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HowMany - Unit Dictionar Category: Mathematics and statistics > Dictionary of unit measurements Date & country: 26/09/2008, USA Words: 1293

jo
an informal unit of area used in Japan to measure the size of rooms in houses and apartments. One jo is the area of a traditional tatami mat, 180 by 90 centimeters or 1.62 square meters (1.94 square yards).

Jones
a unit of detectivity, that is, the ability of an electronic device to detect radiant energy such as light waves or infrared radiation. In a 1959 paper, R. Clark Jones defined the 'specific detectivity' of a device to be D* = [square root (Aw)]/N, where A is the area of the detector, w is the frequency bandwidth, and N is the power of the n...

JTU
abbreviation for Jackson turbidity unit, a unit formerly used in measuring water quality. The turbidity of water was measured by lighting a candle under a tall glass tube and filling the tube with the water sample until a observer looking down the tube could no longer see the candle flame through the water. The height of the water column determines...

jug
an informal name for the Scots pint, a unit of volume equal to about 1.80 U.S. liquid quarts or 1.70 liters. Specifically, the jug of Stirling is the actual vessel (on display at the Stirling Museum) which was the legal standard for Scottish volume measurements prior to the introduction of the British Imperial units.

Julian day (JD)
a continuous count of days beginning with January 1, 4713 BC (-4712 CE), which is start of what is called the Julian period. The French scholar Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609) introduced the Julian period in 1582 (the same year the Gregorian calendar was proclaimed), defining it to be 7980 years, the product of the 28-year cycle of the Julian ca...

Julian year
the average length of the year in the Julian calendar, equal to exactly 365.25 days. See year .

Jupiter
a unit of mass, now being used in astronomy to express the masses of new planets being discovered in orbit around various stars. It's equal to the mass of the planet Jupiter, estimated to be about 1.899 x 10²⁴ metric tons, or, if you please, 1.899 yottatonnes (Yt). By coincidence, this is approximately 0.001 Sun (0.000 955 Su...

jutro
a traditional unit of land area in Croatia, the jutro equals 5754.64 square meters (1.422 acres), identical to the Austrian joch (see above) and Czech jitro. This is the area of a square 40 hvati on a side. The word means 'morning,' that is, it represents the area that could be plowed in one morning. The plural is jutra.

kaf
a symbol for 1000 acre feet. This symbol is commonly used in reservoir management in the U.S. 1 kaf = about 1.2335 million cubic meters.

kairi
the Japanese name for the nautical mile.

kati
a traditional Malaysian unit of weight, usually spelled catty in English.

kattha or katta
a traditional unit of land area in South Asia, equal to 20 dhurs or 1/20 bigha. Like the bigha, the kattha varied in size from one region to another. In Nepal, where the unit is still in use, the kattha equals about 338 square meters or 442 square yards.

kcmil
a symbol for 1000 circular mils, a unit of area equal to about 0.5067 square millimeter commonly used in stating wire gauges.

keddah
a traditional Egyptian unit of liquid volume also used in other parts of the Middle East. The keddah is equal to about 2.0625 liter (about 2.18 U.S. liquid quarts or 1.815 British imperial quarts).

keg
a traditional unit of volume or quantity, varying with the item contained in the keg. A keg of herring, for example, contains 60 fish. A keg of wine is frequently 12 U.S. gallons (about 45.42 liters), and a keg of beer is 1/2 barrel or 15.5 U.S. gallons (about 58.67 liters). 'Keg' comes from an old Norse word for a small barrel.

keg
a traditional unit of weight for nails. A keg of nails weighs 100 pounds and thus has a mass of about 45.359 kilograms.

kerat
a traditional Middle Eastern unit of length, equal to about 9/8 inch or 2.86 centimeters. The unit has the same Arabic root as the carat or karat.

key
slang for kilo, meaning kilogram.

kgr
an obsolete (but fairly common) symbol for the kilogram. The proper symbol is kg.

kibi- (Ki-)
a binary prefix meaning 2¹⁰ = 1024. This prefix, adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1998, was supposed to replace kilo- for binary applications in computer science. Thus 1024 bytes of storage is officially a kibibyte, not a kilobyte. However, computer professionals generally dislike this unit (they sa...

kilderkin
an old British unit of volume equal to 1/2 barrel or 2 firkins. Based on the current British barrel, this would be 18 (imperial) gallons, which is about 2.9 cubic feet or 78 liters. Older kilderkins were generally in the range of 16-18 gallons. The word comes from a Dutch word for a small cask.

kiloampere (kA)
a unit of electric current equal to 1000 amperes.

kilobar (kbar or kb)
a metric unit of pressure, used particularly in industrial applications and in geology for measuring high pressures. The kilobar equals 1000 bars, 100 megapascals, or about 14 503 pounds per square inch. (Note: in the investment world a kilobar is not a unit; it is a bar of gold, silver, or platinum weighing 1 kilogram.)

