BibTeX
@MISC{Hamilton_acompact,
author = {Bruce Hamilton},
title = {A Compact Representation of Units},
year = {}
}
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Abstract
Units are useful in understanding the meaning of data about physical quantities. For example, “6 liters ” gives more information than “6. ” Other properties, such as accuracy and precision, also give useful information, but we do not discuss those here. Most units used in the physical sciences are well-standardized [1,2,3,22], and there are standards for the use and spelling of unit names [2,4], but there are few standards for the representation of units within computing systems. We present a representation which can accommodate unforeseen units, requires minimal agreement among the communicating parties, reveals the physical relationship among quantities, and requires only a few bytes, no matter how complex the unit.
