Conversion of units is the conversion between different units of measurement for the same quantity, typically through multiplicative conversion factors.
The process of conversion depends on the specific situation and the intended purpose. This may be governed by regulation, contract, Technical specifications or other published standards. Engineering judgment may include such factors as:
Some conversions from one system of units to another need to be exact, without increasing or decreasing the precision of the first measurement. This is sometimes called soft conversion. It does not involve changing the physical configuration of the item being measured.
By contrast, a hard conversion or an adaptive conversion may not be exactly equivalent. It changes the measurement to convenient and workable numbers and units in the new system. It sometimes involves a slightly different configuration, or size substitution, of the item. Nominal values are sometimes allowed and used.
Conversion between units in the metric system can be discerned by their prefixes (for example, 1 kilogram = 1000 grams, 1 milligram = 0.001 grams) and are thus not listed in this article. Exceptions are made if the unit is commonly known by another name (for example, 1 micron = 10−6 metre).
Within each table, the units are listed alphabetically, and the SI units (base or derived) are highlighted.
This article gives lists of conversion factors for each of a number of physical quantities, which are listed in the index. For each physical quantity, a number of different units (some only of historical interest) are shown and expressed in terms of the corresponding SI unit.