kilobase (kb)
a unit of genetic information equal to the information carried by 1000 pairs of the base units in the double-helix of DNA; also used as a unit of relative distance equal to the length of a strand of DNA containing 1000 base pairs.

kilobecquerel (kBq)
a unit of radioactivity equal to 1000 atomic disintegrations per second or 27.027 nanocuries (nCi).

kilobit (kbit or kb)
a unit of information equal to 1000 bits, or, in some cases, equal to 1024 bits or 128 bytes. The larger unit is now supposed to be called a kibibit.

kilobyte (kB)
a unit of information equal to 1000 bytes. As a unit of computer storage, however, the kilobyte is usually equal to 1024 bytes, although this should now be called a kibibyte.

kilocalorie (kcal)
an ambiguous metric unit of energy. The ambiguity arises because there are two 'calories' in common use, identified in this dictionary as the calorie (the small or gram calorie equal to 4.1868 kilojoules) and the Calorie (the large or kilogram calorie equal to 4.1868 megajoules). The term kilocalorie properly means 1000 calories, which is the same ...

kilocurie (kCi)
a unit of radioactivity equal to 1000 curies or 37 terabecquerels (TBq), that is, 37 trillion atomic disintegrations per second. The strength of the powerful radiation sources used in cancer therapy are customarily stated in kilocuries.

kilocycle (kc)
1000 cycles; a term sometimes used as an informal name for the kilohertz.

kilocycle per second (kc/s)
an older name for the kilohertz.

kilodalton (kDa)
a unit of mass equal to 1000 atomic mass units. See dalton.

kiloelectronvolt (keV)
a unit of work or energy used in physics, equal to 1000 electronvolts.

kilofoot (kft)
a traditional unit of distance equal to 1000 feet or exactly 304.8 meters. This odd combination of a metric prefix and an English unit is used in telecommunications to describe cable lengths and transmission distances.

kilogauss (kGs)
a metric unit of magnetic flux density equal to 1000 gauss or 0.1 tesla. The strength of industrial magnets and solenoids is often expressed in kilogauss, although this unit is being replaced gradually by the tesla.

kilogram calorie (kcal or kgcal)
the 'large calorie' or 'food calorie' used in nutrition, equal to 1000 ordinary ('gram') calories. The correct name for this unit is kilocalorie.

kilogram meter (kgf•m or kg•m)
a metric unit of work or energy equal to 9.806 65 joules (J). This is the work done by one kilogram of force (see below) acting through a distance of one meter.

kilogram meter (kgf•m or kg•m)
a metric unit of torque equal to 9.806 65 newton meters (N•m).

kilogram weight (kgf)
a kilogram force (see above).

kilohertz (kHz)
a common unit of frequency equal to 1000 per second or 1 per millisecond. AM radio stations have signal frequencies measured in kilohertz.

kiloline
a metric unit of magnetic flux, equal to 1000 lines or 10 microwebers.

kiloliter (kl or kL)
a metric unit of volume. The kiloliter is identical to the cubic meter: it equals about 35.3147 ft³, 1.307 95 yd³, 264.17 U.S. gallons, 219.99 British Imperial gallons, 7.497 U.S. bushels, or 6.049 British imperial bushels.

kilomega- (kM-)
an obsolete metric prefix denoting 10⁹ (1 U.S. billion). This prefix has been replaced by giga- (G-).

kilomole (kmol)
a unit of amount of substance equal to 1000 moles. One kilomole of a compound is the number of kilograms of the compound equal to the molecular weight of a molecule of that compound in atomic mass units. The kilomole was formerly called the kilogram mole.

kilonewton (kN)
a common metric unit of force, the kilonewton equals 1000 newtons; it is a force that will accelerate a mass of 1 metric ton at the rate of 1 meter per second per second. One kilonewton equals 101.972 kilograms of force, 224.809 pounds of force or 7233.01 poundals.

kilohm or kiloohm
a unit of electric resistance equal to 1000 ohms. The simplified spelling kilohm is approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

kilo-oersted (kOe)
a CGS unit of magnetic field strength equivalent in MKS units to 79 577.472 ampere-turns per meter. The unit, used for stating the field strengths of industrial magnets, is almost always spelled with the hyphen.

kiloparsec (kpc)
a unit of distance used in astronomy, the kiloparsec equals 1000 parsecs, 3261.631 light years, 3.085 678 x 10¹⁶ kilometers, or about 19.18 quadrillion miles. The Solar System is located about 8 kiloparsecs from the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

kilopascal (kPa)
a common metric unit of pressure. One kilopascal equals 1000 pascals (Pa), 10 millibars(mb), or about 0.145 038 pounds per square inch (lbf/in² or psi), 20.8855 pounds per square foot, 7.502 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), 0.2953 inches of mercury (in Hg), 4.015 inches of water column (in WC), or 0.3346 foot of head (ft hd).

