Scientific Measurement

Every measurement is a comparison between the quantity being measured and a unit of measurement. A unit of measurement is a standard quantity. Examples of units of measure include meter and kilogram.

An international agreement has defined a set of units called "The International System of Units" for scientific work. This defined set of units are commonly called SI units or metric units. SI is an abbreviation for the French "Le Systeme International d'Unites."

SI has seven base units as shown in the table at right.