ENGINEERING DEFINITIONS OF SI UNITS.

FUNDAMENTAL UNITS:

1. Meter/ Metre
• The meter is the length of the path traveled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792
458 of a second.
2. Kilogram
• The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the
kilogram.
3. Second
• The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the
transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom.
4. Ampere
• 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 x 10-7 newton per meter of length.
5. Candela
• The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic
radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683
watt per steradian.
6. Mole
• “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; its symbol is ‘mol.’” 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.
7. Radian
• Abbreviation, rad. The angle at the center of a circle subtended by an arc whose length is equal to
the radius. Equal to approximately 57.2958 degrees.
8. Steradian
A unit of solid-angle measure. A cone shaped solid angle that has a vertex at the center of a
sphere (of radius r), that cuts off a portion of the sphere’s surface whose outer perimeter is a
circle, and that has an area (as measured on the sphere’s surface) of 𝑟𝑟 2 .

DERIVED UNITS:

1. Newton
• The units of force, the force able to accelerate one kilogram by one meter per second per second:
1N = 1kg m𝑠𝑠 −2
2. Joule
• Symbol J. The SI unit of energy, equal to the work done when the point of application of a force of
magnitude one newton is moved one meter along the line of action of the force. The joule is also
the work done by a current of one ampere flowing through a resistance of one ohm for one
second.
3. Watt
• The practical unit of electric and other power. One watt is dissipated by a resistance of 1 ohm
through which a current of 1 ampere flows.
4. Coulomb
• The unit of electrical charge quantity, equal to the charge contained in 6.24 × 1018 electrons. A
current of one ampere (1 A) represents 1 coulomb per second (C/s).
5. Ohm
• The basic unit of resistance, reactance, or impedance. A resistance of 1 ohm passes a current of 1
ampere in response to an applied emf of 1 volt.
6. Siemens
• The SI unit of conductance. The conductance of a component or medium in Siemens is equal to
the reciprocal of the resistance in ohms.
7. Volt
 • The basic practical unit of difference of potential (i.e., of electrical pressure); 1 volt is the
difference of potential produced across a resistance of 1 ohm by a current of 1 ampere.

MEASUREMENTS OF ELECTRICAL QUANTITIES

VOLTAGE AND CURRENT MEASUREMENTS

Measurement of voltage and current is performed with instruments of different characteristics; some of
these instruments have been described in previous chapters. In every measurement, one should take
into account the measuring range, instrument consumption, frequency range, accuracy, and load.
Voltmeters are connected to the load in parallel (Figure 10.1.a), while ammeters are connected with the
load in series (Figure 10.1.b).

The voltmeter consumption must be as low as possible, and its internal impedance must be as large as
possible, while the reverse is true for ammeters - their internal impedance should be as small as
possible.

Three Voltmeter Method

According to Figure 10.18, in a series with load zL , which is generally a combination of resistance and
inductance, a “pure” resistor R must be connected, which is preferably of the same value as the load
resistance.

With an available voltmeter, voltage on zL , the R and the voltage on the serial connection of two
resistors are measured. From the vector diagram (Figure 10.19), by using the cosine theorem, active
power can be obtained:
𝑈𝑈12 − 𝑈𝑈02 − 𝑈𝑈2
𝑃𝑃 = 2𝑅𝑅

The power factor can be also calculated:

𝑈𝑈12 − 𝑈𝑈02 − 𝑈𝑈 2
cos 𝜑𝜑 =
2𝑈𝑈0 𝑈𝑈
The method depends on the voltmeter accuracy and its consumption, so it is suitable for measuring
powers of small resistances. In addition, the method is applicable in high frequency ranges, by using
electronic voltmeters with a large input resistance. This method is also used for highly accurate power
measurements, if the applied voltmeters have narrow limits of error.

Three Ammeters Method

This method is similar to the three voltmeter method, but in this method, the known resistor R is
connected parallel to (Figure 10.20).
According to the vector diagram (Figure 10.21), the active power can be determined:
𝐼𝐼12 − 𝐼𝐼02 − 𝐼𝐼 2
𝑃𝑃 = 𝑅𝑅
2
The power factor of load can also be calculated:

𝐼𝐼12 − 𝐼𝐼02 − 𝐼𝐼 2
cos 𝜑𝜑 =
2𝐼𝐼0 𝐼𝐼
It is necessary that the ammeter internal resistances be as low as possible compared to the load
resistance, which makes this method suitable for measuring the powers of large resistances.

RESISTANCE MEASUREMENTS

Measurement of resistance requires methods for measuring very small to very large resistances. A large
number of non-electric quantities are also reduced to the measurement of resistance (e.g.,
temperature). Therefore, for the measurement of resistances, there are many more measurement
methods available than for any other quantity. Before the measurement of resistance can begin, some
facts must be known in advance. The conductors used to connect the measured resistance to the
instrument also have some resistance which adds to the measured resistance. Also, contact resistances
can cause errors in the measurement of small resistances, as contact resistances can have values similar
to the measured resistance.
In addition, if the place where two different metals or alloys touch each other is heated, then
thermoelectric voltage is produced at the free end of these metals. This voltage depends on the
temperature difference between the hot and cold junction and causes the error. Therefore,
thermoelectric voltages must be kept as low as possible on the connection terminals of the resistors.
The temperature coefficient of resistors differs from material to material, and for accurate
measurements, the temperature needs to be measured and corrections made. Some resistors also
exhibit voltage resistance dependence.

Voltmeter-Ammeter Method

One of the simplest methods of indirect measurement of resistance is the voltmeter-ammeter method.

According to this method, the resistance is obtained from the quotient of voltage drop on resistance 𝑅𝑅𝑋𝑋
and the current flowing through the resistor. At low resistance values, the voltage method (Figure 10.27)
is used because a voltmeter with high internal resistance consumes negligible power. At high value
resistances, the current method (Figure 10.28) is used, as in this method, small resistance of ammeters
can be neglected.