UNITS(1) — USER COMMANDS

NAME

units − conversion program

SYNOPSIS

units

DESCRIPTION

units 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 optionally preceded by a numeric multiplier. Powers are indicated by suffixed positive integers, division 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 Celsius to Fahrenheit. Most familiar units, abbreviations, and metric prefixes are recognized, together with a generous leavening of exotica and a few constants of nature including:

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. pound refers to a British pound. Compound names are run together (e.g., lightyear). British units that differ from their U.S. counterparts are prefixed thus: brgallon. Currency is denoted belgiumfranc, britainpound, For a complete list of units, type:

cat /usr/lib/units

FILES

/usr/lib/units

BUGS

Don’t base your financial plans on the currency conversions.