Siemens (unit)

The siemens (symbol: S) is the unit of electric conductance, electric susceptance, and electric admittance in the International System of Units (SI). Conductance, susceptance, and admittance are the reciprocals of resistance, reactance, and impedance respectively; hence one siemens is equal to the reciprocal of one ohm (Ω−1) and is also referred to as the mho. The siemens was adopted by the IEC in 1935, and the 14th General Conference on Weights and Measures approved the addition of the siemens as a derived unit in 1971. The unit is named after Ernst Werner von Siemens. In English, the same word siemens is used both for the singular and plural. Like other SI units named after people, the name of the unit (siemens) is not capitalized. Its symbol (S), however, is capitalized to distinguish it from the second, whose symbol (s) is lower case. The related property, electrical conductivity, is measured in units of siemens per metre (S/m).