{ "model": { "rank": 2406, "code": "thing-q47574", "model_id": "vr.tr.unit-of-measurement", "name": "unit of measurement", "purpose": "Let an agent handle units by quantity, system, definition and conversion, and never report a number without a unit.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Cross-cutting context", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "XCT", "domain": "XCT.QLT", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q47574/", "tier": 2, "score": 107, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "look", "type of year", "typed page", "unit of mass density", "unit of power", "United States Pharmacopeia unit", "non-SI unit", "off-system measurement unit", "multiple of a unit", "unit of solid angle", "unofficial unit of measurement", "metric unit", "electromagnetic unit", "unit of electric current", "unit of luminous intensity", "unit of activity referred to a radionuclide", "unit of areic number density", "unit of energy density", "unit of inductance", "unit of luminous flux", "unit of molar volume", "unit of specific energy", "unit of molality", "unit of specific volume", "unit of specific activity", "unit of exposure", "unit of absorbed dose", "unit of kerma", "unit of action", "unit of angular frequency", "unit of information rate", "unit of call intensity", "unit of capacitance", "unit of chemical potential", "unit of surface tension", "unit of electric potential", "unit of electric potential difference", "unit of voltage", "unit of electric resistance", "unit of absorbed-dose rate" ], "aliasCount": 312, "merged": 314, "knownIn": 107, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q47574", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47574", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-11T06:37:34Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 1, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q47574", "registryId": "vr.tr.unit-of-measurement", "name": "unit of measurement", "version": "0.2.0-wave.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "XCT.QLT" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q47574/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.unit-of-measurement", "name": "unit of measurement", "purpose": "Let an agent handle units by quantity, system, definition and conversion, and never report a number without a unit.", "definition": "A definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention, used as a standard for measurement, such as the metre, kilogram, second or pharmacopoeia units.", "what_it_is_for": "Making measurements comparable.", "affordances": [ "convert between units", "check dimensional consistency", "choose appropriate units", "trace units to definitions" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Standard magnitude of a quantity", "Organised in systems", "SI is the international system", "Some units are domain-specific" ], "appearance": "Symbols such as m, kg, s, and names on instruments and labels.", "visual_identification": [ "Unit symbols and names", "Systems: SI, imperial, US customary", "Special units such as USP units" ], "physical_properties": [], "families_and_kinds": [ "SI base and derived units", "non-SI units accepted with SI", "imperial and US customary units", "domain units such as pharmacopoeia units" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "measures", "target": "physical quantity", "why": "quantity" }, { "relation": "has kind", "target": "hand, cup, cable", "why": "units" }, { "relation": "is defined by", "target": "SI", "why": "system" }, { "relation": "is used in", "target": "measurement", "why": "practice" } ], "identifiers": [ { "scheme": "UCUM code", "value_or_pattern": "code strings", "note": "machine-readable units" }, { "scheme": "QUDT unit IRI", "value_or_pattern": "URI", "note": "semantic units" } ], "standards_and_regulation": [ "SI Brochure", "ISO 80000", "Legal metrology law" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Unit conversion errors", "Missing units", "Confusing similar units" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition", "description": "Which unit.", "rationale": "Units need definitions.", "layers": [ { "id": "unit", "name": "Unit", "description": "Name and symbol.", "findings": [ { "id": "unit-finding", "name": "Unit", "description": "Unit identity.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which unit, with which symbol?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "What quantity does it measure?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "system", "name": "System", "description": "SI or other.", "findings": [ { "id": "system-finding", "name": "System", "description": "Unit system.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which system does it belong to?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "How is it defined?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "conversion", "name": "Conversion", "description": "Between units.", "rationale": "Conversions must be exact.", "layers": [ { "id": "factor", "name": "Factor", "description": "Exact factor.", "findings": [ { "id": "factor-finding", "name": "Factor", "description": "Conversion factor.", "questions": [ { "text": "What is the exact factor to SI?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "text": "Is it exact or approximate?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consistency", "name": "Consistency", "description": "Dimensions.", "findings": [ { "id": "consistency-finding", "name": "Consistency", "description": "Dimensional check.", "questions": [ { "text": "Are units consistent in the calculation?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "text": "What checks catch errors?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "use", "name": "Use", "description": "Choosing units.", "rationale": "Choice affects clarity.", "layers": [ { "id": "choice", "name": "Choice", "description": "Appropriate units.", "findings": [ { "id": "choice-finding", "name": "Choice", "description": "Unit choice.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which unit suits this audience and context?", "kind": "action" }, { "text": "Is a legal unit required?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "machine", "name": "Machine-readable", "description": "Codes.", "findings": [ { "id": "machine-finding", "name": "Machine", "description": "Unit codes.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which UCUM or QUDT code represents it?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is it used consistently?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "safety", "name": "Safety", "description": "Critical errors.", "rationale": "Unit errors can be dangerous.", "layers": [ { "id": "medicine", "name": "Medicine", "description": "Dose units.", "findings": [ { "id": "medicine-finding", "name": "Medicine", "description": "Dose units.", "questions": [ { "text": "Are dose units clear, avoiding error-prone abbreviations?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "text": "Which guidance applies?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "engineering", "name": "Engineering", "description": "Design errors.", "findings": [ { "id": "engineering-finding", "name": "Engineering", "description": "Engineering checks.", "questions": [ { "text": "Could a unit error cause a failure here?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "text": "How is it prevented?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should units be instances with UCUM codes?", "How should non-SI units be linked?", "The registry entry has merged aliases such as look; should they be removed?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a unit of measurement, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent handle units by quantity, system, definition and conversion, and never report a number without a unit.", "characteristics": { "substance": "abstract", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: look, type of year, typed page, unit of mass density, unit of power, United States Pharmacopeia unit, non-SI unit, off-system measurement unit, multiple of a unit, unit of solid angle, unofficial unit of measurement, metric unit.", "314 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 107 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a unit of measurement, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "an abstraction with no physical instance", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "look", "type of year", "typed page", "unit of mass density", "unit of power", "United States Pharmacopeia unit", "non-SI unit", "off-system measurement unit", "multiple of a unit", "unit of solid angle", "unofficial unit of measurement", "metric unit" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 107 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 314 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one unit of measurement from another, and a unit of measurement from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a unit of measurement, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a unit of measurement, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a unit of measurement is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a unit of measurement, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a unit of measurement, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a unit of measurement is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a unit of measurement sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a unit of measurement, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a unit of measurement, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a unit of measurement is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a unit of measurement from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a unit of measurement, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a unit of measurement, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a unit of measurement is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a unit of measurement passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a unit of measurement between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a unit of measurement, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a unit of measurement, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a unit of measurement is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a unit of measurement, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a unit of measurement is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a unit of measurement, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a unit of measurement, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a unit of measurement is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What unit of measurement is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of unit of measurement are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is unit of measurement operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of unit of measurement and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of unit of measurement?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as unit of measurement?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a unit of measurement came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a unit of measurement and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a unit of measurement, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a unit of measurement, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a unit of measurement is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a unit of measurement is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a unit of measurement, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a unit of measurement, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a unit of measurement is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 10, "findings": 12, "questions": 32 } } } }