kilorad (krad)
a common unit of radiation dose equal to 1000 rads, 10 grays, or 10 joules of energy per kilogram of mass.

kilosecond (ks or ksec)
a unit of time equal to 1000 seconds (16 minutes 40 seconds). Although it is never used in ordinary life, the kilosecond has many uses in science. One day is equal to 86.4 kiloseconds.

kiloton (kt or kton)
an ambiguous unit of mass, ambiguous because it may refer to 1000 U.S. tons (907 185 kilograms), 1000 British tons (1 016 047 kilograms), or 1000 metric tons (1 million kilograms, or 1 gigagram). To reduce this confusion, the metric unit should be written kilotonne.

kiloton (kton)
a unit of explosive energy equal to the energy released by exploding 1000 U.S. tons (2 million pounds) of TNT. This is about 4.18 terajoules (4.18 x 10¹² joules) or 4 billion Btu.

kilovolt (kV)
a common unit of electric potential equal to 1000 volts. Electric distribution lines operate at potentials of anywhere from several to several hundred kilovolts.

kilovolt ampere (kV•A)
a common unit of load in power engineering, equal to 1000 volt amperes.

kiloyard (kyd)
a traditional unit of distance equal to 1000 yards (exactly 914.4 meters). This unit is used in the U.S., British, and Commonwealth navies in describing ship distances and target ranges.

kiloyear (kyr)
a unit of time equal to 1000 years, commonly used in archaeology, paleontology, climatology, and related sciences. Of course, a kiloyear is the same as a millennium.

kin
the Japanese version of the catty, a common weight unit of the Far East. The Japanese identified this unit with a traditional unit equal to about 1.323 pounds or almost exactly 600 grams; this is about 0.75% smaller than the Chinese catty.

kip
a symbol for 1000 inch pounds, used as a unit of energy or torque. In this usage one kip is equal to 83.333 foot pounds (lbf•ft), 112.985 joules (J), or, for torque, 112.985 newton meters (N•m).

kip
an old English word for a bundle of hides. It was sometimes used as a unit of quantity, usually equal to 50.

klafter
a traditional German unit of volume for stacked firewood, comparable to the English cord. A klafter of wood was generally 1 klafter tall and 1 klafter long, but there was less agreement on its width, that is, the length of the logs. A common width was 3 fuss or 0.5 klafter, making the volume about 3.41 steres (cubic meters) or 0.941 cord by the Vie...

klick, klik
see click.

kmph
a common but incorrect symbol for kilometers per hour. The correct symbol is km/h.

knot
an informal unit of distance equal to the nautical mile.

koku
a traditional Japanese unit of volume, equal to about 180.391 liters (39.68 British imperial gallons or 6.37 cubic feet). The unit originated as an estimate of the amount of rice needed to feed a person for a year.

kommerzlast
German for 'commercial load,' now interpreted as a metric unit equal to exactly 3 tonnes (about 6613.9 pounds).

kon
Korean name for the catty.

koyan
a Far Eastern unit of weight equal to 4000 catty or 5333.33 pounds (8/3 short ton).

kph
a common but incorrect symbol for kilometers per hour. The correct symbol is km/h.

krina
a traditional unit of volume in Bulgaria, now expressed in the metric system as being equal to exactly 20 liters (4.40 British imperial gallons or 5.28 U.S. liquid gallons).

ksf, ksi
symbol for kips (kilopounds) per square foot or per square inch, traditional engineering units of pressure or stress. 1 ksf = 47.880 257 kilopascals (kPa) and 1 ksi = 6.894 757 megapascals (MPa). These units are often used to express the strength of materials (meaning the maximum pressure the material can resist).

kulmet
a traditional Latvian unit of volume equal to about 10.93 liters (2.40 British imperial gallons or 2.89 U.S. liquid gallons). A similar Estonian unit, the külimet, equals about 11.48 liters (2.53 British imperial gallons or 3.03 U.S. liquid gallons).

kunitz or Kunitz unit
a unit used in biochemistry to describe the concentration or activity of the enzyme ribonuclease, which attacks ribonucleic acid (RNA). The action of the enzyme causes an increase in the absorbance of ultraviolet light. One kunitz is the concentration of the enzyme causing an increase in absorbance at a wavelength of 260 nm by 0.001 per mL of enzym...

kvadrat-
Scandinavian prefix meaning 'square.' In particular, a kvadratmeter is a square meter. The prefix is common to Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish.

kwan
a traditional Japanese unit of weight equal to 6.25 kin (see above), which is about 8.27 pounds or 3.75 kilograms.

