NAME

units − conversion program

USAGE

units

DESCRIPTION

Units converts quantities expressed in various standard scales to their equivalents in other scales.  It works interactively, prompting you for information. 

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 indicated by the usual sign. 

Units does only multiplicative scale changes; thus, it can convert Kelvin to Rankine, but not Celsius to Fahrenheit.  It recognizes most familiar units, abbreviations, and metric prefixes, along with some others that include:

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 a unit of mass.  Compound names are run together, (e.g., lightyear).  British units that differ from their U.S. counterparts are prefixed with br (e.g., brgallon).  Currency is prefixed with the name of the country it comes from (e.g., belgiumfranc, britainpound). 

EXAMPLES

     % units
     You have: inch
     You want: cm

∗ 2.540000e+00
/ 3.937008e−01

     You have: 15 lbs force/in2
     You want: atm

∗ 1.020689e+00
/ 9.797299e−01

CAUTIONS

The /usr/lib/units database is not regularly updated for fluctuations in international currency exchanges. 

FILES

/usr/lib/units            complete list of units