CONVERT UNITS

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MAIN FEATURES

  • CONVERT UNITS converts units of measurement to other units of measurement.
  • It currently recognizes over 12,500 individual unit names.
  • It can convert any combination of these units to any other compatible combination.
  • Individual units may be entered by typing or by selection from a list using either the mouse or the positioning keys.
  • Combinations of units may be entered by typing the names of the units (for example: meters/si second).
  • It requires complete specificity. (for example: the user must specify "international short ton" not merely "ton")
  • If the user is not sufficiently specific he is presented with a list of the ambiguities from which he may choose.
  • It displays the precision of the calculated value (usually the minimum precision of the operands).
  • It tells the user whether the result is exact or approximate.

FOR EACH UNIT ENTERED

  • It displays the dates of use of the unit if that information is known. (for example: "used until 1937")
  • It displays the definition of the unit as defined in CONVERT UNITS. (for example: 1 U.S. foot = 12 U.S. inches)
  • It displays the equivalent of the unit in SI base units. (for example: 1 U.S. foot = 0.3048 meter)
  • It displays the precision of the definition of the unit if that has been documented.
  • It displays the quantity or quantities that the unit describes. (length, volume, mass, angular momentum, etc.)
  • It displays the region of use of the unit (usually a country).
  • It displays the way in which the unit is used if that has been documented (for example: "used for land")
  • It displays comments about the unit if a comment has been documented. (for example: "This unit is the SI base unit of plane angle")

OTHER FEATURES

  • It can convert frequency intervals as well as linear units. (for example: perfect octave > diminished fifths)
  • It can handle a range of values if the value of a unit varies/varied from place to place or time to time.
  • It can handle names of numbers and constants (for example: 2*pi radians > angular degrees)
  • It can limit the "old" units displayed to "scientific" units, to a specified quantity, or to a specified region of use.
  • It displays decimals in the NIST format. (spaces every 3 digits)
  • It displays the correct number of the unit name. (for example: 1 foot and 2 feet)
  • It displays the decimal value when names of numbers are entered. (for example: 2*pi = 6.283 185 307 18)
  • It displays the result as a rational fraction as well as a decimal if that is reasonable.
  • It displays the result with up to 12 digits of precision.
  • It recognizes 188 quantities (length, area, mass, capacity, force, power, time, etc.).
  • It recognizes all of the binary prefixes as well as all of the SI prefixes.
  • It recognizes certain variations of style. (for example: "miles per hour" rather than miles/hour).
  • It recognizes the names of the basic numbers (1 to 10 inclusive) in 159 languages.

ADDITIONAL DISPLAYS AND OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO THE USER

  • It can display a list of all of the abbreviations and acronyms currently in the data base.
  • It can display a list of all of the base units used by the program (meter, kilogram, radian, etc.).
  • It can display a list of all of the prefixes that the program recognizes (SI and binary).
  • It can display a list of all of the quantities that the program recognizes.
  • It can display a list of all of the unit names that contain a given word (e.g. enter constant?).
  • It can display a list of all of the units in a specified group. (such as "Greek masses")
  • It can display a list of all of the units that are used only within a given region of use.
  • It can display a list of all of the units that belong to the same group as the specified unit.
  • It can display a list of all of the units that describe the same quantity.
  • It can display a list of all of the units that have the same magnitude and quantity as the specified unit.
  • It can display a list of all of the units that have the same primary unit name (such as foot or ton).
  • It can display an online reference for the specified unit (if an online reference has been documented).
  • It can display an rpn calculator that has 41 mathematical functions.
  • It can display the complete chain of definitions leading to the value of the unit in base units.