kya
a common abbreviation (in English speaking countries) for 'thousand years ago.' The 'k' is the metric symbol for kilo- (1000). The symbol kyr (kiloyear) is also used.

lai
see rai.

lambda
a metric unit of volume equal to the cubic millimeter (mm³) or microliter (µL). The lambda has been used in chemistry in measuring very small samples. The symbol is the lower case Greek letter lambda.

lambda
a unit of relative distance used in the design of integrated circuits in microelectronics. These circuits are usually designed to be 'scalable,' so that the same design can be repeated on ever-smaller chips as technology improves. The 'feature size' of a design is the width of its smallest element, and one lambda equals one half the feature size. L...

lanac
a traditional unit of land area in countries of the former Yugoslavia. Usage varies. In Serbia, the lanac is equal to about 0.56 hectare (1.38 acres), making it the Serbian equivalent of the Austrian joch and Croatian jutro. In Croatia, however, the lanac is a larger unit equal to 0.7193 hectare (1.777 acres). The word 'lanac' means 'chain', presum...

land mile
the ordinary statute mile, equal to 5280 feet or 1609.344 meters, is sometimes called a 'land mile' to distinguish it from the nautical mile. Similarly, a land league is equal to 3 statute miles (5280 yards or 4828.03 meters) as distinguished from 3 nautical miles.

lane meter
a unit of deck area for 'roll on/roll off' ships: cargo vessels designed so that containers or other cargo can be rolled on and off the decks of the ship. A lane is a strip of deck 2 meters wide. A lane meter is an area of deck one lane wide and one meter long, that is, 2 square meters (21.528 square feet).

lap
an informal unit of distance used in athletic competitions. In athletics ('track'), a lap is the length of one trip around a running track. This may vary from track to track, but at the level of serious competition most tracks have a standard length. In English speaking countries this was formerly 1/4 mile (1320 feet or 402.336 meters). Tracks used...

lb, lbf, lbm
lb is the traditional symbol in English, Spanish, and Italian for the pound, derived from the Latin word libra for the Roman version of the same unit. The symbols lbf and lbm are used to distinguish between pounds of force and pounds of mass, respectively.

LD
see lunar distance (below).

leap second
an extra second added at the end of a day (June 30 or December 31) to realign timekeeping with the earth's rate of rotation. See day for details.

leap year
a unit of civil time equal to 366 days. See year . Normally, the day of the week on which a specific date falls advances by one day from year to year. For example, August 1 falls on Tuesday in 2006 and on Wednesday in 2007. But following the addition of a extra day on February 29, a date 'leaps' over a day of the week: in 2008, a leap ye...

lieue
the French league. A variety of lieue units were used for land measurement in France, but generally these units were around 2.4-2.5 statute miles in length. In the 18th century, the legal unit was the lieue de poste, defined to equal 2000 toises or 2 milles (2.4221 miles or 3898 meters). In metric France the lieue is now considered to equal exactly...

ligula
a Roman unit of liquid volume equal to 1/48 sextarius or about 11.07 milliliters. The word literally means 'a lick.'

line
a unit of distance equal to 1/14 inch, used in printing and advertising. This usage is short for agate line.

lippie
a traditional unit of volume in Scotland equal to 1/4 Scots peck. This was about 2.27 liters for wheat, peas, or beans and about 3.04 liters for barley or oats.

liter atmosphere (L•atm)
a unit of work or energy used in the study of confined gases. The behavior of gases is described, to a first approximation, by the ideal gas law PV = nRT. The ideal gas law is really an energy equation in which the left hand side, pressure P (in atmospheres) times volume V (in liters), measures the potential energy in the confined gas. One liter at...

long hundredweight
the British hundredweight, equal to 112 pounds.

long ton
the traditional British ton, equal to 2240 pounds.

longword
a unit of information equal to 2 shortwords, 4 bytes or 32 bits. See also word .

Lovibond color units
see degree Lovibond.

Lpf
symbol for liters per flush, a specification found on toilets. U.S. government regulations now require the use of low-flush toilets of 6.0 Lpf or less. 1 Lpf = 0.264 U.S. gallon per flush (gpf).

lpi
abbreviation for lines per inch, a unit used to state the resolution of display devices (such as television or computer monitor screens), or to state the line spacing of printed pages.

lug
an old English name for a rod (5.5 yards or 5.0292 meters). In some parts of England this unit represented a longer rod of 7 yards (6.4008 meters), a unit also called the great lug.

lug
a shallow box or crate for produce such as cherries, grapes, or peaches. The size of a lug varies with the item it contains. Typical lugs hold about 16-28 pounds (7-13 kilograms) of produce in a volume of roughly 1/3 bushel (about 12 liters). This unit seems to be particularly common in produce markets in the midwestern U.S.