1.4 The International System of Units
The SI system of units is used extensively in this book since it is intended
to become the worldwide standard for measurement. Therefore, we will
now present some of the rules for its use and some of its terminology
relevant to engineering mechanics.
Prefixes. When a numerical quantity is either very large or very
small, the units used to define its size may be modified by using a prefix.
Some of the prefixes used in the SI system are shown in Table 1–3 . Each
represents a multiple or submultiple of a unit which, if applied
successively, moves the decimal point of a numerical quantity to every
third place. * For example, 4 000 000 N = 4 000 kN (kilo-newton) =
4 MN (mega-newton), or 0.005 m = 5 mm (milli-meter). Notice that the
SI system does not include the multiple deca (10) or the submultiple
centi (0.01), which form part of the metric system. Except for some
volume and area measurements, the use of these prefixes is to be
avoided in science and engineering