List of common units
Use common units so that readers can understand and compare measurements and quantities.
The following table indicates the style to use for the most common units and abbreviations used in Unity content. If a unit isn't mentioned in the table, or if readers might confuse it for a different unit, then write the name of the unit out in full.
For more information about writing measurements and quantities with units, refer to Units and measurements.
Category | Unit | Abbreviation and usage |
---|---|---|
Length | millimeter | mm |
centimeter | cm | |
meter | m | |
kilometer | km | |
Speed | meters per second | meters per second Don't abbreviate to mps, m/s, or ms–1 |
Area | square meter | m2 |
Volume | cubic meter | m3 |
liter | l | |
Weight | gram | g |
kilogram | kg | |
tonne | tonne In the metric system, a tonne is 1,000 kilograms. Don't use the imperial unit ton. | |
Time | milliseconds | ms |
seconds | s | |
minutes | mins | |
hours | hours | |
days | days Don't abbreviate units of time larger than minutes. | |
weeks | weeks Don't abbreviate units of time larger than minutes. | |
months | months Don't abbreviate units of time larger than minutes. | |
years | years Don't abbreviate units of time larger than minutes. | |
Angles | degrees | ° |
radians | radians Use radians only in technical content that requires radians. Otherwise, convert the value to degrees. | |
Temperature | degrees Celsius | °C |
degrees Fahrenheit | °F Use degrees Fahrenheit only in informal content when you are confident that most readers understand this scale. Otherwise, convert the value to degrees Celsius. | |
Resolution, image, and font size | pixels | pixels Don't abbreviate to "p" or "P" unless referring to pixels per inch or megapixels. |
pixels per inch | pixels per inch ppi For usage notes, refer to pixels per inch in the terminology list. | |
megapixels | MP | |
points | pt | |
Memory Make sure to use the correct decimal or binary unit depending on the context. | byte | byte Don't abbreviate byte. |
kilobyte | KB Decimal unit, equal to 1000 bytes. | |
kibibyte | KiB Binary unit, equal to 1024 bytes. | |
megabyte | MB Decimal unit, equal to 10002 bytes. | |
mebibyte | MiB Binary unit, equal to 10242 bytes. | |
gigabyte | GB Decimal unit, equal to 10003 bytes. | |
gibibyte | GiB Binary unit, equal to 10243 bytes. | |
terabyte | TB Decimal unit, equal to 10004 bytes. | |
tebibyte | TiB Binary unit, equal to 10244 bytes. | |
Frequency and rates | frames per second | frames per second fps For usage notes, refer to frames per second in the terminology list. |
Hertz | Hz You can use metric prefixes to indicate higher frequencies, such as kHz, MHz, and GHz. | |
megabits per second | Mbps Use megabits per second to measure data transfer rates. Don't use megabits or bits to measure data volume. Use decimal rate units only. | |
gigabits per second | Gbps Use gigabits per second to measure data transfer rates. Don't use gigabits or bits to measure data volume. Use decimal rate units only. | |
Color depth Bit depth | bits per pixel | bits per pixel bpp For usage notes, refer to bits per pixel in the terminology list. |
bits per channel | bits per channel Don't abbreviate bits per channel. |