in the unit (or units) of (2025)

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prudent260

Senior Member

Chinese

  • Jan 13, 2020
  • #1

I thought volts, kilograms, and meters were units, each one being a unit, so I should use 'in the unit of volts,' 'in the unit of meters,' and 'in the unit of kilograms,' where UNIT is in the singular

In a video explaining voltage, UNIT in the plural is used:
"We measure potential difference in the units of volts."
"Voltage is the pressure. Volts is the units we measure the pressure in." (This one is even more strange. Since volts and units are both plural, how come IS is used in the sentence?)

I can also find sentences online using UNIT in the singular:
Tutorial on voltage, current, and resistance pertaining to slot car tracks - Best Deals on Mastech Variable DC Power Supply
"The voltage is measured in the unit of volts"
The address for this website is in the US.

Which would you normally use? Or do unit and units have differences I can't tell?

Good morning and thank you.

  • owlman5

    Senior Member

    Colorado

    English-US

    • Jan 13, 2020
    • #2

    prudent260 said:

    I thought volts, kilograms, and meters were units, each one being a unit

    A volt is one unit, a kilogram is one unit, and a meter is one unit.

    prudent260 said:

    so I should use 'in the unit of volts,' 'in the unit of meters,' and 'in the unit of kilograms,' where UNIT is in the singular

    This seems normal if you need to mention unit for some reason. Generally, I would expect to read something like this: Potential difference is measured in volts. Length is measured in meters. Weight is measured in kilograms.

    prudent260 said:

    "We measure potential difference in the units of volts."
    "Volts is the units we measure the pressure in."

    I agree that these sentences are strange. I would expect to read: Volts are the units we measure the pressure in.

    prudent260 said:

    "The voltage is measured in the unit of volts"

    This seems normal to me although I would prefer to see The voltage is measured in volts.

    P

    prudent260

    Senior Member

    Chinese

    • Jan 13, 2020
    • #3

    owlman5 said:

    This seems normal if you need to mention unit for some reason. Generally, I would expect to read something like this: Potential difference is measured in volts. Length is measured in meters. Weight is measured in kilograms.


    pH - Wikipedia
    'Since pH is a logarithmic scale, a difference of one pH unit is equivalent to a tenfold difference in hydrogen ion concentration. '

    pH is also a unit of measurement describing the acidity of a solution. The above article on pH sees UNIT as the number in the ones digit.
    In this way, is it more idiomatic to write the following sentence if i want to mention unit for some reason:
    ‘Particle physicists measure energy in units of electron volts.’
    (from the Oxford online dictionary Unit | Meaning of Unit by Lexico)

    As Oxford generally focuses on BE, is the use different between AE and BE?

    Thank you, owlman. I feel my thought isn't coherent and hope you understand what I mean.

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Jan 13, 2020
    • #4

    One problem might be that we rarely say the category that something belongs to, so it isn't always obvious what word to use. For instance, we say "That car is red", not "That car is coloured red" or "That car is red in colour". It is clear that red is a colour, and it seems pretty clear to me that, in your sentence, "volts" is a unit of measurement, without needing this to be explicitly stated.

    In your video, the obvious expression would be "We measure potential difference in volts" or ""We measure potential difference using volts". There isn't a particularly obvious way of adding "unit"/"units", so it is perhaps not surprising the speaker did not choose the best form of words.

    Having said this, I think "units" is justifiable. We usually use a plural noun for the units, as I have done above ("volts" rather than "the volt"), so it seems natural to use "units" (plural) to match. We measure length in metres/We measure length in units of measurement.

    Last edited:

    owlman5

    Senior Member

    Colorado

    English-US

    • Jan 13, 2020
    • #5

    You're welcome.

    prudent260 said:

    ‘Particle physicists measure energy in units of electron volts.’

    in the unit (or units) of (4)This version looks normal to me.

    prudent260 said:

    As Oxford generally focuses on BE, is the use different between AE and BE?

    Probably not.

    P

    prudent260

    Senior Member

    Chinese

    • Jan 14, 2020
    • #6

    Thank you, @Uncle Jack @owlman5 .
    in the unit (or units) of (5)

    N

    nagomi

    Senior Member

    Korean

    • Sep 13, 2020
    • #7

    prudent260 said:

    pH - Wikipedia
    'Since pH is a logarithmic scale, a difference of one pH unit is equivalent to a tenfold difference in hydrogen ion concentration. '

    Is the bold a correct phrase? is that use of "unit" okay?

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Sep 13, 2020
    • #8

    nagomi said:

    Is the bold a correct phrase? is that use of "unit" okay?

    pH isn't really a unit, but even if it were it would be odd to use "unit" like this. The obvious way of stating it is to say that a difference of one pH is equivalent to a tenfold difference in hydrogen ion concentration.

    JulianStuart

    Senior Member

    Sonoma County CA

    English (UK then US)

    • Sep 13, 2020
    • #9

    "pH unit" is quite common in the world of chemistry and biology, and the wiki article follows that usage. As you say, it is not a "unit" in the sense of volt or amp - it is the logarithm of a number. No-one talks of 3 pHs (or pH's) etc. A solution of pH 4 differs from one with a pH of 5 by "one pH unit", not by "one pH". From the wiki article

    More correctly, the thermodynamic activity of H+ in dilute solution should be replaced by [H+]/c0, where the standard state concentration c0 = 1 mol/L. This ratio is a pure number whose logarithm can be defined.

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