Meter-Kilogram-Second-Ampere System

meter-kilogram-second-ampere system [′mēd·ər ′kil·ə‚gram ′sek·ənd ′am‚pir ‚sis·təm]

(physics)

A system of electrical and mechanical units in which length, mass, time, and electric current are the fundamental quantities, and the units of these quantities are the meter, the kilogram, the second, and the ampere respectively. Abbreviated mksa system. Also known as Giorgi system; practical system.

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Meter-Kilogram-Second-Ampere System 

(MKSA system), a system of units for electrical and magnetic quantities in which the fundamental units are the meter, the kilogram (the unit of mass), the second, and the ampere.

The principles on which the MKSA system of units was constructed were proposed in 1901 by the Italian scientist G. Giorgi; therefore, the system has a second name (the Giorgi system of units). The system is used in most countries and has been established in the USSR by GOST (Ail-Union State Standard) 8033–56, “Electrical and Magnetic Units.” The MKSA system of units also includes all the practical electrical units that had previously become common, such as the ampere, the volt, the ohm, and the coulomb; it is an integral part of the International System of Units.