NAME

units − conversion program

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
          * 2.54000e+00
          * 3.93701e-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 by the usual sign:

You have: 15 pounds force/in2
You want: atm
         * 1.02069e+00"
         * 9.79730e-01"

The units command 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, together with a generous leavening of exotica and a few constants of nature including:

piq     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, for example, lightyear. British units that differ from their US counterparts are prefixed thus: brgallon. Currency is denoted belgiumfranc, britainpound, ...

For a complete list of units, cat /usr/lib/units. 

FILES

/usr/lib/units