# cgs Definition and Topics - 4 Discussions

The centimetre–gram–second system of units (abbreviated CGS or cgs) is a variant of the metric system based on the centimetre as the unit of length, the gram as the unit of mass, and the second as the unit of time. All CGS mechanical units are unambiguously derived from these three base units, but there are several different ways in which the CGS system was extended to cover electromagnetism.The CGS system has been largely supplanted by the MKS system based on the metre, kilogram, and second, which was in turn extended and replaced by the International System of Units (SI). In many fields of science and engineering, SI is the only system of units in use, but there remain certain subfields where CGS is prevalent.
In measurements of purely mechanical systems (involving units of length, mass, force, energy, pressure, and so on), the differences between CGS and SI are straightforward and rather trivial; the unit-conversion factors are all powers of 10 as 100 cm = 1 m and 1000 g = 1 kg. For example, the CGS unit of force is the dyne, which is defined as 1 g⋅cm/s2, so the SI unit of force, the newton (1 kg⋅m/s2), is equal to 100000 dynes.
On the other hand, in measurements of electromagnetic phenomena (involving units of charge, electric and magnetic fields, voltage, and so on), converting between CGS and SI is more subtle. Formulas for physical laws of electromagnetism (such as Maxwell's equations) take a form that depends on which system of units is being used. This is because the electromagnetic quantities are defined differently in SI and in CGS, whereas mechanical quantities are defined identically. Furthermore, within CGS, there are several plausible ways to define electromagnetic quantities, leading to different "sub-systems", including Gaussian units, "ESU", "EMU", and Lorentz–Heaviside units. Among these choices, Gaussian units are the most common today, and "CGS units" often used specifically refers to CGS-Gaussian units.

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1. ### Dimension of the electric charge in CGS and in SI?

The Bohr magneton is (see e.g. Wikipedia) in SI units: $$\mu_B=\frac{e\hbar}{2m_e}$$ and in CGS units: $$\mu_B=\frac{e\hbar}{2m_ec}$$ So the dimension of the electric charge in SI, ##[q_{SI}]##, is related to the dimension of the electric charge in CGS, ##[q_{CGS}]##, by...
2. ### Time period of small oscillations of the point dipole

Homework Statement In an infinite flat layer of thickness 2d, volume charge density is given according to the law: ρ=(ρ°)(x)/d and (-d≤x≤d). Here, x is the axis perpendicular to the plane. In the layer, there is a thin channel in which a point dipole of mass m and dipole moment p is placed...
3. ### I Cgs to SI unit conversion

Hi I have a value that is 10.7 mJy, that I need to convert to SI units. I thought it would be 1.7*10^(-2)*10^(-26) but that might be wrong? Then I have a flux value, kappa, of 2 cm^2.g^(-1) that needs to be converted to meters and kilogram. I thought it was 2*10^(-7) m2/kg, but that might be...
4. ### CGS & SI in electromagnetism

Dear friends, As you know, in CGS units we have vacuum permeability as unity (1). so H=B and we use Oersted for H. on the other hand, in SI, permeability is (4 x pi x 0.0000001) and we use Ampere per meter for H. unfortunately after trying for couple hours, I couldn't derive the algebra of...