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Metre–tonne–second system of units

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The metre–tonne–second or MTS system of units is a system of physical units. It was invented in France, hence the unit names sthène and pièze, and became its legal system between 1919 and 1961 ("décret" 5 May 1961, "Journal Officiel"). It was adopted by the Soviet Union in 1933 and abolished there in 1955. It was a metric and coherent system of units, much as SI and the centimetre-gram-second system (CGS), but with larger units for industrial use, whereas the CGS system was regarded as suitable for laboratory use only.

Units

The base units of the MTS system are as follows:

  • length: metre
  • volume: cubic metre or litre
    • 1 m3 ≡ 1 kL
  • mass: tonne,
    • 1 t = 103 kg = 1 Mg
  • time: second
  • force: sthène,
    • 1 sn = 1 t·m/s2 = 103 N = 1 kN
  • energy: sthene-metre = kilojoule,
    • 1 sn·m = 1 t·m2/s2 = 103 J = 1 kJ
  • power: sthene-metre per second = kilowatt,
    • 1 sn·m/s = 1 t·m2/s3 = 103 W = 1 kW
  • pressure: pièze,
    • 1 pz = 1 t/m·s2 = 103 Pa = 1 kPa = 1 centibar (cbar)

    References

    Metre–tonne–second system of units Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA