units(C)

units -- convert units

Syntax

units

Description

The units command converts quantities expressed in various standard scales to their equivalents in other scales. It works interactively in this fashion:

   You have:  inch
   You want:  cm
           * 2.540000e+00
           / 3.937008e-01

A quantity is specified as a multiplicative combination of units optionally preceded by a numeric multiplier. Powers are indicated by suffixed positive integers, division is shown by the usual sign:

   You have:  15 lbs force/in2
   You want:  atm
           * 1.020689e+00
           / 9.797299e-01

units only does multiplicative scale changes; thus it can convert Kelvin to Rankine, but not Centigrade to Fahrenheit. Most familiar units, abbreviations, and metric prefixes are recognized, as well as the following:

pi: ratio of circumference to diameter
c: speed of light
e: charge on an electron
g: acceleration of gravity
force: same as g
mole: Avogadro's number
water: pressure head per unit height of water
au: astronomical unit

Pound is not recognized as a unit of mass; lb is. Compound names are run together, (for example, lightyear). British units that differ from their US counterparts are prefixed with ``br''. For a complete list of units, enter:

cat /usr/lib/unittab

Files

/usr/lib/unittab