page_title: Gaussian units
hierarchical_section_title: Gaussian units
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: C.F. Gauß (Ausschnitt aus einem Gemälde von Gottlieb Biermann, 1887)English: Portrait of the mathematician and philosopher Carl Friedrich GaussFrançais&#160;: Karl Friedrich Gauss (mathématicien et philosophe)
context_page_description: Gaussian units constitute a metric system of physical units. This system is the most common of the several electromagnetic unit systems based on cgs units. It is also called the Gaussian unit system, Gaussian-cgs units, or often just cgs units. The term "cgs units" is ambiguous and therefore to be avoided if possible: there are several variants of cgs with conflicting definitions of electromagnetic quantities and units.
  SI units predominate in most fields, and continue to increase in popularity at the expense of Gaussian units. Alternative unit systems also exist. Conversions between quantities in the Gaussian unit system and the SI unit system are not as straightforward as direct unit conversions because the quantities themselves are defined differently in the different systems, which has the effect that the equations expressing physical laws of electromagnetism change depending on what system of units is being used. As an example, quantities that are dimensionless in one system may have dimension in another.
context_section_description: Gaussian units constitute a metric system of physical units. This system is the most common of the several electromagnetic unit systems based on cgs (centimetre–gram–second) units. It is also called the Gaussian unit system, Gaussian-cgs units, or often just cgs units. The term "cgs units" is ambiguous and therefore to be avoided if possible: there are several variants of cgs with conflicting definitions of electromagnetic quantities and units.
  SI units predominate in most fields, and continue to increase in popularity at the expense of Gaussian units. Alternative unit systems also exist. Conversions between quantities in the Gaussian unit system and the SI unit system are not as straightforward as direct unit conversions because the quantities themselves are defined differently in the different systems, which has the effect that the equations expressing physical laws of electromagnetism (such as Maxwell's equations) change depending on what system of units is being used. As an example, quantities that are dimensionless in one system may have dimension in another.
caption: Carl Friedrich Gauss
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "1639", "Image ImageLength": "2088", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "75", "Image YResolution": "75", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2018:01:26 10:23:29", "Image ExifOffset": "232", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "382", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7693", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "917", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1180"}