Derived Metric Units

The metric or SI (Le Système International d'Unités) system of units has many derived units from the seven base units. A derived unit would be a unit that is a combination of base units. Density would be an example where density = mass/volume or kg/m³.

Many derived units have special names for the properties or measurements they represent. This table lists eighteen of these specialized units along with their basic unit factors. Many of them honor famous scientists for their work in the fields which use these units.

Note the units of radian and steradian do not actually represent any physical property to measure but are understood to be an arc length per radius (radian) or arc length x arc length per radius x radius (steradian). These units are generally considered unitless.

Measurement	Derived Unit	Name of Unit	Combination of Base Units
plane angle	rad	radian	m·m-1 = 1
solid angle	sr	steradian	m2m-2 = 1
frequency	Hz	hertz	s-1
force	N	newton	m·kg/s2
pressure	Pa	pascal	N/m2 or kg/ms2
energy	J	joule	N·m or m2kg/s2
power	W	watt	J/s or m2kg/s3
electric charge	C	coulomb	A·s
electromotive force	V	volt	W/A or m2kg/As3
capacitance	F	farad	C/V or A2s3/kg·m2
electric resistance	Ω	ohm	V/A or kg·m2/A2s4
electric conductance	S	siemens	A/V or A2s4/kg·m2
magnetic flux	Wb	weber	V·s or kg·m2/A·s2
magnetic flux density	T	tesla	Wb/m2 or kg/A2s2
inductance	H	henry	Wb/A or kg·m2/A2s2
luminous flux	lm	lumen	cd·sr or cd
illuminance	lx	lux	lm/m2 or cd/m2
catalytic activity	kat	katal	mol/s