Imperial and US customary measurement systems (42 US gallons, 34.97 imperial gallons or 159.0 litres) used in the oil industry has the dimension of volume and could be replaced by the gallon, cubic metre or litre. The definitions of potential difference (volt), electric current (ampere), electrical resistance (ohm) were defined in terms of metric units, international agreement having been reached at a series of IEC Congress in Chicago between 1881 and 1906 when the electrical industry was in its infancy. At that time the metric system had become established in continental Europe while in the United Kingdom metrication was an active issue. Similarly, the units of
Introduction to the metric system The result is that there are a variety of different named units available to measure the same quantity (for example 10 millimetres = 1 centimetre, 100 centimetres = 1 metre, 1000 metres = 1 kilometre). Each unit and each prefix has a standard symbol (not abbreviation) associated with it. In 1861, during discussions about standardising electrical units of measure, Charles Bright and Latimer Clark proposed that these units be named, not in relation to what they are used for, or common objects, but after eminent scientists; with the electrical units of resistance, potential difference and capacitance being named the ohm,