UNITS(1) UNITS(1)
NAME
units - conversion program
SYNOPSIS
units [ file ]
DESCRIPTION
Units converts quantities expressed in various standard
scales to their equivalents in other scales. It works
interactively in this fashion:
you have: inch
you want: cm
* 2.54
/ 0.393701
A quantity is specified as a multiplicative combination of
units optionally preceded by a numeric multiplier. Powers
are indicated by suffixed positive integers, division by the
usual sign:
you have: 15 pounds force/in2
you want: atm
* 1.02069
/ .97973
Most familiar units, abbreviations, and metric prefixes
are recognized, together with a generous leavening of
exotica and a few constants of nature including:
pi ratio of circumference to diameter
c speed of light
e charge on an electron
g acceleration of gravity
force same as g
mole Avogadro's number
water pressure head per unit height of water
au astronomical unit
The `pound' is a unit of mass. Compound names are run
together, e.g. `lightyear'. British units that differ from
their US counterparts are prefixed thus: `brgallon'. Cur-
rency is denoted `belgiumfranc', `britainpound', etc.
The complete list of units can be found in /lib/units. A
file argument to units specifies a file to be used instead
of /lib/units.
FILES
/lib/units
Page 1 Plan 9 (printed 12/30/24)
UNITS(1) UNITS(1)
BUGS
Since units does only multiplicative scale changes, it can
convert Kelvin to Rankine but not Centigrade to Fahrenheit.
Currency conversions are only as accurate as the last time
someone updated /lib/units.
Page 2 Plan 9 (printed 12/30/24)