Measurements and units
General rules
Use the same measurement format and style throughout your user interface and consider localization conflicts. Write out measurement abbreviations in full if there is any chance users will not understand.
Avoid line breaks between the value and the unit by using a protected (non-breaking) space. Use the singular when talking about a specific number and in abbreviations. Use lower case as the default for most unit abbreviations.
Use upper case for unit abbreviations named after people and lower case when the abbreviation is written out in full.
| Person | Unit abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Newton | N |
| Pascal | Pa |
| Watt | W |
| Volta | V |
| Joule | J |
| Hertz | Hz |
| Ampere | A |
Use a slash to show how compound units are divided for clarity.
Exceptions
Use “L” (liter) instead of lower case “l” only if there is any doubt users will confuse it with “1”.
Use upper case “B” to abbreviate byte and lower case “b” to abbreviate bit. Use M for mega, G for giga and T for tera to distinguish from m (milli), g (gram) and t (ton).
Volume
Use superscript to indicate cubed measurements.
Use the plain text caret symbol (^) when superscript is not possible in your application.
Use mcg to abbreviate microgram instead of the Greek letter mu (μ).
Temperature
Use a non-breaking space (Ctrl + Shift + Space) between the number and the degree symbol.
Use the degree symbol (°) before the initial letter of the temperature scale without a space.
Web
Use “px” in lower case to abbreviate pixels with a space for readability without periods after px, pt and dpi (dots per inch).