units(1) General Commands Manual units(1)
NAME
units - conversion program
SYNOPSIS
file]
DESCRIPTION
converts quantities expressed in various standard scales to their equivalents in other scales. It works interactively as follows:
System Prompt User Response
The system responds with two factors; one used if multiplying
(preceded by the other if dividing (preceded by
After providing the conversion factors, prompts for the next set of values. To terminate press the interrupt character as defined for your
login.
A quantity is specified as a multiplicative combination of units optionally preceded by a numeric multiplier. Powers are indicated by suf-
fixed positive integers, and division by the usual sign:
System Prompt User Response
The system responds with:
only does multiplicative scale changes; thus it can convert Kelvin to Rankine, but not Celsius to Fahrenheit. Most familiar units, abbre-
viations, and metric prefixes are recognized, together with a generous leavening of exotica and a few constants of nature including:
ratio of circumference to diameter
speed of light
charge on an electron
acceleration of gravity
same as
Avogadro's number,
pressure head per unit height of water,
astronomical unit.
Units must be provided in lowercase only. is not recognized as a unit of mass; is. Compound names are run together, (e.g., British units
that differ from their U.S. counterparts are prefixed thus: For a complete list of units, examine the file:
An alternate unit database file can be specified for use with the option. looks in this file rather than the default for the table of con-
versions. This must be in the same format as This is useful in defining your own units and conversions.
WARNINGS
The monetary exchange rates are out of date.
FILES
units(1)
