UNITS(1) BSD UNITS(1)
NAME
units - conversion program
SYNOPSIS
units
DESCRIPTION
units converts quantities expressed in various standard scales to their
equivalents in other scales. It works interactively, prompting you for
information.
You specify a quantity 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 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
A 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).
For a complete list of units, examine the file /usr/lib/units.
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
FILES
/usr/lib/units complete list of units
BUGS
The /usr/lib/units database does not automatically reflect fluctuations
in international currency exchanges.