Appendix A. Definitions of the SI Base Units
The following definitions of the SI base units are taken from
Refs. [1, 2]; it should be noted that SI derived
units are uniquely defined only in terms of SI base units; for example,
The meter is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a
time interval of
The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram.
The second is the duration of
The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross section, and placed 1 meter apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 × 10-7 newton per meter of length.
The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
1. The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12.
2. When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles.
In the definition of the mole, it is understood that unbound atoms of carbon 12, at rest and in their ground state, are referred to.
Note: This definition specifies at the same time the nature of the quantity whose unit is the mole.
The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 × 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of (1/683) watt per steradian.
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