Unit
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The word unit means any of several things:
- The natural or usual or smallest measure of something, of which there are multiples and of which there may be fractions.
- In most physical contexts, for example science and engineering, 'unit' is used to mean a physical unit of measurement of a quantity. Systems of units are formed which are typically characterized by the units chosen for mass, distance, and time. Such systems of units include
- SI (previously known as the Metre-Kilogram-Second system of units (MKS)), the most commonly used units worldwide
- Centimeter-Gram-Second (CGS) system of units, derived from SI and also commonly used worldwide; also one of two standard unit systems in astronomy
- Metre-Tonne-Second system of units (MTS), little used
- Imperial units, also known as British units, were historically used in Britain and its Commonwealth, and are similar (but not identical) to the current day US customary units
- U.S. customary units, primarily used in the USA
- Chinese system of units, used primarily in China
- 'units' is also the name of a popular unit conversion program.
- A currency is a unit of money (a monetary unit).
- In mathematics, "unit" often refers to the number one in some sense:
- A unit vector is a vector with length 1.
- The unit circle is the cirle with radius 1 centered at the origin of the coordinate system.
- The unit interval is the interval of all real numbers between 0 and 1.
- The imaginary unit of complex numbers is the number i, a number whose square is -1.
- A root of unity is a complex number a power of which is 1.
- A unit of a ring is an element that is invertible with respect to the ring multiplication.
- Military units or formations, including:
- Functional units are components of a system that perform a specific function:
- The Central processing unit (CPU) is the processor of a computer; Arithmetic and Logical Unit, Control unit, Memory management unit and Floating Point Unit are important components of the CPU.
- In theatre a unit refers to a unit of action sometimes also called a beat.
- A multiple unit is a passenger train whose carriages have their own motors.
- In the science fiction television series, Doctor Who, the initials UNIT stand for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.
- In Australian rock music, Unit was the second album from the Brisbane band Regurgitator.
- In a 19-inch rack a rack unit, unit or 'U' is a standard height of 1.75 inches (44.45 mm).
da:Enhed de:Einheit es:Unidad fr:unité ko:단위 io:Unajo ja:単位 pl:Jednostka simple:Unit sl:enota