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Re: Using standardized SI prefixes



On 6/12/07, Lennart Sorensen <lsorense@csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
On Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 06:25:22PM +0200, Josselin Mouette wrote:
> Prefixes are case-sensitive. Kilo is "k". (This is also why there is
> much less ambiguity with K used for kibibytes.)

Hmm, I used to think both k and K were accepted for kilo, but I can't
find anything that says K is accepted for use as kilo.

All the symbols in SI units have to be distinct, as combined units are
units also. Consider:

kWh = kilo-watt-hour = 3.6 MJ
Nm = newton-metre

The capital K is used for kelvin. So Km = kelvin-metre, which I
suppose would be the unit to measure the total temperature over a
length (product of temperature and length).

Sure, most people can guess what you mean from the context but that
doesn't make it right...

Have a nice day,
--
Martijn van Oosterhout <kleptog@gmail.com> http://svana.org/kleptog/



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