Metric System -- from Eric Weisstein's World of Physics (original) (raw)

The metric system was designed during the French Revolution in the 1790s, and rationalized the various systems of units being used in Europe. The metric system uses a single base unit for each type of measurable quantity (e.g., length, mass, etc.), and then adds prefixes to indicate multiples of ten. The base units in the metric system have been refined over the years and, by international agreement, now correspond to those defined in the System International (SI). While the MKS metric system (using the meter, kilogram, and second) is the most common in use, theoretical physicists still commonly use a system called cgs that is based of the centimeter, gram, and second as base units.

Between 1850 and 1900, the metric system was adopted throughout Europe (with the exception of Great Britain). In 1870, the French government turned over decision making on the system to an international committee known as the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (International Bureau of Weights and Measures; BIPM). This body meets regularly, and has developed the current metric standard known as SI that is used worldwide (although British engineering units are still used in the United States).

cgs, MKS, SI

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