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 units(C)                        19 June 1992                        units(C)


 Name

    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 option-
    ally 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 follow-
    ing:

    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


 File

    /usr/lib/unittab


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