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Base units

7 base units
7 base units

There are 7 mutally independent base units, from which all other physical units are derived. They are based on the definitions of some universal constants of nature, such as, among others, the speed of light in vacuum, the constants of Avogadro, Boltzmann and Planck, and the electron charge.

unit quantity definition
second time ground-state hyperfine transition frequency νhf of 133Cs = 9,192,631,770 Hz
meter length speed of light c in vacuum = 299,792,458 m·s-1
kilogram mass Planck's constant h = 6.626,070,15·10-34 J·s
ampere current electron charge e = 1.602,176,634·10-19 A·s
kelvin temperature Boltzmann's constant kB = 1.380,649·10-23 J·K-1
mole matter Avogadro's constant NA = 6.022,140,76·1023 particles per mole
candela luminous intensity 1 candela = luminous intensity of standard source a)

a) radiation source with a frequency of 540·1012 Hz and emitting een energy of 1/683 J per second and per steradian

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Last modified:29 December 2025 11.36 a.m.
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