Wikipedia Manual of Style Units of Measurement.

The main unit in which a quantity is expressed should generally be an SI 
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FInternational_System_of_Units&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C7efefa4551744e46f44c08d7d85ae59a%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637215757224986986&amp;sdata=cwsZ5%2BZvtytV5OYChjt5EOMiEr1pt8%2BPle5nMOhMFPE%3D&amp;reserved=0>
 unit or non-SI unit officially accepted for use with the SI 
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FNon-SI_units_mentioned_in_the_SI&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C7efefa4551744e46f44c08d7d85ae59a%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637215757224986986&amp;sdata=kanri8zDKjvVK35OsclWojxFy%2BrAWABvJ0tfqF4%2BnfY%3D&amp;reserved=0>.
 However,
Scientific articles may also use specialist units appropriate for the branch of 
science in question.
In non-scientific articles with strong ties to the United States, the main unit 
is generally a U.S. customary unit (22 pounds (10 kg)).
In non-scientific articles with strong ties to the United Kingdom, although the 
main unit is generally a metric unit (10 kilograms (22 lb)), imperial units are 
still used as the main units in some contexts (7 miles (11 km) by road).
Where English-speaking countries use different units for the same measurement, 
provide a conversion in parentheses. Examples: the Mississippi River is 2,320 
miles (3,734 km) long; the Murray River is 2,375 kilometres (1,476 mi) long. 
The {{convert 
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTemplate%3AConvert&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C7efefa4551744e46f44c08d7d85ae59a%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637215757224986986&amp;sdata=lEgxoKvmg1JlDOFYfjTdLE9jS0NP0gh4m18L2Wic1yI%3D&amp;reserved=0>}}
 template is useful for producing such expressions.
In a direct quotation, always retain the source's units. Any conversion should 
follow in square brackets (or, an obscure use of units can be explained in a 
footnote 
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWikipedia%3AFootnotes&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C7efefa4551744e46f44c08d7d85ae59a%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637215757224986986&amp;sdata=8DEybr3Hh60P9yqPFsREIoN2OCm4GYHm7COMpBq6roU%3D&amp;reserved=0>).
Where space is limited (such as tables, infoboxes, parenthetical notes, and 
mathematical formulas) unit symbols are preferred. In prose, unit names should 
be given in full if used only a few times but symbols may be used when a unit 
(especially one with a long name) is used repeatedly after spelling out the 
first use (e.g. Up to 15 kilograms of filler is used for a batch of 250 kg), 
except for unit names that are hardly ever spelled out (°C rather than degrees 
Celsius).
Most unit names are not capitalized. (For spelling differences, follow § 
National varieties of English 
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWikipedia%3AManual_of_Style%23National_varieties_of_English&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C7efefa4551744e46f44c08d7d85ae59a%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637215757224986986&amp;sdata=vnnLk%2F3euPXYVkRXdZoC%2BhMjG73FL1T%2Ba5aAB9eoKIw%3D&amp;reserved=0>.)
Use "per" when writing out a unit, rather than a slash: metre per second, not 
metre/second.
Units unfamiliar to general readers should be presented as a name–symbol pair 
on first use, linking the unit name (Energies were originally 2.3 
megaelectronvolts 
<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMegaelectronvolt&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C7efefa4551744e46f44c08d7d85ae59a%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637215757224986986&amp;sdata=6tPV10kt%2FXFRGH9Tz9VTypQ%2BtYH0EZZhRIZ9cLuZ%2F%2B8%3D&amp;reserved=0>
 (MeV), but were eventually 6 MeV).

The above does not seem to deter some people from choosing non metric units and 
insisting that it is the norm, as in Canada. It’s difficult keeping everyone 
happy !

Mike Payne

> On 3 Apr 2020, at 15:56, Nodextrose Org <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> US congress also passed pl39-183, the metric act of 1866, which went Into 
> effekt in 1866 and prohibits refusing to trade in metric.
> 
> 
> Den tors 2 apr. 2020 12:44Martin Vlietstra <[email protected] 
> <mailto:[email protected]>> skrev:
> The Wikipedia policy is at 
> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWikipedia%3AManual_of_Style%2FDates_and_numbers&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C7efefa4551744e46f44c08d7d85ae59a%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637215757224986986&amp;sdata=lX3UDJJ28ALW1ooEHt%2FEdbAum5L5uFKGcHKCHwZAfR8%3D&amp;reserved=0
>  <>.
> 
> In a nutshell - in US-centric non-scientific articles (eg an article about 
> New York), use US conventions, in UK-centric non-scientific articles (eg an 
> article about London), use UK conventions otherwise use SI. The definition of 
> UK conventions is rather muddled as the wording was hijacked by some 
> anti-metrication editors. 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: USMA [mailto:[email protected] <>] On Behalf Of 
> [email protected] <>
> Sent: 02 April 2020 18:41
> To: USMA List Server
> Subject: [USMA 1346] Re: Wikipedia editing.
> 
> Michael Payne-- Wikipedia has a stated policy on this matter that all editors 
> are bound to follow.  It is available somewhere on the site.  I think that it 
> is metric first, then legacy units in parentheses afterward, but you need to 
> check that.
> 
> Since the "en" (English) subdomain of Wikipedia includes all English-speaking 
> countries, one would think that the units would be metric only or metric 
> (legacy).  But, then, what would you do with gallons, which differ between 
> the United States and Canada/UK?
> 
> It's a mess if you don't use metric units!
> _______________________________________________
> USMA mailing list
> [email protected] <>
> https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma <>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> USMA mailing list
> [email protected] <>
> https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma <>
> _______________________________________________
> USMA mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma

_______________________________________________
USMA mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma

Reply via email to