units of measurement Archives

Meter ruler showing SI units metric system, which can now go as high as quetta and ronna and low as ronto and quecto.

New Prefixes in the SI: ronto, quecto, ronna, quetta

December 6, 2022December 5, 2022Melanie Ross, Technical Products Developer

As of November 2022, in its first update to prefixes since 1991, the International System of Units (SI) now includes prefixes ronna, quetta, ronto, and […]

UK Pint of beer, which is bigger than a US pint

Why a Pint is Bigger in the UK than in the US

June 22, 2018June 5, 2020Brad Kelechava

An American walks into a pub in London and orders a pint. It looks similar, but, given the amount of the golden-brown, oddly warm liquid […]

Bright red apples piles in a basket and ready to undergo US Customary Imperial Conversions to Metric

US Customary System Conversions

June 19, 2018May 28, 2020Brad Kelechava

Two systems of weights and measures are derived from English Units: the US Customary System and the British Imperial System. Neither is dominant worldwide, but […]

Green barleycorn, the basis for inches in the US customary system history

US Customary System: An Origin Story

June 18, 2018June 3, 2020Brad Kelechava

The United States’ uniqueness is reflected in omnifarious facets of life. Just look at units of measurement. While most nations use the metric system, the […]