). Thus instead of writing 385,000,000 meters, scientists write 385,000 km.
Below are some examples of derived S.I. units.
| S.I. Unit | Derived Unit (1) | Derived Unit (2) |
| Meter (m) | Millimeter (mm) | Kilometer (km) |
| Kilogram (kg) | Milligram (mg) | Gram (g)* |
| Second (s) | Minute (min) | Hour (h) |
| Kelvin (K) | Celsius (oC) | Fahrenheit (oF) |
| Cubic Meter (m3) | Cubic Decimeter (dm3) |
Liter (L) |
* The Gram (g) is smaller than the kilogram (kg). See conversion page.
You can find more information about S.I. units at the NIST Physics Laboratory website.
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